(Posted April 10, 2023)
By Kristy Zurbrick, Madison Editor
When Madison County’s 4-H and youth development educator position opened up, Laura Dillion jumped at the opportunity.
“I am super passionate about 4-H. Opportunities like this in this region are hard to come by, and I’m familiar with Madison County. It seems like a good fit,” she said.
Dillion’s first day on the job at the Madison County Ohio State University Extension Office was April 3. She replaces Frances Foos who took a position with the state 4-H office.
Dillion’s connection to 4-H goes back to her childhood. She grew up in Clinton County where her family raised crops, beef cattle, and Boer goats. She spent 11 years as a 4-H member, learning the value of hard work, effective communication, and the importance of community. She then went on to earn associate’s and bachelor’s degrees in animal science from The Ohio State University. She is wrapping up her master’s degree.
For the past five years, Dillion worked for the Clark County OSU Extension Office, serving as a program assistant for community nutrition education, family and consumer sciences, and 4-H. On the 4-H side, she focused, in part, on school enrichment programs, introducing 4-H in the classroom setting.
She said she looks forward to putting her experience to work and bringing forth new ideas as Madison County’s 4-H and youth development educator.
“I appreciate the dedication that 4-H families and volunteers put into the program, and I am excited to be a part of Madison County 4-H,” she said.
Dillion has already waded into preparations for this year’s county fair. She is tackling set-up for the royalty competition, working on the Cloverbud Show-n-Tell event, assisting with the Junior Fair Board, and taking over coordination of the special interest judging day.
“And I’m sure there will be more,” she said.
This year’s Madison County Fair is July 8-15.
Dillion also is working on distributing information about 4-H Camp Clifton registration. The camp is open to 4-H members and non-members. Camp dates are June 7-11. Cloverbud Camp is set for Aug. 13.
Dillion has started the process of getting to know people in the 4-H program and around the county, attending a 4-H Advisory Committee meeting, a junior/senior fair board meeting, and a meeting of the newly formed Madison County Local Food Council.
The Extension Office has scheduled an open house for May 2. The public is invited to meet the entire Extension staff, many of whom are new to the office in the past year. Open house hours are 8-9:30 a.m. and 3:30-6 p.m. The office is located at 217 Elm St., London.
For general Extension questions, call (740) 852-0975. To reach Dillion, email dillion.26@osu.edu or call (740) 956-5052.
