-Farm News photo by Karen Schwaller
Clay County 4-H Clubs wanted to show fairgoers the improvements they made to the 4-H exhibit building. They made this display and a scrapbook to show the dramatic difference in the warmth and welcoming atmosphere the building offers today, as opposed to its last upgrade 20 years ago.

SPENCER — 4-H members vow to “make the best better,” and Clay County 4-H members are putting their money where their mouths are, so to speak.

Led by members of the Spencer Sparks and the Lincoln Lions, all Clay County 4-H clubs have been invited to help remodel the interior of the 4-H building on the Clay County Fairgrounds.

“Our club (Spencer Sparks) is avid when it comes to community service projects, and last year we raised somewhere around $4,000 for a (Spencer Schools) backpack program,” said Evan Storley, 16, who is a committee leader for the 4-H building remodel project for the Spencer Sparks. “We thought if we could go that big, could we go bigger?”

Storley said the brainstorming began last fall, with all roads leading to the Clay County Fairgrounds 4-H building, which he said has “been in rough shape for a long time.” He said the last known upgrade was 20 years ago.

Knowing the project was too big (and expensive) for their club alone, they invited other clubs to be part of the process — from getting permission from the fair board, to getting donors, fundraising, securing volunteers and figuring out a plan (including a design plan) for getting it done.

Noah Palmer

Part of their genius was to unite Clay County 4-H clubs to be one large club in the name of completing the project and accomplishing something that was bigger than themselves.

Storley said they first asked permission to renovate the 4-H building from the Clay County Fair’s executive committee, then approached other 4-H clubs to gauge their interest in being part of the project.

Noah Palmer, 17, vice president of the Lincoln Lions, was approached by Storley about helping with the project. Palmer said he was immediately drawn to it and excited to get the Lions and other clubs on board.

“This looked like a lot of work for (a few people), and I thought it would be cool as a whole-club project so we could bring people together and bring 4-H to its once-former glory,” he said. “I thought it was an unbelievably great idea.”

After the fair board approved the project, they continued forward.

Evan Storley

Getting it going

Club members designed the work to be done in three phases.

Phase 1 would begin the project with preparation and clean-out/clean-up for this year’s (2024) fair, complete with the removal of walls containing mold due to the roof leaking for so many years. Phase 2 would include demolition, painting and lighting, followed by the updating of the 4-H auditorium for Phase 3.

But so much work has been completed already, that Phases 1 and 2 are already done. Auditorium updates will be addressed next year following some serious fundraising.

Club members and leaders said the auditorium needs fresh paint and carpet, and something needs to be done with the stage area to reduce the on-stage echo for people presenting there. They would also like to update the 20-year-old audio-visual system and remove the overhead mirror hanging over the exhibit table below, and update the kitchen area with new appliances.

-Farm News photo by Karen Schwaller
Lucas Palmer, in front, of the Lincoln Lions 4-H Club, and Silas Simington of the Meadow Motivators 4 H Club, work together to put glue on a wall that would soon be covered with carpet, and become the new photography display area in the Clay County Fair 4-H Exhibit Building. Part of the point of this project was to bring all Clay County 4-H'ers together to work on that common goal.

Palmer said 4-H’ers gathered this past spring to start the remodeling project, which began with organizing a garage sale with items that had been stored in the building for many years that are no longer needed. That helped them earn some necessary seed money.

During the following weeks, they removed some partitions here and there so exhibits could be displayed by project area instead of by clubs, in an effort to mimic the state fair’s 4-H exhibit building. They moved some built-in wall benches to other walls, moved some wall display boards to other walls; hung carpeting on a wall to create a fresh space to display photography exhibits; used green and white paint to freshen up and lighten up the building (from its original dark taupe color), and put in some new LED lighting.

Part of their goal was to create a more open feel to the building.

Much to their delight, when they asked the fair board if they would put on a new roof to replace the one that was leaking, they approved the roof and the expense.

Some professionals helped them design the interior and update the lighting.

-Farm News photo by Karen Schwaller
Evan Storley, of the Spencer Sparks 4-H Club, rolled out carpet that would be placed on the wall next to him and serve as the new "face" of the 4-H photography exhibit area. Storley is one of the committee leaders of this project, and was instrumental in getting other clubs and entities on board with their vision of a new and improved building interior.

