Nothing else has mattered for the last 100 years than heart, health, hands and head.

Follow that formula and you'll be involved in the world's largest and oldest youth organization forever.

The four H's in 4-H are the recipe for a kind of holistic synergy: the sum of all H parts becoming the power of youth.

What a difference a century makes in 4-H.

"I remember meeting in an old town hall," Ron Seath said."It had an old pot-bellied stove and in the winter everybody would sit close to that stove when we first arrived for our meetings and gradually as the room warmed-up, we would move back from the heat."

Modern 4-Hers are more likely to generate a different kind of heat today by undertaking community service projects in the public eye.

They still bring sewing, gardening and woodworking projects to the county fair, as well as livestock projects, but just try to say 4-H isn't known outside America's countryside.

It's impossible and untrue.

Today, there are 6.8 million 4-Hers around the world.

Only one in 10 live on America's farms.

In addition, 30 percent are minorities, which is the fastest-growing segment of 4-H membership today.

The 4-H of this centennial year is nothing like the 4-H of 100 years ago.

A diverse program of activities negates the popular perception that 4-H is "kids and cows."

That's still a part of it, but agricultural programs are one piece of a very large puzzle.

4-H was born in 1902 to provide better agriculture education for youth. Clubs sprang up all over America, which farm parents serving as volunteer leaders and educators.

The focus was "learning by doing.

Originally, there were only three clover leafs for head, heart and hands, but a fourth for health came later

Today, the four Hs are one of the best-known symbols for opportunities for children and teenagers to shape their future.

The long-standing mission of 4-H is to bring youth and adults together for the benefit of their communities.

Seven Cloverbud 4-H clubs in Mower County, serve children in the kindergarten, first and second grades.

Sixteen 4-H community clubs, serve children in the third grade through one year beyond high school graduation.

All told, the clubs serve more than 550 children and teenagers in Mower County.

Ann Walter, who is finishing her last year as Mower County Extension Service educator for 4-H programming and activities, remembers the "good old days" of 4-H in her youth.

"It was a neighborhood kind of organization," Walter said, "People who lived near you belonged to the same club you did. I think it was more of a social event for families, because so much revolved around the club throughout the year and parents, grandparents and other relatives were involved in some way or the other," she said.

Carmen Thompson grew up in South Dakota. "There were not as many things to belong to if you were a child in those days," Thompson said. "The population was less and there were fewer towns and fewer farms or they were further apart.

"I remember there was just one coed 4-H club when I was growing up, so that meant fewer opportunities for girls to be a part of it."

In the new millennium, 4-H serves a diverse membership and "townies" -- kids living in urban areas out-number rural youth in some areas.

Projects also reflect the diversity of the 4-H demographics

"People who believe 4-H is kids and their livestock projects are so wrong today," Walter said. "The visibility of 4-H has attracted kids whose imaginations are the only boundaries."

Thompson points to the self-determined category for non-livestock projects. "Anything a child is interested in doing can become a project with the self-determined category," Thompson said.

According to Walter, the make-up of Mower County 4-H is two-thirds city and one-third country.

Both Walter and Thompson said they gained long-term skills because off their 4-H involvement in such areas a community service, leadership skills and decision making.

"Teachers know a student who is in 4-H, because of how they conduct themselves in the classroom," Walter said.

Also, today's 4-H allows a child or teenager to be a part of the organization without being a member of a club. In Mower County, five youth have chosen that role.

But rather than dwell on 4-H laurels at the century milestone, Walter and Thompson say there is more work to be done.

Walter would like to see 4-H develop more of a presence in after-school programming to serve today's working single parents.

Thompson believes 4-H should do a better job of marketing itself as an outlet for more opportunities for children and teenagers to grow.

Both still hold closely memories of their 4-H childhoods. Thompson remembers the 4-H junior achievement day excitement in her childhood and Walter recalls her father's long serve as a 4-H leader that left its own mark on her life.

Walter's and Thompson's memories aside, Seath, the retired Mower County Extension Service agent for 4-H, has more than contributed to the century of youth programming.

Seath remembers how 4-H influenced his life.

The Freeborn County native showed dairy livestock projects at the county fair and became a 4-H agent for a career spanning three decades before retiring.

Today, he and his wife, Peg,

show their love and respect for 4-H by sponsoring annual awards for 4-H leaders.

"The ability to learn about new things in life was an asset," Seath said. "You could learn about caring for animals and in those days, there were a lot of livestock on the farms."

"Everybody had a garden in those days and every 4-Her it seemed brought the best of their garden produce to the fair," he said.

Asked if 4-H is as good and strong as it was when he was a child over a half century ago, Seath thought for awhile before answering.

"Considering the changes in American agriculture, it continues to provide a worthwhile service," he said. "It's like anything else in life: you get out of it whatever you put into it. That's true about anything."

Lee Bonorden can be contacted at 434-2232 or by e-mail at :mailto:lee.bonorden@austindailyherald.com