Search
Mr. Russell Guarino was hired as a county agent in 1954 and served as a full-time 4-H Agent in Lafayette parish for 17 years, and another 7 years with partial 4-H responsibility. He became Parish Chairman of Lafayette in 1981 and continued to support 4-H work until he retired in 1993. At the peak of his career, he worked with 52 clubs and over 2500 4-H members at one time. Russell estimates that he has attended over 5000 4-H Club Meetings through the years and trained hundreds of 4-H’ers to compete in at 4-H Short Course. He had several state winning dairy judging teams. He ran one of the early successful Junior Leader Clubs in the state. In the mid 70’s, Russell played a major role in establishing a Lafayette parish livestock sale. He managed the sale throughout his career and as a volunteer upon his retirement. Working with the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and South Louisiana Midwinter Fair Association, Greater Lafayette Chamber of Commerce and Lafayette’s Cattleman’s Association, Russell was instrumental in establishing the Acadiana District Livestock show covering eleven parishes and creating the Acadiana District Livestock Sale of Champions. He served as treasurer of the Lafayette Parish Cattleman’s Association and worked closely with the association to support the Lafayette 4-H Livestock program and provide recognition to its members. He did nearly 100 home visits monthly to check on livestock exhibitors’ projects and had one of the largest livestock programs in the state. He regularly transported and chaperoned the Lafayette youth and their show animals to the district show in Lake Charles and recalls supervising over 400 boys who slept on the floor of the gymnasium at McNeese during the week of the show. He also clipped over 70 dairy calves in preparation for the show. Once retired, he continued to work with the parish livestock sale and served on the 4-H Foundation board. Mr. Guarino received the Distinguished Service Award from the Louisiana County Agent’s Association.
Please join us in welcoming Mr. Russell Guarino to the Louisiana 4-H Hall of Fame!
