Zuidema named to 4-H Hall of Fame

A founding member of the Kilduff Hot Shots in 1947, Henry Zuidema was honored as the newest member of the 4-H Hall of Fame from Jasper County. Zuidema was recognized at a ceremony in the 4-H Building on the final day of the Iowa State Fair, Aug. 21.

“It is quite an honor, you know it, I’m proud of that,” Zuidema said.

4-H has been a part of Zuidema’s life, not only in his work, but also with his kids, grandkids and great-grandkids. Zuidema was a familiar face at the county fair over the years, being on the board for 10 years and even taking the role as Jasper County Fair leader for more than five years.

Growing up just west of Kilduff, he was also instrumental in the start of the Kilduff 4-H Club.

“They started that club 75 years ago and they didn’t know what to name it and I just hollered, ‘name it Kilduff Hot Shots and they did,” Zuidema said. “There are still six of us charter members living yet, we all live around that area.”

While the county fair comes around each July, planning for the week-long event takes place all year long. During Zuidema’s time on the fair board, he remembered late nights and hours of discussion to help improve the fair every summer. However, he said he enjoyed his time working with other board members.

“There were a lot of nights we had to discuss things and it would be 11 to 11:30 p.m. until we got out of there,” Zuidema said. “They’d be discussing things to include in the fair and things like that. It was quite a thing. But there was a bunch of us on the fair board, so we had a lot of help.”

Zuidema reflected on his many years at the fair and how it has evolved throughout time when he was named grand marshal of the parade in 2015.

“What a change. When I was the leader we had beef, dairy, hogs and sheep shows. But now, my goodness, now they have rabbits and all these kind of projects for town kids, photography and Legos. You name it,” he said. “That’s been the biggest change. They’ve expanded so much.”

He also spoke about why the fair was and still is important to him and his family.

“It’s the atmosphere. That’s about it and all the farm related stuff there,” Zuidema said. “After all, for the kids this is their big climax of the year.”

Contact Jamee A. Pierson at 641-792-3121 ext. 534 or jpierson@newtondailynews.com