Hello world, welcome to WFHR's Rapid Support, probably brought to you by Crockett Sceptic
for this July 31st, 2025, have your host James here, or joined by our great friend Laura
Huber, 4-H Coordinator with UW Extension. Laura, really good to see you, really good
to have you in studio. How you doing? Ah, I'm doing great. Thanks for having me. We are
in the middle of busy summer, and I can't believe it's coming to an end.
I was joking with Laura a little bit. I wasn't sure that she'd be in, because how busy
you guys are. I just figured, oh, we'll talk next month or something like that. Maybe
when things set a little bit, but it's go time for the 4-H, and that's a wonderful
thing to be. That's a wonderful time to be a part of things, I imagine. I wanted to
talk a little bit if you don't mind. Tonight you have your 4-H swim night going out of
there. It's Aquatic Center. I love this event. I love swimming. I'm going to be honest.
I like 4-H and I like swimming, so it's a win-win to me. You bet. I hate to go back all
the time, but to the pandemic. So many of our young people, like our middle schoolers
right now, they were in second, third grade during the pandemic. Sometimes we might look
at something like a night celebrating 4-H at the Aquatic Center is just a foolish bunch
of silliness and fun, and while it can be that, it's actually a super important part
of what 4-H does, because we need to make sure that our young people feel comfortable and
safe with new people. They learn how to make friends. They can identify and meet with
caring adults who can help them get through. Sometimes the playground at school is the
best place to do that, and maybe sometimes it's just the swimming pool for 4-H. That's
a great place to help make all of that happen. It's a way to celebrate summer and just
get out and have fun. We've talked to you and I. I've talked about this with our friends
at the Y about how important it is for kids to be more and more comfortable and understand
water better and better, especially this time, specifically this time of year. That
part of it, I hope, goes without saying, but just in case, I think that's another noteworthy
thing about this event. It's great. Your point on this is so strong. I had not, of all
the things I overthink in this world. This is not one of those ones I had. When it comes
to things that kids missed out on, I think it's one of those ones that as adults, we need
to be more and more aware of going forward. You're right. Nobody likes to see word. Nobody
likes to talk about COVID or anything like that, but we experience it. We got through
it and we need to learn from it. So many of these things, we can only learn years removed
and having a chance to breathe and really take a look at these things with a wider lens.
Looking at it from that perspective, we have not done it nearly enough for those kids,
that age that you're talking about specifically, that we're in the COVID kids, and having more
events is great for them and they need that. They need that real one-on-one experience
and running into kids that they don't go to school with and so many of those things
that we're just, we're still getting a lot of this stuff back. I think that's something
that gets lost into shuffle sometimes, too.
Absolutely. With our overnight summer camps and our travel experiences and some of those
kinds of things, I think sometimes we take for granted how educational experiences can
be just stepping away from the normal. So what's it like to actually have to share a
room with somebody else that you don't really know? That's something that happens at camp.
It happens at our travel experiences like Discover Wisconsin. What's it like to have to
be in charge of your own where I am at what time? What's it like to have to pack your own
suitcase for camp or travel experiences? I think it's important for folks to understand,
like yes, 4-H is an educational program and sometimes when we think about educational
programs, we think about sit down, get your hands dirty, muck out the stall or decorate
the cake or whatever it might be and all of those things are but sometimes the fun is
the education as well because we're learning how to, maybe it's how to make friends, maybe
it's learning how to manage conflict when two people aren't getting along so well and
how can we do that with a great result at the end where both parties can walk away feeling
okay, right? And so I think one of the things that I appreciate about 4-H so much is that
it's kind of like an all-encompassing education. I'm not just caring about the hard skills.
I don't care if you know exactly how to hold that cake piping bag perfectly, right? I care
also about how you react when your project doesn't look the way you wanted it to look. I
care a lot about how you show respect and kindness to somebody who's trying to teach you.
