Remember the 1970s?
It was a tumultuous time. This decade is remembered for protests against the war in Vietnam. For the
Watergate scandal and the resulting skepticism of politics. Movement back to political conservatism and
traditional family roles. Crusades to protect the environment and the Clean Air Act. Resentment of government
involved in environmental regulations, highway speed limits and affirmative action plans. Polyester fabrics and
platform shoes, leisure suits and sideburns. Latch hook rugs and macramé, pet rocks and nerf balls. Computer
floppy disks, VCRs and pocket calculators were introduced and rotary phones were still in use.
Expansion into urban areas
Meanwhile, meeting needs of limited resource families and cleaning up the environment received extra
attention by the Extension Service. With federal programs to support nutrition education for limited income
families, Des Moines County Extension was fortunate to receive funding for the Expanded Food and Nutrition
Education Program (called E.N.P. in Iowa). An article in the Mediapolis newspaper reported: “From the first,
Iowa’s Extension Service has been concerned with the welfare of all members of the family. Iowa’s Extension
Service has a very special program in several counties. Des Moines County is one of the few counties in the state
that has this program – the Expanded Nutrition Program.”
Two approaches were used - through the youth and through the adults. The youth phase began in 1969 with
the hiring of an Extension 4-H & Youth Leader for ENP and the help of volunteers and summer youth assistants.
The adult program began in 1971 when an Extension Home Economist for ENP was hired to employ and train
eight Family Food Aides to go into the homes of low income families to teach nutrition and food preparation.
How does your garden grow?
Since the purpose of the Expanded Nutrition Program was to improve the nutrition knowledge and eating habits
of disadvantaged families, Extension staff worked with schools and agencies such as Salvation Army and
Community Action Agency to reach children and families to provide the education.
One of the first projects of the youth phase was preparing garden plots to teach children in low income areas
how to grow and enjoy garden vegetables. Several empty lots were located in Burlington where 175 fourth and
fifth graders planted and harvested vegetables along with fun garden activities for several summers. This proved
to be an excellent educational tool as a means to encourage children to eat vegetables as indicated by this child
who wrote: “Everything I grew tasted especially good!”
After school programs and summer project groups for youth included sewing, woodworking, music, crafts,
weight control and cooking. A memorable event one winter occurred at a Christmas workshop at the Salvation
Army where children were making gifts for their families. “Excitement was provided by a runaway mental health
patient on drugs who demanded to see the major of the Salvation Army. The police were called to remove the
man.”
School nutrition taught through innovative Menu Packets
An elementary principal reported a major problem with the school lunch program was students wouldn’t try
new or different foods. The Extension ENP youth leader prepared weekly ‘menu packets’ for teachers which
illustrated a food on the menu each day. The teacher would read about the food item before lunch to interest
the students in trying the food. This proved so popular that eventually packets were sent to 245 teachers
throughout the county reaching nearly 4000 youth each week. Word of the success spread and the Menu
Packet program was featured in a 1973 issue of the School Food Service Journal. The Extension ENP youth leader
then spoke about the nutrition education project at the national meeting of American Home Economics
Association in Los Angeles CA.
As successful as the ENP Youth program was in reaching and teaching youth, federal and state fund cuts forced
the closing of the youth phase in March 1976. In the mid 1980s the adult unit also closed. However in the early
1990s, a similar program called the Family Nutrition Program was re-introduced in the county when Judith Licko
was hired as the first FNP Assistant. Lisa McPherson is the current FNP assistant and still teaches free nutrition
classes through the county Extension office.
Traditional 4-H Club program broadens
Urban expansion with “responsibilities to seek out and expand the youth program to urban and disadvantaged
audiences” impacted the traditional 4-H club program. 4-H Clubs were formed around special interests of
youth. Along with sheep and horse clubs, there was a tropical fish club and clubs with youth who had
participated in ENP cooking and gardening classes. One club, the Cool Cavonnettes, began as a music group led
by volunteer Chris Wiemann. This group of budding singers produced a special Christmas program for the public.
Des Moines county was recognized as a ‘pioneer’ in Iowa for having several Special Education clubs. Project
training sessions were not all about ‘cows and cooking’ either but included such topics as climatology and
weather reporting, national rifle association training, knitting and photography.
Visits to elementary schools and recruitment at summer day camps and project groups resulted in 30 some clubs
formed during the decade, leading to a high enrollment of 689 4-H club members in 1972. Some of the new
clubs were Hilltop Helpers, Beaver Tails, Burlington Sprockets, Hibernia Helpers, Soaring Eagles and North
Corner Cloverettes.
