(08/12/24) POLLOCK, La. — Vickie Weeks joined 4-H when she was nine years old and has since been involved in the organization for six decades. Weeks was one of 12 honorees inducted into the Louisiana 4-H Hall of Fame during a ceremony held Aug. 10 at the Grant Walker 4-H Educational Center.

“All I did was join an organization where the motto was to make the best better, and that is just what I’ve been doing,” Weeks said. “I’m just living the 4-H motto.”

The 12 inductees have a collective 325 years of participation and service to Louisiana 4-H.

Inductee Brent Dicharry, who has more than 40 years of experience in law enforcement in St. James Parish, said he has seen the difference 4-H can make in a child’s life.

“I saw the impact the livestock program has had on troubled youth,” Dicharry said.

With five children who all went through 4-H, Madlyn Zaunbrecher has seen many beneficial aspects of 4-H. A teacher and 4-H club leader, Zaunbrecher was honored to get inducted into the Hall of Fame with the teacher she worked with when she was a student teacher, Brenda Myers.

“When I looked back at all the people who have been inducted, it is so many people who were mentors,” Zaunbrecher said.

Terry Dumas’ 37 years of service to 4-H started in Union Parish. Dumas served as the 4-H state sheep specialist and a livestock leader. He said his first 4-H meeting as a youngster set him on the path that defined his career. His 4-H leader, H.P. “Sleepy” Roberts had a profound influence on Dumas.

“The more I worked with that gentleman and the more he worked with me, the more I admired what he was doing, and I wanted to be like him,” Dumas said. Roberts was inducted into the Louisiana 4-H Hall of Fame in 2008.

Harold Seguin, an inductee from Livingston Parish, became involved with 4-H as a parent supporter but expanded his service to volunteer in different aspects including with Louisiana’s national championship shooting sports program.

“I don’t do it for any award,” Seguin said. “I do it for the kids. I show up for them when sometimes no one else will.”

The 12 inductees are:

— Ronald Coco, Avoyelles Parish

— C. Brent Coreil, Evangeline Parish

— Brent Dicharry, St. James Parish

— Charles E. Dill Jr., Vermilion Parish

— Terry Dumas, 4-H State Office

— Desiree Duhon Dyess, Natchitoches Parish

— The late Trent Guidry, Calcasieu Parish

— Brenda Myers, Jefferson Davis Parish

— Harold Seguin, Livingston Parish

— Lisa Stewart, Ascension Parish

— Vickie Weeks, Winn Parish

— Madlyn Duncan Zaunbrecher, Vermilion Parish

Biographies of the inductees are available on the Louisiana 4-H website. The site also includes information on former inductees.

The 2024 4-H Hall of Fame inductees are, seated, from left, Lisa Stewart, Ascension Parish; Vickie Weeks, Winn Parish; Ronald Coco, Avoyelles Parish; Brenda Myers, Jefferson Davis Parish; Madlyn Duncan Zaunbrecher, Vermilion Parish; and Desiree Duhon Dyess, Natchitoches Parish. Standing, from left, Terry Dumas, 4-H State Office; Jacob Guidry, accepting on behalf of his late father, Trent Guidry, Calcasieu Parish; Brent Dicharry, St. James Parish; C. Brent Coreil, Evangeline Parish; Charles E. Dill Jr., Vermilion Parish; and Harold Seguin, Livingston Parish. Photo by Tobie Blanchard/LSU AgCenter