I care so much about giving you an opportunity to share the skills that you have with somebody
else, right? So I don't know, it's just one of those things that I don't think people think
about right away when they think about education.
When we think about teaching anything, we don't really think about how important it is to
learn to fail and to get yourself up off the ground and pick yourself up after things
don't go right. And there's so many of those opportunities that happen with this. And then
there's so much else that there is no manual for. It's just things you learn as you grow
up and you interact with people. All those organic moments and everything that you really
can't... Well, I'm going to have my child experience this. Well, some stuff you can't
really plan for, they just got to happen. There's a lot of that that happens with these
events and it can really be fun for kids. As serious as I may be making it sound, it's
all about fun. It's all a great time. And you get to go not only that, but you get to
check out the aquatic center a little bit. And especially for kids that haven't gotten
to do that a lot or anything. So that's a really fun time.
You know, a few weeks ago, we were on this travel experience with middle schoolers called
Discover Wisconsin. We got them all on a bus and we all headed over to Eastern Wisconsin.
We rented a county private lake. It's called Ashwabame. And I watched a young lady climb
up the ladder for the high dive. And you could kind of physically see her shaking. And she
walked back down the ladder. And then I watched her kind of pace back and forth at the base
there. And later, I watched her go off the low dive. And then I watched her go off the
high dive. And so nobody interfered with that process. But afterwards, I went up to
it and I said, you know what? I want you to know how proud I am of you. Because I saw
your struggle. And I saw you get through that. And I think you did a phenomenal job working
through that, right? And so those sorts of things can happen at the aquatic center with
the slides and all of the things that they have there. And I want families to know that
I am noticing, right? I am watching and I am celebrating those wins with children. Because
those wins need to be recognized, especially when I witnessed the fail first. And I say,
you know what? I saw you didn't give up. That's perseverance. That is strength. That is
bravery. That is so much that is going to help that young person succeed. I second everything
you said there. And I appreciate you sharing that story. I would like to also mention that
I think it's just as valuable you taken the time to say that to her and giving her that
moment. We need to do that more for young people as well. I am not a believer in the everybody
gets a trophy day kind of thing. Because kids earn trophies already. They don't need to be
handed one. They don't need one for no reason. Watch them. Watch what they're doing. They're
going to accomplish something in that day that's like, Hey, here's a great, here's a big
gold star. Here's an award. And note that. Make sure that they know how much that is
accomplishment. They're kids. They don't have the time perspective that we do of how much
it means to get yourself up off the mat when you fail and that. They're just in the middle
of it. And sometimes it's a, it's a beautiful thing that they don't realize what they're
accomplishing in some ways. But it's on us as adults to kind of note that and give them
build up that confidence as much as help them realize, Hey, you just did something really
cool there. That's awesome. And thank you for sharing that. That was really hard. And
you did it. And that's amazing. Really cool. Sure. Our mateys next week pirate day camp
for you that in four of each four grades with 45 youth and coming. I'm just, I had
to Laura. I'm sorry. I apologize to everybody right now. But we, I want to talk about pirate
week. Yeah. So I'm going to tell you the party camp. Yeah. Um, this year we've always let
people know that everybody is welcome to our programs, whether they are members of our
four age program or not. And I don't know. Maybe it's the excitement over the thought of
being able to talk like a pirate or something. But the programs we've had this summer have
had a record number of non four age members coming. And it's something that I am stupidly
proud of. Can I tell you that? Because sometimes four ages scene is this like, Oh, it's, it's
multi generational. Like my parents were in it. My grandparents in it. My great grandma
started the club that I belong to or whatever else. But you know what? Anyone can join four
age at any time, regardless of age grade, all of those kinds of things. And so of our 45
youth coming to pirate camp, we have five of them that are not four age members. And
it might seem silly, but I am so excited by that. Yeah. Um, because first of all, it means
that something caught their eye. Mm hmm. And it caught their excitement. And they want
to send their kids to pirate camp where they get to walk the plank. We're going to be
at Northwood County Park. Um, and so if you've ever been to Northwood County Park, you
know that bridge over the river. And you know how it bounces and shakes as you cross over.
