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Clarion County History
Clarion County found its 4-H beginnings in 1916 with the establishment of boys and girls clubs in a collaborative effort with the superintendent of schools. These clubs were established under the guidance of J. A. Brenneman, the first county agent assigned to Clarion County. These clubs were to be focused around the communities served by the schools. The first clubs had a three project emphasis – Corn, Potatoes, and Swine. Ultimately, these first efforts yielded nine clubs – six community based (two corn clubs, two potato clubs, and two swine clubs) and three county based clubs (one corn, one potato, and one swine club). The collective clubs had a total of 66 members.
The impending War brought further emphasis to this infant youth program with a community resolved effort to involve the youth in raising food for families and the military effort. This decision enabled the 4-H program to grow to the recognition that it has within the community today.
Many of our clubs still find their base around traditional communities: New Bethlehem, Limestone, Knox, Callensburg, Rimersburg and the Clarion Area. County program efforts seek to create a “County Identity” while the club efforts focus on the community at large. Of the original project base, the swine program still continues to thrive and has active membership today.
In 2002, we find that our traditional 4-H clubs still have their rural roots with many clubs featuring an animal science project base. We still have strong community collaboration with our “non-traditional” club and project offerings based through 4-H after school programs held at a school (Keystone and Clarion-Limestone) and a strong 4-H school program in all seven districts and the local parochial schools. Our numbers have grown significantly over the years with over 1600 youth served in these efforts.
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