April 11, 2002

North Dakotan Named to New National 4-H Hall of Fame

Lester Liudahl, a native of Maddock, long-time resident of Burlington and currently residing in Minot, has been inducted into the newly created National 4-H Hall of Fame. Liudahl is among a group of 100 that were inducted during the recently held National 4-H Conference.

"The inductees represent hundreds of thousands of dedicated volunteers and county, state and national professional staff who have helped millions of young people learn valuable life skills through 4-H over the past 100 years,"says Tom McSparron, North Dakota 4-H Foundation director.

"I’ve been involved for 68 of my 78 years," Liudahl says. He was one of eight people who organized the Viking Sheep Club in Benson county in 1933. He began his service as a 4-H leader in 1943 while still a high school senior. He was a charter member of the Western 4-H Camp board of directors which is still very important to him. He has been a director of the North Dakota 4-H Foundation since 1979.

Liudahl has received numerous state 4-H awards for leadership and volunteering and in 1992 was inducted into the North Dakota 4-H Hall of Fame.

He has been a strong supporter of the International 4-H Youth Exchange (IFYE) program for many years. As part of that support, he established the Lester Liudahl International Program Endowment Fund within the 4-H Foundation. Because of his years of promotion and support of the program, he was given the national Friend of IFYE award in 2001.

The National 4-H Hall of Fame is a Centennial project of the National Association of Extension 4-H Agents (NAE4-HA) Public Relations and Information Committee. The Hall will exist exclusively in cyberspace. Anyone with a computer and access to the Internet will be able to visit the 4-H Hall of Fame and learn about the 100 VIP’s who helped create, expand, promote and support the nation’s largest youth development program. It is located on the Web at www.nae4ha.org/hof . Each inductee, including Liudahl, will have their own Web page featuring a photograph, a brief biography and a quote.

Inductees include 13 4-H pioneers, 29 State Extension Directors, State Program Leaders or State staff, six major donors, nine county 4-H agents, ten NAE4-HA founders, 11 long-term volunteers, three members of Congress or the U.S. Senate, six National program leaders, a songwriter, an astronaut and several very successful businessmen.

The establishment of the National 4-H Hall of Fame centers around the year 2002 which marks the 100th anniversary of 4-H. North Dakota has 6,218 4-H members and 5,310 volunteers. Last year 50,305 youth participated in North Dakota Extension youth programs.

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Source: Tom McSparron, (701) 231-8569, tmcsparr@ndsuext.nodak.edu
Editor: Rich Mattern, (7010) 231-6136, rmattern@ndsuext.nodak.edu