Remarks by Dr. Joe Kurth at 4-H update of 12-3-09 attended by 140 consisting of
4-H agents, state 4-H staff and District Directors
Since we don’t get together like this very often, I want to take this opportunity to
talk with you about something that will be happening within the next several
months. You will recall that, at last spring’s KAE4-HA spring meeting at the
leadership center, I told you that Dr. Henning had asked me to extend my post-
retirement appointment for another year to August 1 of 2010, and that I was
honored to accept his invitation to do so.
Though Dr. Henning has made it clear that he would welcome my continuing
another year past August 1 or even more, I want to confirm with you today that I
have declined his kind offer and will end my post-retirement appointment and
leave my position as Assistant Director for 4-H Youth Programs effective August
1, 2010. This is not goodbye, as we will still have several months working
together, but I wanted to be sure to give you advance notice of my decision.
Karen Ramage will talk with you and seek your feedback on the near future when
I have finished my remarks.
I began my career in 4-H youth development programs in 1976—many of you
were not born yet then, were you?—as a 4-H agent serving two counties in
Missouri. I have had the honor and privilege of being the State 4-H Director in
Idaho, Washington State, Iowa and, since July of 2003, Kentucky, making it 24
years as an administrator, the longest tenure of any State 4-H Director in the
nation. Apparently, I had a hard time keeping a job.
The seven years I will have spent with you here in Kentucky have truly been the
highlight of my career. After just the first year with you, traveling the state and
getting to know all of you, I thought I had died and gone to 4-H heaven!
So this is a decision I do not take lightly. While I am really just a country boy
from rural Illinois who grew up as a member of the Tip Top Troupers 4-H club at
Center Hill School in the 50’s and 60’s, I know that the position I am privileged to
hold as your leader is a sacred one that has significant importance in the
Extension system and even to the Commonwealth, but most importantly to each
one of you and to the Kentucky 4-H program.
Put succinctly, I feel it is simply the right time for me to go. I have seen many of
my colleagues over the years wait too long, kind of hang on if you will, unable to
make that key decision to move on to the next phase of their lives. I don’t want
that to be me. I look forward to many quality years with Marianne, the love of my
life, and I want to begin those quality years while our health allows us to travel
and do the other things we have talked about for so long. So this is a final
decision, and one that I will not revisit.
We like Lexington and Kentucky very much, and Jesse is talking about UK as his
college of choice if all works out, so we may not be going anywhere anytime
soon. If we do leave Kentucky, it will be to the Seattle side of Washington State
to be near our son Russ and his wife Mercy as they build a new home and start
their family.
Again, this is not goodbye, but since I will not be in front of all of you like this
again, I want to tell you how much I appreciate your welcoming me to Kentucky
4-H and what a true pleasure it has been to work with you. Those of you who
were here when I came, I will be forever indebted to you for your openness to
change and for embracing the decisions we made together to make Kentucky 4-H
even better. I will always cherish the opportunity the association gave me in early
September of 2003 at the 4 Points Sheraton to speak to a packed house and lay
out my vision for the years ahead. Remember? How many of you were there?
Those of you I helped hire, thanks for making me look good by being such
dedicated 4-H agents in your counties. I know the future is in good hands with
you. State 4-H staff, you are truly like family to me, and working with you has
been a wonderful experience. I look forward to the conversations we will have
between now and August. District Directors and Karen, thank you for your
support of the 4-H program and of my leadership of it these past seven years. I
have never had one ounce of doubt about how important the 4-H program and
these 4-H agents are to each one of you.
You all have become, with a little help from me, a great 4-H program that is the
envy of many other states. We have grown in numbers, in programs and most
importantly in quality and spirit as we worked together to make a difference in the
lives of all those Kentucky 4-H youth each year. We believe, we know that we are
all part of something special in this Kentucky 4-H program. And what we have
become the past seven years is because of you and your willingness to grow, not
because of me. I made some suggestions – well, maybe some were a bit stronger
than suggestions – but you made it happen. No one is irreplaceable, and
certainly, I am not. I know you will embrace whoever my successor is in the same
way you embraced me, and that Kentucky 4-H will only get better in the years to
come.
I look forward to the next several months with you, but let me tell you today while
I have the chance that I care about each one of you, not only as professionals, but
as people, and I will never, ever forget you. Thank you very much.