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Revived club, rooted in family tradition, getting ready for Fayette County Fair

By Frances Borsodi Zajac 8 min read

It’s late Monday afternoon at the Curfew Grange in Franklin Township and members of the Curfew Clovers are busy working on projects. The older 4-H students are outside, collecting leaves that they spread on paper and paint with bright colors for a printing project. The younger Cloverbuds are inside working with paper flowers.

The youths are enthusiastic about 4-H: “I like everything we do,’ said Devin Riggin, 12, of Vanderbilt. Demi Burnsworth, 10, of Dunbar and Ashleigh Yoder, 12, of Smock noted the club has accomplished several outdoor projects – many with a creative flair, such as making patriotic celery that turns red, white and blue.

“I like the activities and the games we play,’ said Blake Victor, 8, of Smock, while Kayla Lukaesko, 7, of Dickerson Run Road commented, “I like that we get to paint.’ Christopher Yoder, 8, of Smock, who is a reporter for the club, said, “I like everything we do – play games and do stuff. Jules Stash, 8, of Flatwoods said, “I just like seeing other friends.’

And they’re all looking forward to the Fayette County Fair. Cole Allen, 4, of Smock said, he’s looking forward to “seeing the cows.’

After a period of non-operation, the Curfew Clovers 4-H club is back – revised this year with Kelly Victor of Smock as organizational leader and Jennifer Allen of Smock as Cloverbud leader.

“I wanted to keep the family tradition going. I was honored when Kelly and aunt Cathy asked me,’ said Jennifer Allen.

The family tradition she referred to is the Allen family involvement in this club. It began with Virginia Allen of Smock, who will be 88 in September, and her mother, Catherine Blaney, who became involved with the Curfew Clovers in the 1950s when the club was known as Flatwoods Stitch and Stir. Virginia Allen’s children also were involved in 4-H, including Rick, Cathy, Ron and Ruth Ann. Cathy Allen Brady of Uniontown, who now is extension educator for Penn State Cooperative Extension, also was a leader of the Curfew Clovers.

4-H roots run deep in the family. Virginia Allen was involved as a youth.

“I started with cooking and sewing and my grandmother Lydia Crow Blaney helped me a great deal when it came to sewing,” she said. “She was good at that.’

Brady talked about the projects the club undertook when she was a youth, noting, “4-H was so much fun. I’ll never forget it.’

Now a new generation of Allens is involved, including Brady’s daughter, Casey, who is leader of the county’s communication/leadership club. At the Curfew Clovers, Kelly Victor’s mother is Ruth Ann Allen Winder. Jennifer Allen is married to Taylor Allen, son of Rick. Their children also were participating: Kelly’s daughter Blake, 8, and Jennifer’s son, Cole, 4, with 17-month-old Preston waiting in the wings.

Victor said, “I was in 4-H all my life since I was 8 and my daughter is now 8 and I wanted to be able to have her in 4-H.’

Jennifer Allen, meanwhile, was raised in Uniontown and lived a year in Los Angeles.

“It’s a new thing for me, not being a farm girl. It’s interesting to learn,’ she said.

One thing she’s learned is that anyone can belong to 4-H. She reeled off a list of projects the youths have accomplished, noting, “What I like the most is teaching them about everything.’

This is just one example of the many families who have been involved in 4-H through the years in Fayette County. Generation after generation, they have been involved as youths or leaders, happy to be part of an organization that stresses values such as leadership, citizenship and life skills.

According to the national 4-H Web site, more than 7 million youths across America are involved in 4-H today.

This year in Fayette County, about 500 youths are participating in 25 clubs. They are involved in everything from livestock to gardening to archery as well as community clubs, such as the Curfew Clovers that can undertake a variety of projects.

“A community club can do anything from sewing to cooking to leadership. Baby-sitting is a good project. There are horticulture projects,’ said Brady, who would like to see more community clubs develop. “If parents could see the life skills the kids will have forever – public speaking, leadership. It’s a wonderful place to learn values.’

Others speak of the values learned and character developed at 4-H.

Virginia Allen, who was a leader for about 20 years, said, “I believe that. I think it’s a good thing for young people to get into it. It helps them mature properly.’

Dee Strong of Franklin Township talked about how people who have been involved in 4-H are often involved in community service.

Strong said, “The skills and basics they learn, they give back. If you look at our leaders – Linda Rooker, the Diamonds, the Regulas – they all grew up in 4-H and are now leaders and helping the next generation.’

Strong, who is secretary for the fair, added, “The current fair board have all been involved in 4-H either as youths or in their adult life. The board – they’re all volunteers. 4-H encouraged them to give back to the community through volunteering.’

Strong knows what she’s talking about. She also was a member of 4-H when the Curfew Clovers was known as the Stitch and Stir and she became a leader from the early 1970s to the early ’90s when her daughters were members.

Talking about becoming a leader, Strong said, “Just automatically. They never officially asked you to help. Before you knew it, you were a leader.’

Strong’s mother, Ema Jane Lowe, also became involved as a co-leader with 4-H after Strong joined.

“I joined in 1954, the first year of the (Fayette County) fair,’ she said.

For a timeline, she referred to Dorothy Chaikcic of Vanderbilt, whose mother Rose Mills was one of the original leaders of Stitch and Stir with Nellie Arizon and Libby Griffin.

“I had five sisters and we were all in 4-H. There were six girls and a boy in our family,’ Chaikcic said.

She remembers the Stitch and Stir starting in 1946 or 1947 when her older sister, Shirley Musisko, joined. Before the Fayette County Fair started, local 4-H youths took their projects to the Dawson and Bullskin Township fairs.

Speaking about club meetings, Chaikcic said, “We had to bring our own portable sewing machines. The extension office provided a machine or two. The leaders would bring a sewing machine. Later, they would go to a leader’s house. We lived below the grange hall so girls would come to our house and sew with my mother.’

She said the club also had a lot of outings, including picnics at Cooper’s Rock in West Virginia. Both Chaikcic and Strong talked about a national 4-H exchange program in which family members participated, visiting 4-H youths in other states.

All those interviewed mentioned the other leaders who worked with the club and home economists who offered assistance through the years. Virginia Allen spoke of Jean Mosser, Joan Rittenhouse and Mary Anderson. Strong talked of Mills, Arizon, Griffin, Allen, Blaney, Mary Hart and Barb Burd. Chaikcic spoke of her mother as well as Mrs. Parkes, Hazel Rittenhouse, Allen and Blaney.

And all spoke of the support the grange has given to 4-H. Brady noted it continues today.

“How this club began was because of the grange,’ said Strong. “These ladies were all grange members and they got together to make this club because their children wanted to be in 4-H. And the grange was how rural families met.’

In the early years, the impact of 4-H was tremendous on the youths.

“Our biggest outing for kids who lived in the country was 4-H,’ said Chaikcic.

And they all spoke of how important the fair has been to their families.

“Every summer, that was our main thing,’ said Virginia Allen. “We never actually had a vacation. We just went to the fair and we looked forward to it.’

“There were five of us and that was our life, our vacation. The same thing with our daughters. Our vacation was coming to the fair. It still is for a lot of families,’ said Strong.

Through the years, 4-H clubs have continued to attract families because of the strong values they provide while allowing youths to learn skills and have fun.

“I think it teaches kids how to be independent, learn skills, do chores, make friends. It gave you a chance for an outing. If you were an only child, it was ideal,’ said Chaikcic, who later added, “I think the same values are still there. If kids have a chance to join 4-H, they’d really like it.’

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For more information on 4-H or starting a club, call Cathy Brady at the Penn State Cooperative Extension office at 724-438-0111.

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