FLORIDA MEMORIES FROM A FLORIDA NATIVE BY TOM ROUTZONG -
My Years in 4-H
When I was 10 years old I joined the 4-H Club of Brevard and had many different animal projects - everything from cows to chickens. My best friend during all these great years was “Billy” Nelson of Melbourne. Bill has served our country in Washington for many years. He was even an astronaut for NASA. Every summer Bill and I attended the State 4-H Short Course at the University of Florida and were roommates. During this time Bill was elected State President and I was the State Reporter. We both always entered public speaking contests and of course Bill always won first place and most of the time I came in second.   My activities in 4-H were the highlights of my teenage years. One of these was a program that the local Kiwanis Club started. This program was for members who met the requirements to be a part of this program. They purchased a Black Angus calf and gave it to a 4-H member with the agreement that the first female calf would go back to the program so she could be given to another 4-H member. I was the first one to get this project going. They gave me a young calf that I raised and even showed in local and state shows. Her legal name was Princess Blackbird of Tooth Acres. She came from a ranch owned by a dentist.  It was during my 4-H years that I got my first summer job with other members air-laying Leechee Nut Trees on Merritt Island. These were huge trees that grew like a ball so to do our air-laying you had to crawl under the tree and lay on your back and work on the branches above you. Needless to say it was hot and humid since the branches went all the way to the ground no breeze got to us. When I finished high school I found out about the Peace Corp needing former 4-H members to join and go to South America and help set up 4-H programs. I applied and was accepted and assigned to Belize. Bill Nelson wrote a letter of recommendation which follows.  I had not talked to my parents about this at all so when my mother heard about me going to South America she pitched a fit. She even wrote to the Peace Corp headquarters in Washington and told them I was in poor health . After seeing how upset she was, I did not accept the position and regret not going to this day. This ended my time in the 4-H Club as college stepped in and took over. I do still remember after 60 years that the four H’s stand for your head, heart, health and hands.  FLORIDA MEMORIES FROM A FLORIDA NATIVE BY TOM ROUTZONG Tom Routzong shares memories of old Florida Copyright 2019 Tom Routzong Contact Tom at: Sunny Harbor Publishing 321-252-9874 SunnyHarborPublishing@yahoo.com  |
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