Kalvesta Implement 2019 4-H Sponsorships

Oct. 12 2019 News By Morgan Mendoza

Kalvesta Implement is a long time sponsor of our local 4-H program. We believe that 4-H plays an integral role in creating a future generation of confident and successful leaders. More importantly, we believe that it leaves a lasting impact on it's youth and their communities. We feel honored to get to play even a small role in that.

I recently sat down with one of our owners, Bruce Baldwin, to ask why he chose to sponsor 4-H. He said, "Many of us (including myself) have been in 4-H, had 4-H animals, and have participated in 4-H projects. The 4-H program teaches hands-on life and business skills beyond what you can receive in a traditional classroom environment."

There are many great parts of being a 4-H sponsor. However, my personal favorite is having the opportunity to get to know the kids. We love meeting them, hearing their stories, and watching their hard work come to fruition. The 4-H program is privileged to get to work with some amazing youth.

At the end of fair season, many of our kids send us letters as well as a tasty treat or two. Trust me when I say our hearts and our bellies are very grateful. We enjoy passing the letters around the office and learning more about the kids. So, I wanted to share a few of those letters with you as well.  I hope enjoy them as much as we did.

Some information has been omitted for privacy purposes. 

"Thank you for supporting my projects at the 2019 Hodgeman County Fair! Your donation helps me buy stock and supplies and feed them. I am already planning project(s) for the next year and my family plans to put money into a savings account for me. I am getting ready to start school. I will be in the 3rd grade and I am excited to play football. My favorite part about 4-H was camp and showing my horse, Midnight. I also bonded with my goat, Henry, and I hated to see her go... thank you for letting me keep her. With this being my first year in 4-H, my family and I had a lot of great help. We learned a lot and have so much more to learn. Thank you again for your support."

"This is a letter of appreciation for the Fair Premium you bid and made towards my 4-H Beef Steer Project during the Fair Livestock Sale. I am 8 years old, getting ready to enter 3rd grade, and am a member of the Pawnee Pioneers 4-H club of Hodgeman County 4-H. I am involved in the community, love to read, really enjoyed my projects this year, and appreciate all your support. My 1st year 2019 Beef Market Steer, Frank, was a weanling I purchased from my family and was great to learn with. I have much to improve and look forward to in the future. We were all pleased that he did so well in the Scan-O-Gram, which is encouragement to continue improving our small herd. The funds I received are going back into my savings account which I used to purchase Frank, his food, and supplies. I'll be able to do it all again for the 2020 fair year. I hope to please you with your investment towards me and my project. Your generosity and support means a lot to me and my family. I will do my best to keep learning and improving as a 4-H member for myself and our community."

"Thank you so much for your support of my 4-H projects. This year I took 2 Market Hogs, Breeding Gilt, Market Steer, Baking, Crafts, and also did Clothing Buymanship. My Steer, Willie, got Reserve Grand Champion and my Pig, Howie, got Grand Champion. I also really enjoyed working on my baking which I took a dutch apple pie that got Jr. Grand Champion. My dad also enjoyed this project a lot because he got to sample all my practice pies! For my Arts & Crafts I did acrylic paintings, string art, and made my own Harry Potter wand. This was my first year to do Buymanship and I loved picking out my outfit and plan on doing this project again next year. I'm getting ready to start the 6th grade and am excited to begin practicing Volleyball to be a Rec-League with my classmates. I also like to play the piano, read, and hang out with my friends."

"Thank you for your support of the Hodgeman County Fair. I really appreciate your sponsorship of my projects. This year I took to the fair 2 Market Hogs (Ash and Bullseye), Market Steer (Dragonite), Clothing Buymanship, 2 Rockets, and Arts & Crafts. I had so much fun at the fair with my friends and really enjoyed shooting my rockets off and showing my animals. I am going into the 3rd grade and am looking forward to this year to be playing Mini Horns football. We got to practice in our helmet and pads the other day and that made me really excited to play in our first game."