Highland farm family wins 4-H Family Spirit Award

“It’s not what you get out of 4-H; it’s about what you share with others and give back.”

That’s the creed the Geiger family has lived by since Joseph and Ida Geiger started their service in the mid-1940s, when Joe agreed to give up a piece of a cattle pasture for the local 4-H club to use as a softball field.

It is also the reason why the Gieger family received the 2016 4-H Family Spirit Award at the Illinois 4-H Foundation Celebration event Aug. 20 at the Illinois State Fair in Springfield.

“There is no doubt as to this family’s involvement, passion, and dedication for 4-H,” said Barbara Rundquist Clark, past chair of the Illinois 4-H Foundation Board of Directors.

The many accomplishments include over 50 project areas of study and exhibition, 4-H camps, leadership conferences and National 4-H Congress Award trips, Clark said, as well as serving as host for a Japanese 4-H exchange student.

“Each family member has their own special memories of how 4-H benefited them, be that developing a hobby, choosing a profession, serving as a community leader, or even in finding a spouse,” Clark said. “As diverse as each of these accounts are, there were two commonalities which run through each of their stories; 4-H was fun, and the skills learned during their years in 4-H are still used daily.”

“I do not think my grandfather realized that patch of dirt was actually a stage where character and dreams were created,” said Margaret Weis, who accepted the award on behalf of the family. “Simply put 4-H prepared us for life.”

Weis said the award application process was a “trip down memory lane, reminding us of our cherished 4-H days.”

“I was excited when I found out we won the award,” said Vicki (Gieger) Suhre, whose father, Joseph “Butch” Geiger Jr. was heavily involved in 4-H and passed his passion along to his children.

“With the number of people we have in 4-H and the size of the Geiger family, I knew that we had a lot of years (to win this),” said Dave Geiger, Vicki’s brother. “I can’t remember a time where my family wasn’t involved in 4-H.”

Vicki and Dave’s 4-H involvement started when they were young. Their dad, Butch, would get a school bus and take not only his children, but also their friends, to see the different 4-H projects before the fair started.

“My dad just loved the interaction with kids, and we loved getting city people involved in farming,” Suhre said. “My dad used to get a school bus, and we would go around and see projects before the fair.”

With passion like Butch and Joe Sr.’s, it’s no wonder that the family has been involved in 4-H for seven decades.

The award — which is given to only one family each year — is not only prestigious, but difficult to obtain. The only way a family can even qualify is if they have a minimum of:

▪ At least three generations have been involved in 4-H activities,

▪ 15 different family members (including in-laws) have either been 4-H members, leaders, or volunteers; and

▪ 100 cumulative years of 4-H membership or volunteerism.

And having a century of service is a difficult milestone to reach.

Six of Joe Sr.’s nine children were involved in 4-H, which carried over to his grandchildren. Twenty-three of his 28 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren were enrolled in the 4-H. Even the spouses who married into the Geiger family served as volunteers.

Butch was a 30-year leader in 4-H, and during his time, he was a father, uncle, great uncle and grandfather to 41 Illinois 4-H members. Under Butch’s direction, an annual club roster of more than 50 members learned public speaking, leadership and the importance of volunteering.

“He (Butch) would do anything for anybody, and he just liked being involved,” Suhre said. “My dad focused a lot on public speaking. We always had to give a talk or demonstration because he wanted the kids to be able to get up in front of people and he was good at it.”

Dave said one of the major lessons he learned in 4-H was teamwork, and it’s a lesson he’s kept with him for his whole life.

“The main thing (I learned) was that we need to get along with other people. Even though you’re competing with other club members and county kids, you also have to chip in and help them with their projects if they need it,” Dave said.

More than 50 family members were on stage at the award ceremony, and many more were in the crowd.

“Each of the family members had participated by providing their historical account of activities, projects and major achievements in 4-H,” said Weis, whose mother, Dorothy (Geiger) Lewis, is the youngest daughter of Joe Sr. “It was an honor to be selected and to receive this award as a family.”

Lewis, along with her sister Lynn (Lewis) Weis and Dorothy, helped write the Geiger’s family history, which won them the award.

This story was originally published August 24, 2016 at 10:17 AM with the headline "Highland farm family wins 4-H Family Spirit Award."