The Cheerie Chicks

Dear Friends,

Joining the Piecemakers Guild was not my first experience in group membership. I began an affiliation with 4-H Clubs in the late 40’s, and enjoy fond memories as a Cheerie Chick, our club’s name (no, I didn’t pick it!). Growing up in a secluded farm setting, 4-H gave me the opportunity to make friends with children of similar backgrounds. We enjoyed the meeting rituals, learned new skills, prepared for competitions, especially the Annual 4-H County Fair, held during those years in Monroe. There were no organized after school programs like soccer, baseball, basketball, or karate for us to sign on to, and no endless carpooling by families. Most families had only one car anyway, which meant our meetings were held on Saturdays, making it easier to arrange rides to the Huntington Grange, no longer in existence.

Some 4-Hers competed with their livestock, but my club’s interests were mostly geared to “homemaking skills”, typical for that generation. There was no integration of girls and boys in the clubs, but I remember one girl joined the boys’ meeting and she created quite a stir. She didn’t last long in that club! Boys were driving tractors, tending to fir tree nurseries, learning survival skills via camping, and helping with the family livestock. They used the term animal husbandry, and I hadn’t a clue what that meant! My group concentrated on learning how to sew, plan a meal, and grow a garden. I was part of the annual dress revue, and the cherry pie baking contest. I had the opportunity to spend a week at 4-H camp in Warren, CT at a cost of twelve dollars for the week! Our quilt retreats are really a grown up version of those early camping days.

Until I joined 4-H, I had little interest in taking responsibility for nurturing our family gardens. I especially disliked the chore of weeding and hoeing the crops. The possibility of earning a ribbon at the county fair

by displaying my vegetables and flowers changed all that, and I was proud to take charge of a garden that would be visited by the County Extension Agent each summer. Recently I came across a box of memorabilia from those days, including some faded award ribbons from the fairs. These visuals are a clear connection to my present involvement in our Guild.

The four “H’s” pledged “our heads to clearer thinking, our hearts to greater loyalty, our hands to larger service and our health to better living…” After all these decades, my life has come full circle—I’m part of a Guild whose mission is so similar to what we strived for as members of 4-H, especially the part that represents service to others. Sincerely, JoAnne Fabry