Generous donations and volunteer help have paid off the payments on the mortgage for the “Buzz” Hill Education Center at the 4-H fairgrounds on Route 31 east of Medina, according to Ed Neal, Chairman of the Orleans County Cornell Cooperative Extension (OCCCE) Board of Directors.
“We decided to try to ‘burn the mortgage’ at the 4-H Fair. A final push in May brought dozens of checks from this generous community,” Neal said. Much the same as a homeowner celebrates the retirement of a home mortgage after years of sacrifice, residents can feel as though they have a piece of ownership in what is one of the finest Extension education centers in the state, he stated in a press release.
The effort to build an improved facility to replace the older center on Main Street in Albion began in 2000 with the OCCCE Board of Directors establishing a goal of creating a permanent facility at the fairgrounds. Originally scheduled to be paid off in 2014, at least $2,000 in interest is expected to be saved with this final push. A brief presentation is expected to take place during the opening ceremony for the Orleans County 4-H Fair on Monday, July 22 and an event for donors is being planned for September.
While many area residents see the facility at the fairgrounds and know about the 4-H organization, they may not realize that this center of non-formal education is much more than a youth organization and a fair. 100 years ago, Cooperative Extension had its founding in Broome County, NY. Then known as Farm Bureau, the organization, early on, was totally focused on rural farm improvement. The addition of “home economics” sought to improve domestic life. In January 1917, Orleans County came on board with the establishment of the first Farm Bureau Office in the Waterman Building in Albion. Nine months later, the “Home Economics Commission” was established to serve homemakers. 4-H Clubs of Orleans County officially were organized in 1938.
Today, agricultural educational needs are much more sophisticated. Orleans shares with other counties a portion of budgets for specialists in tree fruit, vegetables, dairy, livestock and field crops. Two of 19 specialists that Orleans has access to are housed in the Orleans office.While the organization has experienced some turnover in local staff, Interim Director Paul Lehman said, “We are well on our way to recruiting a full-time program director/youth issues leader to replace me. We have serious budgetary constraints from narrowing federal and state dollars and know we must pull ourselves up with our own bootstraps by generating grant income and business income from use of the grounds. We appreciate the considerable support from the county legislature.”
The word “cooperative” in Cooperative Extension means cooperation between federal, state and local governments and by memorandum of agreement to, as the organization’s mission states: put knowledge to work in pursuit of economic vitality, ecological sustainability and social well-being. It brings local experience and research based solutions together, helping New York State families and communities thrive in our rapidly changing world.
