Celebrating History and Making History All at the Same Time

One of the best times of the 4-H year is when we have the opportunity to do something sincerely special for our 4-H volunteers to say thank you for all their work during the year. Our annual 4-H Volunteer Appreciation Banquet is that night we do all of this and this year's celebration was something extra special. Which seems appropriate for a group of extra special people.

We kicked off the event with Robeson County Extension Director Everett Davis bringing everyone together and getting the pledges underway with the help of our 4-H volunteer Deborah Mitchell and Tanya Underwood a 4-H volunteer and Chairperson of our 4-H specialized Committee. Then we cut straight to the sweet stuff. Our three tiered centennial 4-H birthday cake greeted our volunteers and guests when they entered the room. Our special guests from Raleigh and here at home did the ceremonial lighting and cutting of the cake to kick off our celebration. Our District Director Clinton McRae, Sharon Rowland with the Development Fund, Everett Davis our Robeson County Extension Director and Dr. Marshall Stewart, Department Head, State Program Leader, Department of 4-H Youth Development and Family & Consumer Sciences had the honor of slicing into the cake. "Oh, it's a real cake," exclaimed Everett Davis as the knife sliced into the bottom tier. After some special introductions of people it was off to the buffet line to get the food catered by Kay's Catering in Pembroke. Our menu included baked chicken, ham, string beans, rice pilaf, yams and assorted desserts. Of course our volunteers and guests also had the opportunity to partake in our extra special homemade birthday cake, baked and decorated by our 4-H Agent herself.

After dinner it was time for greetings from N. C. State and N. C. A&T Universities delivered by our District Director Clinton McRae. And Commissioner Hubert Sealy brought greetings on behalf of the Robeson County Commissioners. Clinton McRae introduced our special speaker for the evening Dr. Marshall Stewart. Dr. Stewart spoke to our volunteers about the importance of what they do for our youth in the county and expressed to them that giving their time is one of the greatest gifts they can give to our youth because they are providing them opportunities that the youth would other wise not experience. These experiences are shaping their futures and providing them them positive educational opportunities that will make a difference in their lives.

After feeling motivated and receiving inspiration from the speech it was time for another history making motivator designed expressly for our volunteers. Everett Davis announced the Dr. Eddie and Mrs. Brenda Locklear 4-H Endowment. This endowment is named for Dr. Eddie Locklear who is a past Robeson County 4-H Agent, went on to become a specialist at the state level and is currently working on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) curriculum areas on the national level. It is also named for his wife Brenda who has sacrificed and supported him through his career and he says he would not have accomplished all he has if it had not been for her and her support. This endowment will support the Robeson County 4-H Volunteer Hall of Fame. Each year one deserving 4-H Volunteer will be chosen to receive this honor, from nomination forms received during the year. Their photo and a plaque, describing their accomplishments, will be posted in our Hall of fame. The wall will be able to hold 30 years worth of recipients and then we hope to expand to the next wall. Along with this honor the recipient will receive a check and plaque for this honor. Dr. Locklear and his wife Brenda said hat they could not think of a better way to support the program than giving back to our volunteers because without them we would not be able to do all that we do. He thanked the staff and his numerous family members who were there to share in this historic occasion with him. Sharon Rowland then brought everyone forward for the official signing of the endowment. Mr. Bill Willford, past county director who actually hired Dr. Locklear as the 4-H Agent and helped raised some of the funds that are being used for this endowment also joined us on stage, for photos. If you would like to support this endowment please contact the 4-H office at (910) 671-3276 for more information.

Then it was time for the real reason for the evening the honoring and saying thank you to our volunteers. We called our volunteers up by their years of service and gave them certificates, 4-H calendars and a small gift with the centennial logo on it. We also gave special gifts to those recognizing their milestone years of 5, 10, 15 and 20 years.

We hope our volunteers had a wonderful evening and want to thank all of our guests for attending. The support of the Locklear family and the thanks shown to our volunteers this night was incredible. Thank you to everyone for making this a history making event.