So silly, but big adventure for some young kids. Definitely. That's going to be cool.
Oh, that's, oh, you're, you know, part of that is awesome. Yeah. And so like our programs
also pull in other dynamics too. So, um, the science pieces, um, the engineering pieces,
the kids are going to be designing and testing pirate chips. Um, it might be on a small
scale, right? When you're not actually going to be going and committing piracy on the
river or anything like that. Probably a good idea. Um, but we, we pull in the games. We
pull in the activities that involve arts. They involve sciences. Um, so our young people
are learning so much. Mm hmm. Without even realizing that they're learning. They think
they're there for a really fun day. And they are, but they are getting these lessons that
are going to come back and help them in the future, which I really think is a ton of fun.
Like, I don't mean to be working through trickery, but that's kind of what it feels like
sometimes. Yes, yes, yes, yes, 100%. Uh, and, and I love it. I love, I, and I'll say this
too, when I was a kid looking back and at things, I loved it. I, I loved learning. And I think
most kids do. And this is a great way of fun way of doing it too. Uh, that is going to be a
great time now. Are, are people able to still be a part of this? Are they able to still,
or you guys all locked up for it? So I think for this one, um, we need to be locked down. Um,
yeah. Normally I would allow more people in, but, um, we have rules in terms of like how many
adults we have to have for kids. I had to go scrounging around for extra 4-H volunteers to come
and help because we have so many, our normal day camp would be 15 to 20 kids. We are more than
double. Um, and so I'm so excited to be welcoming some folks. But you know what, next week,
we are going to be at the Rapids Downtown Farmers Market on Thursday. Cool. So if, uh, you want to
kind of get a taste of what 4-H hands-on learning is like, come and visit our, um, we'll have a booth
where usually right next to the managers, um, tent at the farmers market when we're there. So we
will be there on the seventh. Um, I think we're going to be there from eight to one. So, um, stop on
by. Kids of all ages are welcome at the booth. Um, the 4-H program itself starts at kindergarten
and goes through high school. But when you see us out and about in the community, come on by your
two-year-olds and your three-year-olds and everybody are welcome. Those activities we set up are
really, um, all age appropriate. Even if we do have to give those younger kids a little bit more
adult help. And you, you get a part of things now and maybe you can be a part of the next year's
and then some things like that. Sure. And even be ready for the, uh, August in the Central
Wisconsin State Fair, one of the bigger events I imagine for the 4-H. You guys are going to be there
this year. Absolutely. Absolutely. I was going to say we're there every year. But, um, because we have
Trina, um, serving through AmeriCorps with us this summer, we're really able to do more in terms
of hands-on activities. Cool. So, the fair is a great family activity. But I recognize that it's
a really expensive endeavor for a lot of families to go to. Not only is there, you know, the admission,
but the food and the drinks and all of the kinds of stuff and the rides like, wow, really expensive.
So, um, the junior fair building is where our headquarters is and we're going to be offering
free hands-on activities throughout the week. So, anybody can participate, right? You don't have
to be a 4-H member. Um, and in addition to the, like, just the fun kind of activities,
this year we've got two community service projects that we want to invite everybody to get
involved in as well. Can we talk about those a little bit? Because I let the audience know I have
the notes here and I was really excited to talk about these with you. I think this is such a
cool idea to do with the kids. Yeah. So, and, and, you know, what? Kids and adults, we welcome everybody
to come on in. Yes. So, if there's something that you're interested in, please sit on down with us.
But the first one is, um, the never forgotten honor flight mission number 53 leaves in September.
