Dear Friends,
Education. Encouragement. Enlightenment. These words signify what so many in the Institute of Agriculture have shared with others during their careers. In recent days I have been thinking about my own past experiences and the people who helped shape my life and those of many others.
My experience started as a 4-H Member in the fifth grade at Philadelphia Grammar School in Loudon County. The Extension agents came each month and provided educational programs and offered opportunities to participate in a variety of projects and activities. I am not sure how they managed to encourage shy, rural youth to do things like bread baking and public speaking, but they did.
Ruth Walkup Ridenour and Jim Pope were my first agents and they were both excellent teachers and role models. Ruth Ridenour was a native of Rutherford County and Jim Pope was from Bledsoe County. Even though they both went to on to other careers, they stayed in Loudon County and raised their families and have been leaders in the community for many decades. I see both regularly and they continue to be the same positive role models that they were in 1961.
During my high school years Julie Estill Good was an agent in Loudon County (in those days she was still known as the home demonstration agent). Julie was unique in that she was not from an agricultural background and she had lived many places due to her father’s work with the FBI. While she may not have been a “typical” agent, she was an expert at encouraging and mentoring. She was also flexible and positive. She did not blink an eye when she made a home visit and had to walk across the creek and through the cow pasture to get to my house (which did not have indoor plumbing). My mother even gave her a lesson in canning tomatoes. Julie was in Loudon County for three years, until her husband Dan finished his PhD at UT, but she left a legacy. The Good family settled in Statesboro, Georgia, but we stay in touch.
In large part because of UT Extension and 4-H I started my college career at Knoxville in 1969. My world became enriched with the exposure to new people, ideas and experiences—truly an enlightening experience. A chance meeting with my friend Peggy Mustain Adkins resulted in my going to graduate school on the Ag Campus and spending two years working on a USDA Grant on Evaluation and the TEMIS system. I was so proud of my survey instrument when I submitted it to Dr. Frank Leuthold. He did not read one word, but balanced it in his hand and said, “it is twice too long” and gave it back to me to redo. Fran Hatley was the administrative assistant in the Agricultural Extension and Education Department while I was there and was instrumental in my graduate work. My hope is that I remembered to thank these important people for their positive influence.
Many chapters could be written about the many outstanding people who shaped my professional life but I will save those for another chapter. The important thing is that UTIA programs are alive and well and perhaps even more impressive with all the innovative ways programming is being delivered in this time of COVID-19. UTIA is leading the way in being creative and innovative and continuing to educate, encourage, and enlighten.
At the current time there are no in-person fall meetings of the UTIA Retirees Groups scheduled. The state and area officers will have a Zoom meeting to discuss plans for the future. We look forward to the time when we can be together once again. Take care and be well and Blessings on you all.
Sincerely,
Ruth
Ruth Henderson McQueen