4-H Decade
Photos and story by Jerry Hostetler
Funnel cakes, carnival rides, cows, dust, mud, tractor pulls, and model rockets. These
are just a few of the things that have been a part of the LaGrange 4-H Fair for at least the last
ten years. An even more important part of the 4-H fair are the young men and women that have
participated in 4-H for the last ten years. These young people were honored at the opening day
of this year’s LaGrange County Fair for their service in 4-H.
Featured are the six Westview students in this category, all 2012 graduates.
Kyle Baker
Kyle Baker was Grand Champion
in the Market Breeding Doe category
for goats, this year. He has also shown
swine, rabbits, poultry, arts and crafts
projects, and garden projects. He
enjoyed a ten-year reign being named
Grand Champion in the Garden Project
category. Additionally, Kyle has been
named Tops in 4-H in 2012 and Master
Achiever in 4-H in 2011.
Reflecting on 4-H, Kyle said, “I
became interested in 4-H because my
brother, Aaron, who is three years my
elder, took a few projects before I ever
did. Also, my father is an Ag teacher
and he has always been involved with
the 4-H fair, so it’s pretty well been in
the family.”
Kyle plans to study electrical
engineering, with a specialty in “green
energy”, at Purdue University next fall.
“If I can incorporate that into something ag related, that would be great,”
Kyle said.
Haley Lee
Haley Lee of Shipshewana has
been actively involved in various facets
of 4-H including goats, cows and baking, to name a few. Haley has been
around animals, of all kinds, all of her
life.
Both her mom and dad, Byron and
Suzanne Lee, are veterinarians. Haley
has spent a lot of time at the vet clinic
with them.
Haley plans to be attend Purdue University this fall, following in
the footsteps of her parents and her
brother Zach. However, she plans to
major in Psychology.
Emily House
Emily House has been a member
of the Topeka Happy Workers 4-H
Club. She specialized in child development projects and received many
grand champion awards.
pg 16 · The Hometown Treasure · August ‘12
She has taken many of her projects to the Indiana State Fair. Her
favorite memories of the 4-H fair are
running around the fairgrounds, interacting with the animals, presenting her projects, and watching the
children respond to the fun activities
she had as part of her projects.
Emily’s future plans are to attend
Ivy Tech College in the fall where
she will be pursuing an Associate’s
degree in Early Childhood Education.