And, um, talking with a few folks who have been able to experience the honor flight,
mail call is a really important piece to them. It's a really cool part. So, um,
join us in the junior fair building and you can make a card, you can write a letter, you know,
whatever you want to do. And we're going to get those up, um, to Wasa so that our, um,
friends who get to go to Washington, D.C., and see the memorials that were created for them
for the service that they put in. Um, they're going to have some kind of some cool letters and
cards and things to start their experience off. Um, so again, free of charge, come on down and
write a letter, make a card, whatever it is. With, uh, both of these things we're going to talk
about here, they are not only great things for the kids to do and the people that are receiving them
are going to be over to the moon, thankful and appreciative and all that. And hopefully that
goes without saying, but I do like to note all of these things we've been talking about,
especially these latter things that we're getting into, they are more and more experiences for
kids to see adults asking them to do something for another adult, for oftentimes a stranger.
And what is going to get them more likely to do that as an adult? These kind of actions, seeing
their parents, seeing the people they look up to, seeing that they, they admire, um, going out
of their way to help our veterans or going out of way to help others in need. They're more likely
when they become adults to do that by seeing us do it. Those brains are sponges. Let's fill
them with some good. Let's fill them with some good activities and some doing some good in our
communities. And we raise more and more kids wanting to put into their community. Absolutely.
I appreciate that. I appreciate you thinking of this. That's, it's an add-on. It's, it's
something that's above and beyond what you, like you do a lot with the 4-H. Um, that's a great
part. And then this next one, something I hadn't even thought of before. And I appreciate you
bring attention to for people like me that hadn't thought about something like this. Let alone what
the kids are going to be making. That's a really cool idea. Sure. So, um, the Marshfield Clinic Health
Systems Volunteer Services puts out like a list of things that they would really appreciate that
can kind of help make patients experiences better. Um, and would County 4-H got this fantastic
fabric donation of, um, flannels. So we're going to, we're going to appreciate the donation
that we received. We're going to teach some basic sewing skills. We're going to have sewing
machines set up at the fair, my friends. Wow. And you can come in, learn some basic sewing skills
with me and make ice pack holders for patients at the hospital. And, um, these bags, we've got
fabric for everybody because they are not just for kids. They're, you know, in all of the departments,
they use these ice pack holders. Um, so I just think why not, right? Um, and I think about
paying it forward, right? Wood County 4-H got a great donation. And rather than just using that
for the well-being of our own program or whatever, let's, let's pass it along. Yeah.
Um, everybody who's coming, maybe they already know how to sew and they just need some
downtime at the sewing machine. Sure. Yeah. By all means. Um, maybe they're kind of sewing curious.
They've, they've always kind of wondered and they don't know how well sit down with me.
I would love to work at the sewing machine with you. Um, and it's always so cool to see how
appreciative folks at the hospital are. Yeah. It feels a little homey. I was just going to say,
I think that a lot of us have been in those situations with the loved one or maybe yourself,
where, you know, there's so many different wide variety of things they need these ice packs for.
And you get that and you're sitting there. And, um, most hospitals, if not all the ones
surrounding this area that I've been and I've been in all of them, um, are nice. They do a good
job. They have great people there. They're, they're well, um, you know, lit up in things,
but they still ain't home. They don't, they don't feel like they're, you know, there's nothing
they can do for that. But these little things, you're right. They have that little homey feel to them.
