Ron Bower to be inducted into Iowa 4-H Hall of Fame

FAIRFIELD – Jefferson County 4-H’s Retention and Recognition Committee has nominated Ron Bower to be inducted into the Iowa 4-H Hall of Fame.

Few people in Jefferson County have been as involved in 4-H as Bower, who served as the county’s ISU Extension Director for 18 years from 1986 to 2004, as well as serving on the fair board. Bower’s service to 4-H stretches across the region, too, since he judges not just in Jefferson County but also in neighboring county fairs and at the state fair.

Heidi Pickard, a member of the committee, said Bower was chosen for this honor because he has been the “face of the fair” for several decades.

“He was director [of extension] when I was in 4-H,” Pickard said. “He was in 4-H, his children were in 4-H and one of his granddaughters was, too. We thought he was very deserving. He’s still a very important face of Jefferson County 4-H, and he needed to be honored for all the volunteering he’s done.”

Bower was presented with the surprise award while attending the Jefferson County Fair Queen Contest on June 26. The committee selected Bower back in March, and asked his family members to find a way to get him to the fair at that time on that day without him finding out why. That was no easy task, because Bower had a meeting to go to that night.

Bower’s son, Brent, told him they wanted to get together that night by going out to dinner, and then taking the family for a group photo in front of Bower’s tractor at the tractor show on the fairgrounds. Then, since they were at the fair already, Brent said they might as well stay and watch the queen contest.

“I said, ‘Boy I’ve got to go,’” Bower recalled telling Brent, since he didn’t want to be late for his meeting. “He said, ‘Let’s sit down a little bit. Five minutes, Dad.’”

Bower said he never suspected anything was up until his name was announced as this year’s nominee to the Iowa 4-H Hall of Fame. He couldn’t believe his ears.

“I thought, ‘Why me? Why would I be the one?’” he said. “I was quite honored and surprised.”

EARLY LIFE

Bower has lived in Jefferson County his entire life except during his time in the military. He grew up on a farm south of Lockridge.

“We were on a corn, cattle and hog farm,” Bower said. “I was born in 1941 and we didn’t raise soybeans to the extent we do today.”

Bower’s farm chores included milking cows, which he did not enjoy, and “slopping” the hogs, which was a “messy and stinky job” that involved letting yeast and oats ferment as part of the hogs’ ration.

His education began in a one-room schoolhouse in Round Prairie Township, and then he came to Fairfield for high school since Lockridge’s high school had closed by then. He joined 4-H in 1950 at age 9, and always knew that he wanted a career in agriculture. He attended Iowa State University and enrolled in its farm operation course since it was just two years, and decided after finishing it that he’d like to complete his bachelor’s degree, so he went back for another two years.

Before he could start on his career in ag, he spent 27 months in the U.S. Army, where he was an instructor in the artillery school in Fort Sill, Oklahoma. He taught fellow soldiers how to operate a 105 mm Howitzer, and in fact one of his students was Fairfield resident Chuck Espy. After those 27 months, Bower was released from active duty but remained on as a reserve for another six years, and was a company commander in Ottumwa.

“This was in the Vietnam era, and that was not well received with people in the U.S. They kind of looked down on us Vietnam vets, at least I felt they did,” Bower said. “Of my students who went [to Vietnam] as forward observers, unfortunately, some of them didn’t make it back.”

START AS EXTENSION DIRECTOR

After being discharged from active duty in 1966, Bower farmed for the next 20 years. He and his wife Jeanette had two children, the aforementioned Brent along with Carmen Farrand. He said the Farm Crisis of the 1980s convinced him it was time to change careers and find a job off the farm. He landed the position of Jefferson County ISU Extension Director, which he held for 18 years until 2004.

He said that 4-H has changed a lot over the years since the time he was in it in the 1950s.

“Back then, it was for rural youth,” he said. “4-H was always associated with home-ec and animals. Now, 4-H is for any youth who live in town, on a farm, urban area, wherever. The youth are the leaders of tomorrow, and in 4-H they get an opportunity to learn a lot about goals and how to be a good citizen.”

LIFE AS A JUDGE

Bower is judging at seven county fairs this summer, and will go to the Iowa State Fair early to judge exhibits from Aug. 5-7 before the fair officially starts on Aug. 8. He judges exhibits in science, engineering, mechanics and computers.

Bower said he participated in judging for the Greater Jefferson County Fair by interviewing the 4-H and FFA members who entered bottle animals, but he doesn’t like to judge other exhibits at the fair in his home county. He said he knows too many people here, and would rather someone else judge the youth in Jefferson County.

“The part I like best about judging is meeting 4-H members,” he said. “I just got done with Iowa County’s fair in Marengo, and every 4-H’er would shake my hand and tell me their name before they sat down with their exhibit. They were very polite.”

FAVORITE MEMORIES

Bower said his favorite memories from his time in 4-H were the time his 4-H Club was electing officers. He got sick and couldn’t attend, but that didn’t matter since he was still elected president anyway. His other favorite memory was taking his animals to the fair first thing in the morning since the barn stalls were first-come, first-served.

“We got up at 4 a.m. that Sunday morning, and we didn’t care if it was raining or messy, we were going to the fair,” he said.

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Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com

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