Historic summer flooding in Spencer made it impossible for 4-H’ers to obtain new glass for the front of some of the display cases, since some of those Spencer businesses are not yet open. That will be on hold until those businesses can be part of that project.

Club members said the project has gone better than they imagined. It’s also morphing into something they had hoped would happen.

“We’re learning a lot of skills about construction, managing teams and bringing people together,” said Storley. “It’s a big life lesson and I think people are realizing it’s a frustrating project, but it’s fun at the end of the day.”

Palmer said leadership is at the forefront of the project for him. When he asks someone what decision they should make, they come back with, “What decision do you think we should make?”

Palmer said this project is changing the 4-H building into a place that offers an “experience,” which he said is appealing to him and to others.

“With this project, we want people to say they want to stop back in here next year,” he said. “I’m happy we’re repurposing the building instead of bulldozing and rebuilding.”

Big-picture impact

Besides bringing 4-H’ers together to work as one large Clay County club and learn life skills together, Palmer said the impact of this project has been personal for him.

“I want people walking in here from the ages of 8 to 11, to see the building and be moved to join 4-H because they saw something cool that they want to learn how to do,” he said, adding that he wants to be able to be part of something that stands over time. “In theory, in 20 years I’ll be coming to the Clay County Fair and can tell my kids that I was part of remodeling this building.”

Storley and Palmer are confident that Phase 3 can be completed next year.

Leader perspective

Club leaders for the Spencer Sparks include Jalyce Storley, Lance Storley, Nancy Hoffman, Jamie Rusk-Blume and Kristin Schwenneker. Leaders for the Lincoln Lions include Justin Ball and Jennifer Palmer.

Jalyce Storley, co-leader for the Spencer Sparks, said the kids in that club were encouraged to try a bigger citizenship project after the success of the backpack project for Spencer Community Schools, which they did last year. They hoped to purchase 10 to 15, and raised enough money to purchase and stock 63 backpacks.

She said during their brainstorming on what they could do next, some of the kids said they had seen the state fair 4-H exhibit building and how nice it was, and wanted to bring that back to Spencer.

Storley said the Spencer flood was a stumbling block to progress this past summer, since some families of Clay County 4-H’ers were heavily impacted. She said they needed to stop and let families do what they needed to do at home before thinking about this project again.

“It’s OK to not be able to accomplish your goals, because the kids learn that when you grow up things aren’t always what you want them to be, and unforeseen circumstances play a part in that,” said Storley.

The clubs are working to support Clay County businesses as much as possible (especially) since the flooding, she said, knowing they will need their business as much as possible.

Storley said it’s the nature of 4-H to be competitive during the fair, but this project is bringing everyone together — members of various clubs mixing and working together, and leaders and parents from all participating clubs working with 4-H’ers from clubs other than their own.

Clay County 4-H clubs had 550 to 600 “sweat equity” hours in the project as of late August.

Moving into Phase 3 next year (the auditorium), they know the costs will be much higher — especially since they would like to help contribute toward the cost of window replacement there, too. They know they will need to do some serious fundraising and make the public aware of this renovation project. Those conversations will happen at club meetings starting in October.

Storley said this project has expanded 4-H’ers’ abilities to speak to adult groups. Some groups they’ve presented to include the Clay County Fair Board, the 4-H Endowment Committee, the Clay County Extension Council, other 4-H club leaders and more.

“It’s been fun to watch the kids present,” said Storley, adding that some 4-H’ers are ready and willing to step up to the plate, while others need to be encouraged.

Plenty of work is still on the docket before the Clay County 4-H clubs can say it’s completed, but so far the leaders say the kids are up for the challenge.

“4-H is unique because it helps kids look toward the future and helps get them out of the ‘now,'” said Storley. She said it can be hard to let go of the true leadership and decision-making and let the kids take responsibility for it.

Clubs helping to date include Spencer Sparks, Lincoln Lions, Meadow Motivators, Clay County Countrymen and Clay County Sharpshooters. More clubs may be forthcoming.

“It’s been fun to see our kids encouraging other 4-H’ers to get involved with this project — to have a peer come to them and say, ‘I think you should do this because you have a lot to offer and we need your help,'” said Storley. “It’s turning the older ones into mentors as they work with the younger ones, even if they don’t realize that’s happening.”