THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 31, 1996 TAG: 9601300131
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY LINDA McNATT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ISLE OF WIGHT LENGTH: Long : 164 lines
The 4-H pledge: I pledge my head to clearer thinking, my heart to greater loyalty, my hands to larger service, and my health to better living, for my club, my community, my country and my world.
A YEAR OR SO AGO, the problem was complicated.
Virginia was under a hiring freeze, adding to other state and federal government cutbacks, and the legislators making the funding decisions were, for the most part, rooted in concrete, not farm fields.
This left Isle of Wight County, mostly rural and agricultural, short two county extension agents, and the youth-oriented 4-H program was suffering.
The solution, though not perfect, turned out to be simple.
Agreeing with their lone, over-worked extension agent that one more agent was better than none, county supervisors decided to use Isle of Wight funds to hire one.
So, allow us to introduce you to Yvette Stephens.
On Jan. 2, Stephens, a high-energy Virginia Tech graduate student working on her master's degree in horticulture, officially started her job as county extension agent for 4-H Youth.
``Oh, we've got so much going,'' she said recently. ``We're starting a history club, a shooting and archery safety club, a fishing club in the spring. We're going to look at the kids raising livestock again.
``And listen to this,'' she added, smiling and reaching out to touch the person standing closest to her. ``We're going to be curing our own hams!''
Stephens' enthusiasm for the county, for 4-H and for young people bursts with all sorts of new ideas.
When Stephens was hired, the county was at its lowest ebb as far as involving its youth in the county's flavor, said Bob Goerger, the Virginia Tech agricultural extension agent and unit director in Isle of Wight.
He explained how it happened:
Gov. George Allen put a freeze on state hiring; on a national level, more and more cuts were being made at the time in agricultural funding; and two of the three extension agents working in Isle of Wight - one responsible for home economics, the other for youth programs - decided to move elsewhere.
The freeze meant their positions could not be filled. And that meant the full load of responsibility for extension services fell on Goerger's shoulders.
It also meant some areas that had been a vibrant part of this community were eroding as rapidly as topsoil on the side of an unplanted hill.
Areas like 4-H - the youth-oriented, national organization - were struck hardest, Goerger said.
That's why he went to the County Board with a suggestion.
``Let's pool our money and hire one new extension agent,'' Goerger said. ``And I think we should focus on youth.''
Typically, in Virginia, salaries for extension agents are funded by the state through two land-grant universities, Virginia Tech and Virginia State University, through federal and municipal funds.
With the hiring freeze, the county had no hope of getting funding from the state to fill the two vacant extension slots. Hope for federal funds was just as dismal at the time. But they still had the county money that already had been budgeted.
``We all felt there was a definite need in the county for youth programs,'' said Mac Cofer, who represents the board's Smithfield District. ``We agreed that the money contributed by the county for two extension agents should be combined to hire one.''
Stephens, 34, grew up in the Deep Creek section of Chesapeake, where her grandfather ran a country store on Canal Drive called Dixon's Grocery.
``It was a place where the whole community would gather together,'' she recalled. ``I grew up hanging out there. The men played checkers, the women talked. Granddaddy grew his own animals, cured hams. He always had a big vegetable garden, and he sold the vegetables at his store.''
Stephens had a natural interest in the 4-H programs offered at Deep Creek High School, where she graduated in 1979. She received her bachelor's degree in botany from Mary Baldwin College in 1982 and returned to Deep Creek High to teach for a few years.
When Stephens, mother of a 13-year-old named Teddy Ambrose, decided she wanted to go back to school to get her master's in horticulture, she found out she could attend classes at Tech's experimental station in Virginia Beach. She made two changes at one time: going back to school and going to work for Home Quarters Warehouse, where she was in charge of horticulture and developed mini-seminars for children in cultivating plants. Most of those programs still are being used at HQ.
She also developed the Ready, Set, Grow program at the experimental station that eventually was accepted into the Virginia Beach city schools system.
``I have always known that my heart was in working with youth,'' Stephens said. ``I always loved to teach, but I wanted more than that.''
Part of the attraction to Isle of Wight was another bit of family history. A grandfather, Lollie Carr, had grown up in the county community of Walters. And all her life, she said, she had been hearing about her legendary great-great grandfather, John Arthur Carr, the man credited with establishing the community of Carrsville with his 21 children spread over three wives.
She says she's ready to leave Virginia Beach, where she now lives, and plans to relocate as soon as possible to Isle of Wight.
Stephens has spent much of her first month in the county meeting its people.
``I've been to the county historical society. We're talking about forming a history club. Nothing builds self-esteem in young people any more than being proud of where they came from. I've been to the schools. I've talked to principals. I've walked up to people on the street. And I never miss an opportunity to talk to a kid. I tell all of them about what I'm planning.''
The ham-curing club is at the head of Stephens' list, and it got there thanks to Joe Ferguson, now a state meat inspector with the Agriculture and Consumer Services Department. About a year ago, when he was with V.W. Joyner's in Smithfield, he suggested that county youngsters should know how to do what many of their grandfathers have done for generations.
At the time, Joyner's was to help fund the project. Ferguson was willing to guide the youngsters through the process. But there was no 4-H extension agent to oversee the project, which many people agreed would be a perfect competition at the annual county fair.
``Ham curing is part of our heritage in this state,'' Ferguson said. ``But it's a mystery a lot of people don't know about. I can remember when I was in college in 1982. I went to my grandfather and said, `Tell me what you know about curing country hams.' He died in 1988. I still have that tape, and it's a treasure.''
Youngsters who are members of the 4-H ham-curing club - nine already have expressed interest - will meet once to learn how it's done. Each will get two pieces of meat and the necessary ingredients to cure it. And Ferguson and Stephens will stay in touch with the ham curers throughout the process.
The big event will come at the county fair this fall, when the youngsters will enter their hams into competition. Plans are that the club members each will cure two hams - one for eating, the other for selling or for a gift. Joyner's has agreed to supply meat and essential ingredients at cost. Some of the cost of the project will also be absorbed by the Virginia Pork Industry Board. That way, the youngsters' cost should be $20 or less.
``So far, everybody who has expressed an interest has access to a smokehouse,'' Stephens said. ``But if that's not the case, we'll try to work something out. We're making a ham - from start to finish.''
The initial ham-curing meeting will be held on Feb 3. Anyone interested in joining the group should call Stephens at the county extension service, 357-3191, Ext. 257.
But if curing hams isn't exactly an interest, Stephens probably has something more appealing on her long list.
``Oh, what a perfect job this is,'' she said. ``This is where I've always wanted to be. I love it. I just love it. And I'm really excited.'' MEMO: Have you ever wanted to cure your own ham?
The process for curing a ham is fairly simple, says Joe Ferguson, a
state meat inspector with the Agriculture and Consumer Services
Department:
Coat the meat in salt; maintain it at about 40 degrees F. for 40
days; hang and dry for 15 days; smoke for another few days and leave it
to dry.
It's a process that most youngsters could keep up with, but one that
would encourage responsibility, he says.
``The average winter temperature in this state is about 38 to 40
degrees. But you've got to know what to do if it gets warmer. It's
something you've got to keep an eye on, or you'll lose your meat.''
ILLUSTRATION: [Cover, Color photo]
KEEPING COUNTRY IN THE COUNTY
Staff photos, including the cover, by JOHN H. SHEALLY II
KEYWORDS: PROFILE by CNB