Published: Thursday, August 2, 2007
Donated truck auction will help 4-Hers
Proceeds from a raffle will be split between two counties.
LISBON — Funding the for the 4-H programs in Columbiana and Mahoning County have received some financial help.
And it's bright red.
Julie Herron, the one Cooperative Extension Service agent left in Columbiana County, recently told The Vindicator and other media that the program has no money for next year's programs, which include 4-H.
Herron said Wednesday that she received a call Tuesday from Shorty Navarro, owner and general manager of the Stadium GM Superstore in Salem. He donated a brand new GMC pickup truck.
By Tuesday afternoon, it was parked at Columbiana County fairgrounds in Lisbon near the 4-H office.
"He said he was in 4-H and wanted to do something worthwhile," Herron said.
Raffle tickets for the truck will be sold at both the Columbiana County and Canfield fairs.
The money raised will be divided between the two programs, Herron said.
Herron said the donation was good news, and added that it appears to be the start of funding for the 2008 program in Columbiana County.
The Columbiana service raised about $60,000 through a variety of activities to cover materials and have one paid agent this year.
Short on money
The commissioners have trimmed budgets because voters rejected a 0.5 percent sales tax. The tax was later imposed, but funds collected by the state have yet to reach the county's coffers.
The tickets will be given away, and won't be valid until people return them with payment. People can send the tickets and money to the extension office. Herron said people can by one ticket for $5, or six tickets for $25.
The commissioners were at the fairgrounds Wednesday. Fair board members gave them a tour to show the importance of the 4-H programs.
Mary Ann Szalkowski of Salem said she already knows. She said her seven children have been in 4-H for 20 years.
Activities, she said, are year-round, because youths must take care of their animals every day.
In summer during the fair, "Everybody is here. For a week, your whole family is here," she said.
"We are one big happy group," Szalkowski added.
The competing youths congratulate one another on their work, don't get depressed and pass on the tradition of learning.
"Little kids say, 'I want to do that,'" she said.
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