They make us feel a little more like, um, they were a person and we're not just there to, you know,
like, um, check in the oil and the car or something. And that's nothing against the healthcare
industry. And I'm like, that's just the way the system is and the way, you know, it feels for all
of us. I imagine for them as well, it just goes so much farther than I think we realize, even I
hadn't realized until I was reading the notes this morning and thinking about it and like,
oh, that does go a long way. That, that really is a cool thing. And I didn't know about the paying
it forward part. Great idea. That's a really cool idea. Well, thanks. You know what? Like, um,
the 4-H pledge, we're pledging our heads, we're pledging our hearts, we're pledging our hands
and we're pledging our health, right? To the betterment of ourselves, our community, our world,
right? Like, that's really what we're all about. And sometimes we just need to think intentionally,
how do we make things happen? We can't just assume that kids are going to learn how to interact with
others, how they can impact their world, how they can interact with local governments or even great,
right? Like, we need to think about how to teach these things to kids. And again, trying to make
sure that we do it in a fun and approachable way. Yeah. All of these things we've been talking about
with 4-H, I can only imagine is encourage a lot of people to want to learn more or even enroll
their kids. And we got something, it's right around the corner enrollment. So, it's a perfect time
to start thinking about that. The beginning of the school year, you know, September that is also
the beginning of the 4-H year. So, if you're curious and you want to learn more about 4-H,
you can always reach out to me. Our office is in the courthouse. So, if you feel like stop and buy
some, they feel free. Stop on buy and let's talk. Otherwise, you can call me, you can email me,
you can check us out on social media, you can check us out on our website. Like, there's lots of
ways to get a hold of us. So, let me start with sharing my phone number. If you want to get a hold
of me, I'm at 715-421-8439, or you can email me at Laura.laurray.heuber. That's HUB
Beas & Boy, ER at whiskwic.edu. And actually, I found that the social media pieces, our Facebook
page and our Instagram page have become really important. So, you know, check us out on those spaces
and keep in mind if you ever, if you're driving around or something, you need to get that again.
We'll get it to you. Reach out to us. You can also go to their website. We'll get that to you
before wrap up because I did have one more thing. I wanted to pick your brain about Laura if you
don't mind a little bit. We've been covering this as a station, you know, the budget and budget cuts
and a lot of those things. And we understand that our nonprofits are, they've always been
underfunded, but now more than ever in many ways. And we're trying to bring as much attention
to that as we can. I know that you at 4-H, you guys have your calendar raffle that you do.
And this is a big part of the fundraising that is done in keeping 4-H healthy and thriving.
I wanted to touch on that a little bit. So, it's not only about keeping 4-H healthy and thriving,
it's keeping it affordable for families because everything is getting so expensive. And I don't
ever want families to have to decide between meals, mortgages and all of those sorts of things
and letting their kids experience 4-H, right? So, the calendar raffle program that we've got going
on right now, it's got a really tiny window. Our tickets are on sale this August because our
first drawing is September 2nd. The smallest price is $100 and the largest price is 300. And
every single dollar that is, you know, from the ticket sales is going directly into the education
programs because all of the prize money was donated by some really generous people in businesses
around Wood County. Big shout out to them. Absolutely. So, the tickets are $10. If you win, your ticket
goes right back into the drawing again. So, there's chances to win more than one time. It's crazy
when people do that. I know I've never used to that, that you could win and make your tickets to
like it's awesome. That's awesome. That's awesome. And so, this program, I mean, it is funding camp,
it is fun, like whether it's overnight summer camp or if it's day camps, it's funding our programs
like project discovery day and creative arts day, day camps, travel experiences, scholarships to
help families who can't afford to send their kids on those things. Usually I call them camperships,
but people don't know what that means. I do like that. That's a good term. So, it really is,
all of these dollars are going directly into the programs that our kids are doing. No overhead,
all education. This is one of the bigger impacts you can make on the future when it comes to helping
our kids and doing anything involving them. And just by getting that raffle ticket, you're
able to know you're doing that. You bet. So, we have them on sale in the extension office at the
courthouse, but they're also for sale throughout the community with Wood County 4-H volunteers
and youth members. Encourage you to find out more, get those tickets and get your kids involved
in 4-H everybody. You can find out more by going to 4-H.extension.wisk.edu. You can also find them
in social media, throw into your search bar with County 4-H should pop right up for you. And
again, Laura, you gave me your contact information. So, reach out to her that way. Really do appreciate
all the effort. Everything you and the team does at 4-H. Thank you so much for that. And thanks
for joining us. Thanks for helping us spread the word. We'll talk again real soon. And we'll talk
with you real soon. Thank you for joining us. Everybody, a big thank you to Croc. It's
septic for sponsoring another edition of WFHR's Rapid Support.
