Ventura front page features two 4-H stories

The Ventura County 4-H program made a splash over the weekend with two front page feature stories in the Ventura County Star.

The article opened as almost a profile of UC Cooperative Extension 4-H Youth Development advisor Susan Gloeckler. It said Gloeckler teaches children, young adults and other teachers about the importance of farming and technological advances in the field.

“Farmers are scientists and businessmen, and like other fields, they also have to keep up with technology,” Gloeckler was quoted. “We also want children to have an appreciation for animals and understand how important it is to preserve and protect our land.”

The second story focused on a 4-H gardening workshop held at Port Hueneme Youth Center at Naval Base Ventura County, part of an initiative to create 4-H programs at U.S. military bases across the world.

“The whole idea to put 4-H in the military bases is so that when parents get transferred to another base, there will be another program the children can feel at home with,” Gloeckler was quoted.

These highly visible news stories are a testament to persistence in media relations. Ventura County Director Rose Hayden-Smith said the stories were the result of a month's work with reporter Marjorie Hernandez.

"The initial story was a somewhat negative take on the budget," Hayden-Smith said. "We were able to pitch these other things and mitigate the negative budget info. Susan did a superb job of explaining the diversity of the program, getting military 4-H and SET in, ag literacy, Master Gardeners, ag programs, etc. The Farm Bureau jumped in to talk about the importance of CE."

Is it mean to point out a glaring error in the first paragraph of the military feature? Alas, the editor in me cannot resist. The story says, "Randall Smalls smiled as he carefully cut slits in a small packet of potable soil and inserted a handful of seeds."

Of course, the writer must have meant "potting" soil, as "potable" means drinkable.