Sun nearly sets on county 4-H club

Alicia Robinson

A group of Orange County 4-H club members have saddled up to a happy

ending after reaching the brink of being shut down this week.

The 60-member Orange Villa Buckaroos have been based at the Orange

County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa for two years, though the club is

about 35 years old. A Sept. 27 letter from Orange County 4-H

officials to Buckaroos club leader Teresa Dayton said the club would

be discontinued this month because of “continued complaints from

other 4-H leaders at the local, regional and state levels regarding

the transition of leadership in the Orange Villa Buckaroos.”

The decision to disband the club was reversed Monday night when

more than 40 parents and club members showed up for a meeting with

John Kabashima, county director for UC Cooperative Extension, which

charters and administrates 4-H clubs.

“There were some issues that need to be worked on,” said Jennie

Thomas, 4-H youth development program representative. “I think that

we’re seeing a good resolution that came out of a difficult situation

for this club.”

4-H is a youth-education program, run in conjunction with the

Department of Agriculture, which is now more than 100 years old.

Largely known for its focus on agriculture and animal husbandry, it

also teaches children about technology and civic involvement.

The nature of the club’s alleged problems wasn’t clear, members

and their parents said. Parents heard rumors about issues with a

previous club leader, who left in the spring, said parent Elaine

Watrous of Orange, whose 14-year-old daughter Kari is a member.

Kabashima on Monday said he’d had complaints from some other 4-H

clubs that Buckaroos members had not followed the rules of some horse

shows they entered.

An overwhelming number of parents and club members said they want

to keep the club intact, and Kabashima agreed. The club also will add

co-leaders to help Dayton, a former club member who assumed the reins

in March.

“Most clubs do have more than one key person that helps lead,”

Thomas said. “It’s a lot of work for one person to do on their own.”

Dayton, of Yorba Linda, said she’s happy about the prospect of

help with running the club.

“When I first took over, it was supposed to be a temporary job,”

she said.

The club will begin its enrollment for the year and will continue

to hold meetings at the Orange County Fairgrounds, Watrous said.

While she and other parents are glad to see the issue resolved,

some of them thought it was a good civics lesson for the young club

members, who voiced their opposition to having their club closed and

successfully negotiated a compromise.

“It ended really positive and everybody’s happy,” Watrous said. “I

think the story is, the youth fight the state of California and win.”