State’s largest youth development program reports 5,586 volunteers in the past year

MANHATTAN, Kan. – A Shawnee County woman who helped a youngster overcome allergies to be able to show sheep and goats, and a Harvey County woman who says she’s inspired by the joy she sees in youngsters’ faces when they win awards for their projects, have received recognition from the Kansas 4-H Youth Development program as outstanding volunteers.

Kate Langworthy of Topeka is the 2024 Kansas 4-H Volunteer of the Year, while Lisa Golubski of Newton has received the 2024 Outstanding Lifetime Volunteer Award.

The Kansas 4-H program, which has its headquarters on the Kansas State University campus in Manhattan, reports that 5,586 Kansans provided direct volunteer service in the program year that ended on Sept. 30, 2024.

“Volunteers are critical to our organization; we can not deliver the 4-H program without them,” said Kansas 4-H Youth Development Program Leader Sarah Maas, noting that the 2024 North Central Regional 4-H Volunteer Survey indicates that the top reasons volunteers give their time is to make a difference in their communities and support their children.

More than 90% of those who responded to the survey reported that they taught youth new skills and had planned learning experiences. Also, 88% said they had made a connection within their community as a result of their volunteer experience.

Kansas 4-H Volunteer of the Year

Langworthy has volunteered for the Silver Lake 4-H Club each year since 2018. She said she’s inspired by having had adults who helped during her own 4-H years: “I want to repay the investments that were made in me.”

Langworthy has volunteered for the county fair, a livestock sale, craft fair, Operation Christmas Child, homecoming float committee and more. She has mentored youth who have documented the history of the club and helped youth prepare for speech competitions and presentations.

She is also a trainer for officer leader training and co-superintendent of the Round Robin Showmanship competition.

Langworthy recalls a time when a young girl wanted to show sheep and goats in the showmanship event, but was allergic to both animals. Langworthy and her sister – who were the superintendents – developed a scoring metric to designate points for knowledge and handling that allowed the youngster to participate safely.

“The real value of volunteerism is helping to form productive adults,” Langworthy said. “Youth who build relationships, learn skills and engage in their community become adults who do the same, and those are the building blocks of a successful society. Volunteers who invest time and energy into teaching the next generation are figuratively and literally shaping the world of the future.”

“I credit my time in 4-H as a large part of my success in my personal and professional life, and to have my contribution to the futures of others recognized is a wonderful feeling.”

2024 Outstanding Lifetime Volunteer

Anne Pitts, the Harvey County 4-H and Human Development agent, says she wouldn’t be able to reach the number of youth the county does without volunteers like Golubski.

“Lisa is a great volunteer and one that I can call upon to help work out problems,” Pitts said.

Golubski was a nine-year 4-H member with the Neosho Valley 4-H Club in Morris County, and has been the 4-H leader or co-leader in Harvey County since 2013.

“I am very humbled and honored to receive this award,” she said. “4-H was an extremely important part of my life growing up, so I am thrilled that I get to witness and assist other families that choose 4-H to be part of their lives.”

In 2017, Golubski helped to lead her club through a merger with another club. She is lauded by 4-H members and families for her organizational skills, as well as a commitment to community service, leadership, knowledge and fellowship.

She has helped to lead or organize such events as Club Days, the county achievement banquet, the county food booth, Taste of Newton Fundraiser Dough Maker and various family recruiting events.

“With 4-H, I think one of the neatest and most joyful parts of volunteering comes in a couple of ways,” Golubski said. “The first is when new families with young children decide to join 4-H. The children are often shy or quiet…seeing these young ones overcome those fears and develop confidence as motion makers or even club officers is awesome to witness.”

“The second part that comes to mind is the pure joyfulness the 4-Hers of all ages get when they have earned a blue or purple ribbon. That definitely never gets old.”

To learn more about opportunities available to Kansans through 4-H, visit www.kansas4-h.org.

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FOR PRINT PUBLICATIONS: Links used in this story

Kansas 4-H Youth Development, www.kansas4-h.org

K‑State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the well‑being of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county extension offices, experiment fields, area extension offices and regional research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K‑State campus in Manhattan. For more information, visit www.ksre.ksu.edu. K-State Research and Extension is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

Story by:

Pat Melgares

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More information:

Sarah Maass

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As I am writing this column I glanced at my weather app on my phone and it has no rain chances for at least the next 10 days. It’s important for trees, shrubs, turf and perennials to go through fall and into winter with a moist soil. Since we’ve had an extremely dry period, it is a good idea to thoroughly water young trees, shrubs, and evergreens before the soil freezes. It won’t hurt to water your large established trees too.

Roots do not go dormant as quickly as the above growth. While the tops of plants go dormant or stop growing as it cools down, roots continue to grow throughout the fall and even into December if the soil temperatures are warm enough.

To encourage fall root growth, provide adequate moisture until the soil freezes. Check the soil around your trees. If the top few inches are dry, moisture is needed. For trees and shrubs, moisten the soil to a depth of eight to 12 inches or more while taking care not to overwater. Lawn grass only requires about six to eight inches of moist soil going into the winter.

A long screwdriver is an excellent tool to measure soil moisture. If you can push the screwdriver into the soil easily, this indicates the soil is moist. However, if you can still push the screwdriver in but meet resistance, this indicates the soil is dry. After a rain, it may be easy to push a screwdriver in the soil a few inches, then becomes more difficult. This indicates how far the rain infiltrated into the soil.

Keep in mind roots are less cold hardy than stems. Roots surrounded by moist soil are less likely to suffer cold temperature injury because moist soil holds more heat than dry soil. Frost penetration is deeper and soil temperatures are colder in sandy or dry soils.

When twigs and stems die in a tree or shrub, we are aware it’s happening. When roots die, we cannot see the dead roots and are not aware roots are dying. This could be one explanation why one tree establishes quickly while another is slow to establish or dies.

Plants going into winter with adequate fall moisture are also less likely to suffer damage from winter drying. Plant tissue, particularly the green needles of evergreens, can lose moisture during winter. Most moisture is lost on warm, sunny, windy winter days.

Moisture lost from plants during winter cannot be replaced by the roots, either because the soil is frozen or because roots do not function at soil temperatures below 40 degrees F. This is why fall moisture, either from rain or irrigation, is important.

When woody plants go into winter water stressed, their tissue can be killed by winter drying. This is easy to see on evergreens when needle tips, or entire branches turn brown in late spring. Some evergreens survive and new growth covers up the damaged growth. Other evergreens are killed by winter desiccation.

The leaf and flower buds on deciduous plants, those that drop their leaves, as well as small twigs on woody ornamentals may be killed by winter desiccation. This can result in sparse flowering or leafing. Plants may be forced to produce secondary buds which uses stored food within the plant and may lead to stress.

So, keep the soil around trees, shrubs, turf and perennials moist up until the soil freezes and water if necessary. A good way to water trees and shrubs is to take a soaker hose and lay it upside down around the dripline or tips of where the branches extend because this is where most of the roots that take up water are located. Building a water-holding dike several feet away from the trunk does little to meet that tree’s soil moisture needs. The large roots near the trunk provide stability, but take up very little water or nutrients.

If dry conditions continue into late fall, irrigation can continue monthly from October through December or until the ground freezes.

Mulch trees and shrubs with a two to four inch layer of wood chip mulch to help conserve soil moisture. Keep the mulch a foot away from the trunk to avoid voles making a home in the mulch and gnawing on the trunk. It’s also important mulch layers are not too deep. Roots that grow into the mulch will be killed by cold winter temperatures, further stressing a tree.