4-H members spread their wings outside the county
Each year during the 1970s, a group of older 4-H members and adults from Des Moines and Henry counties
visited the Iowa Legislature in session to learn the process of State Government first hand and meet local
legislators. For several years, the Extension 4-H & Youth Leader for Des Moines and Henry counties arranged a
trip for older 4-H members to Washington DC for the Citizenship Short Course.
Two-way exchange trips with 4-H members in another state were carried out. One year they were guests of
another state’s 4-H program and the next year they were the hosts. States involved in exchanges included North
Carolina, New Mexico, Pennsylvania among others. Instead of two young people visiting another state as in the
60s, this gave the opportunity to 15 or 20 youth to enjoy the experience.
Parenting education a priority
Early in the 1970s a Home Economics Advisory Committee was formed to identify needs and interests of families
and to plan programs to meet those needs. Programs offered included a Sewing Carnival, Food Fairs, human
development study groups, parenting education, consumer buying to name a few.
A top priority was getting parenting information to parents of preschoolers. The Advisory Committee used a
grant from March of Dimes to assemble 50 notebooks filled with publications available through the extension
office. These were placed in doctors’ offices, home economics classrooms, public libraries, with parent groups
and at county health agencies.
Garden interest growing
Interest in gardening and home food production skyrocketed due to the higher cost of food and an increased
interest in working with nature. The city of Burlington and Extension collaborated on Operation Grow. City staff
cleared brush on city owned property to make 50 garden plots which were assigned by drawing lots among the
100 interested. Extension provided training on fundamentals of gardening and food preservation. In year two,
three times as many plots at three sites accommodated those interested. By 1979, the city assumed
management of the city gardens.
To assist low income families, Gardening and Food Preservation Aides, Terri McAnally and Bev Schenk, were
hired. Meeting the increased demand for horticulture assistance, ISU horticulture students were hired as interns
to work with community gardening programs. In addition, interest was revived in selling fresh fruits and
vegetables from producer to consumer. Extension worked with Elaine Baxter, Burlington City councilwoman, to
start a farmers’ market at the Port of Burlington building summer 1975.
Cleaning up the landscape
In 1971 County Extension staff and the Rural Development Committee worked together to identify, remove and
recycle junk cars that littered the landscape. Disposing junk cars was a problem due to anti-burning laws, low
scrap metal prices and the cost of hauling to salvage dealers. A survey of the county identified more than 2800
junk cars which were removed, crushed in a portable 20-ton crusher and sent to mills for recycling. A demolition
demonstration was held for the public and public officials. As a result, Burlington city officials were interested in
establishing a holding yard at the old landfill site as a depository for police-recovered vehicles, cars people no
longer wanted and for deposits from city-county wide clean up campaigns. By 1975 it was reported “no
concerted county-wide program is yet underway.”
Crops and Soils
Mediapolis farmer and Iowa’s 1972 Soybean Growing Champion, John McLaughlin, assisted with a Soybean
Weed Control demonstration with 22 different combinations. Two other farmers looking for ways to increase
grain production tested irrigation on sandy ground. “Irrigation…a relatively new practice to the county was
installed on two farms in the Mississippi River bottom area in 1976.” Preliminary results on the Max Anderson
and Clarence Kuntz farms showed a 40-50 bushel per acre increase from sprinkler irrigation compared to land
not irrigated.
The Extension Service and Soil Conservation Service together conducted a Soil Survey of county soils that hadn’t
been done since 1925. Mapping all 261,248 acres in Des Moines County took four years. A Last Acre Ceremony
in June 1979 was held on the Ray Pilling farm to commemorate the effort.
Butchering and beekeeping
Don Muhm, farm editor for the Des Moines Register, wrote: “It’s not often that Iowa State University Extension
Service workers crank back the agricultural clock a bit, but that’s exactly what will happen here next week.” He
described the home butchering and meat processing short course conducted by ISU meat specialist Bob Rust in
Burlington attended by 185 from several Iowa counties. “The unusual part is that…home butchering and meat
processing is an activity older than Ford’s Model-T, or the hand crank telephone and the “Triple-A” farm
program.” Rust said it may be the first time such a session has been held in southeastern Iowa since 1949.
Due to a sugar shortage and along with a greater appreciation for the environment, citizens expressed interest
in beekeeping. Over 100 attended beekeeping meetings and eventually formed a Beekeeping Association.
