A Louisiana 4-H Centennial scavenger hunt has been a success at finding memorabilia and artifacts to be used in the new Louisiana 4-H Museum, according to museum officials.

The scavenger hunt was begun in 2008 by the Louisiana 4-H Foundation and the 4-H Museum to obtain items, donated and loaned, to the Louisiana 4-H Museum located in Mansura.

4-H is the youth development and outreach program of the nation’s land-grant universities and is operated in Louisiana by the LSU AgCenter. It involves young people in educational projects, camps, activities, trips and school enrichment programs that foster development of life skills in science, engineering and technology, citizenship, healthy living and much more.

The statewide museum celebrates the development of more than 100 years of the 4-H organization’s existence in Louisiana, using multimedia exhibits and displays of historical 4-H artifacts, photos and documents, according to museum coordinator Rose Anne St. Romain.

The museum will have its grand opening July 18.

St. Romain said more than 125 people submitted thousands of items for the scavenger hunt. All items were reviewed to determine winners in specific categories needed for developing museum exhibits.

“There were so many unique things sent that some categories had more than one winner,” St. Romain said. “We’re so grateful to everyone who sent in items.”

People lending and donating items included current and retired LSU AgCenter employees and former 4-H Club members.

St. Romain said people related to her how grateful they were for the effect of 4-H on their upbringing.

“Every one of them stressed how 4-H taught them so much and shaped their character,” she said. “It was very powerful and moving. What it tells me is that people saved all these certificates and ribbons because those items are a testimony to the powerful, lasting experience they had in 4-H.”

The museum will house the displays and artifacts, but the legacy of 4-H remains with the people it touched, St. Romain said. “The real 4-H museum is inside the people who were in 4-H.”

The oldest item, donated by the John V. Lemoine family of Plaucheville, is a wooden butter churn from the 1700s that was used by family members.

The scavenger hunt turned up two significant photographs.

The Avoyelles Parish School Board provided a photograph taken in 1908 of the first day of the first 4-H Club, known then as the Corn Club.

A photograph provided by Lois Brister, LSU AgCenter 4-H agent in Rapides Parish, is a panoramic photograph of boys and girls at a 4-H rally sometime in the 1920s. The submission won an award.

Parish 4-H foundations receiving cash awards and the winning items donated by their residents include:

Allen Parish

–Short Course photo: 1917 photo of Short Course participants submitted by Kori Myers.

Avoyelles Parish

–Other camp photos and memorabilia: 1957 photos and negatives of Camp Garrison activities submitted by Esther Boe.

–Other camp photos and memorabilia: 1920s camp song book submitted by Donna Montgomery.

Caddo Parish

–Photo of 4-H’ers conducting a club meeting: 1970s photo of 4-H officers running a meeting, submitted by Elizabeth Jordan.

Claiborne Parish

–Short Course photo: a 1954 photo of Southern University participants, submitted by Angela Hood.

East Baton Rouge Parish

–Camp Jesse Harrison photos: 1963 photos of campers in cabins at Camp Jesse Harrison, submitted by Claudia Fisher.

Evangeline Parish

–Photo of 4-H’ers in the act of “learning by doing”: Photo of a boy barbecuing chicken for a 1980s “Chick-N-Que” contest, submitted by Susan Fontenot.

–Photo of 4-H’er doing a demonstration: 1950s photo of a baking demonstration, also submitted by Fontenot.

Grant Parish

–Oldest trophy, medal or certificate: 1929 Short Course ribbon, submitted by Elton Carson.

Jefferson Parish

–Oldest item bearing the 4-H emblem: 1934 4-H pennant, submitted by Beverly Madere.

Jefferson Davis Parish

–Short Course photo: 1927 photo of a tomato canning lesson at Short Course, submitted by Eddie Eskew.

–Other camp photos and memorabilia: 1954 photo of Camp Anacoco campers, submitted by Eskew.

–Photo of 4-H’er doing public speaking: 1965 photo of Lloyd Hollister presenting a speech, submitted by Eskew.

Lafayette Parish

–Old 4-H demonstration materials: Lafayette Parish for “4-H Lipped Jar Rings,” submitted by Lanette Hebert.

Louisiana 4-H Foundation

–4-H “uniforms” worn in the past: 1955 photo of youth at National 4-H Club Camp, submitted by Terril Faul for Denver Loupe.

Morehouse Parish

–Photo of 4-H’er doing a demonstration: Photo of a dessert demonstration, submitted by Jennifer Moran.

Rapides Parish

–4-H “uniforms” worn in the past: Photo of early 1900s girls’ and boys’ club rally, from Lois Brister.

St. Landry Parish

–Short Course photo: 1919 photo of Short Course participants, from Lisa Benoit.

Tangipahoa Parish

–Other camp photos and memorabilia: 1951 photos of Camp Garrison activities, submitted by Chic Core.

Union Parish

–4-H “uniforms” worn in the past: 1960s Simplicity pattern for girls’ 4-H uniforms from Carol Remy.

–Most unique item bearing the 4-H emblem and a parish name: 2008 4-H Centennial Cookbook, also from Remy.

Vermilion Parish

–Oldest 4-H Record Book or 4-H scrapbook: 1938-45 scrapbooks, from Shannon Waits.

–4-H award trip memorabilia: 1951 Club Congress scrapbook, also from Waits.

Vernon Parish

–Oldest 4-H project bulletin: 1944 bulletin “4-H Club Girl’s Appropriate Wardrobe,” submitted by Kem Johnson.

West Carroll Parish

–4-H award trip photo: 1953 photo of youth dining at Club Congress, submitted by Joanne Bolding.

Bruce Schultz