International connections
A walnut gavel carved by Frank Hedges of Huron Township became a symbol of peace and unity for youth
leaders at an Argentine rural youth conference. The Mediapolis New Era reported that the gavel “hewn and
carved from Iowa walnut…will be used to open the 1970 Inter-American Rural Youth Leaders’ Conference in
Argentina.” Hedges was asked to provide the gavel by Ted Hutchcroft, a Des Moines county native who was
serving the National 4-H Clubs Foundation as head of the Inter-American Rural Youth program in San Jose, Costa
Rica. He chose Hedges as a “real 4-H representative.” Frank and his wife Aneita were long-time 4-H leaders.
A former 4-H member, Linda Rauhaus, rural Oakville, was selected as one of six Iowa delegates to be an
International Farm Youth Exchange (IFYE) worker in Mexico. IFYE is part of Iowa Extension Service Program
through the National 4-H Club Foundation. She was assigned to Chiapas, Mexico to teach basic cooking and
sewing skills. Upon her return, she shared her experiences with several groups.
Forty foreign students from 14 countries came to Burlington in 1971 and were guests in local homes.
They shared their expertise by visiting schools, service clubs, and industries speaking to more than 300 groups
for about 6000 persons.
Anniversaries celebrated
Fifty year family farms
The Iowa Department of Agriculture commemorated their 50th anniversary by recognizing farm families whose
farm had been in the same family 50 years or more. Forty two families nominated their farms and were honored
at the 1973 county fair. The oldest farms reported were the Dwight Nealey and John Latty families having been
settled by their ancestors in 1833.
50 years with 4-H
The Burlington Harvesters 4-H Club celebrated its 50th anniversary March 1978 with a celebration at which they
also honored their leader, Cecil Krekel, for his 50 years with the club – his first year as club president and 49
years as club leader. Iowa’s State 4-H Leader, C.J. Gauger (a former Vo-Ag teacher at Mediapolis) attended the
celebration mentioning there were only about 12 clubs in Iowa at that time eligible for the 50th year citation.
10th Anniversary celebrated
The 10th anniversary of federal EFNEP program was commemorated May 1979 with an open house for current
and former ENP staff and clients as well as the public. Burlington Mayor Tom Diewold, and ISU Extension staff
members CJ Gauger and Betty Elliott from Ames participated in the ceremony.
Local citizens of note
Wilma Nielsen was the first woman Extension Council Chair in 1971. Don Traman, former Council chairman, was
named to the State Extension Advisory committee. Curt Pflum in 1979 was the first Master Farmer honored
from Des Moines County since 1927. Cecil Krekel was selected as one of four state of Iowa 4-H Alumni winners
in 1974.
County fair facilities on the move
“For many years the DMC people basked in the excellent facilities of their fair grounds. However in 1972 the
Iowa Highway Commission condemned the property for a new highway. Thus it became necessary to obtain a
new site for a fair grounds.” So in August 1973 and for several years the county fair was relocated from its
Agency street location and held at Middletown School and Auction Barn. This was the first fair without car and
horse races, grandstand shows or carnival rides. In 1977, the county fair was held for the first time on the SCC
grounds, an arrangement that continues to this day. “A unique agreement involving the County Board of
Supervisors, Southeastern Iowa Community College and the County Fair Board was completed this year in the
signing of an agreement and construction started on a permanent county fairgrounds located on land furnished
by Southeastern Iowa Community College.”
Extension Office moved to 900 Osborn for a 30+ year run…
As urban programming increased and additional staff were hired, more space was needed. To gain space, after
12 years in room 230 at the Federal Building, offices were moved to rooms 217-224 in the same building. Then
in 1978 another move was made to a newly remodeled building with additional space and convenient parking.
“It was becoming increasingly apparent in recent years that the Extension offices in the Federal Building were
inadequate to serve the needs of the program and clientele.” The move was made in June to the former
Leopold Desk factory building at 900 Osborn, a location they occupied for more than 30 years, until October
2011.
Extension agents serving Des Moines County in the 1970s:
County Extension Director/Agriculture: James Hodges. Extension Home Economists: Judith Freed, Carol Stauth,
Patricia Steiner. Extension 4-H & Youth Leaders: Lester Schoffelman, Vena Rossman Dyer, Patricia Steiner. In
addition to Extension agents assigned to Des Moines County, expansion into urban areas required additional
staff. Each summer during the 1970s, college students were hired as summer assistants to work with youth
projects such as gardening, cooking classes, special interest groups, and the 4-H county fair, providing
employment for about 20 different students in the 70s.
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