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Longevity in 4-H doesn’t get much greater than with the Falk family near Oldtown in northern Idaho. According to official State 4-H Office records, George and Mabel Falk started the Cheerful Workers 4-H Club in 1948—a legacy of 53 years!

For the six Falk children, 4-H was in their genes and they continued to be involved after they left the 250-acre farm that was just west of Priest River along State Highway 2. And it continued even after both George and Mabel passed away.

Gail (Falk) Miller and Wayne Falk, youngest of the Falk clan, kept Cheerful Workers alive after Mabel passed away in February 2000. She was the club’s leader until she became sick, remaining active with 4-H for 54 years. Co-leader George, who worked in the lumber business for more than 50 years, died in 1989.

Gail lives on the Oldtown side of Newport, Wash., and is one of three original co-leaders of the Cheerful Workers 4-H Club, which today has about 10 members. Gail has been a
4-H leader for close to 25 years. She and husband Rob have three children, all Cheerful Workers alums.

“Young kids still have that spunk. I still see kids look at their leader and say, ‘Boy, you’re the best person I ever saw.’ ”

The youngest Falk, Wayne, became a 4-H alum, having to give up 4-H in favor of working the old farmstead and two other properties, including his own near Chattaroy, Wash. He and wife Kathi’s five children have been Cheerful Workers.

The first Falk child, Lloyd, was co-leader for livestock with his father as a youth. Afterward, he became a science teacher at Capital High School in Boise where he and his dad still live; he and wife Karen’s two children also became active in 4-H.

Carol (Falk) Drew of Austin, Texas, still judges livestock shows and food contests at county fairs. She and husband Frank raised their four children in 4-H, including leadership roles in a 90-member club near Walnut Creek, Calif.

Middle boys Dean and Denny Falk parlayed exposure to agriculture through 4-H into careers at the University of Idaho College of Agriculture. Dean is UI extension dairy specialist in Twin Falls, and Denny is manager of the UI Beef Center on the Moscow campus. They too supported 4-H when their children were young.

The Falk involvement with 4-H began in 1946 when a leader in nearby Priest River approached Mabel and asked her to assist with a calf club. Mabel and George enrolled Lloyd and Carol, the first Falk children, when they were ages 6 and 7, and two years later they started Cheerful Workers, which had the first charter and is the longest running 4-H club in Bonner County.
“We really worked our children,” said Mabel in a July 1982 interview. “We always stressed higher education. We didn’t want any bums.”

“4-H was number one in our lives,” Carol said. “It was always the first thing. The kids did well, and we loved it.”

Denny said, “With some families, after their immediate family leaves the 4-H program, they’ll start backing off. If anything my mom and dad got more involved. They had assistant leaders, but in certain key areas—vet science, for example—she was always the main leader.”
George added in the same 1982 interview: “Young kids still have that spunk. I still see kids look at their leader and say, ‘Boy, you’re the best person I ever saw.’ ”

“I didn’t know we weren’t very wealthy,” Dean said, until he left the farm for college. “The opportunities that 4-H provided enriched our lives.”

Denny added, the Falk parents seldom found the money or time to travel, but when they did, it was to see family or to do 4-H activities.

“I think that involvement gave me a greater appreciation for livestock as an educational route that I would like to take,” Dean added. UI degrees in animal dairy science and a job in UI Extension were the result for Dean. “4-H played a pretty strong role in those decisions.”
“Most of my friends were in 4-H,” Gail said. “It’s been a big part of my life since I was born, actually.” Gail’s fondest memories were spending summers with her two closest girlfriends and going to 4-H camp at Lake Chatcolet where she was a lifeguard.

All of the Falk second-generation kids enrolled their children in 4-H projects or continued as club leaders. And the 4-H legacy had a lot to do with three choices of spouse.

Denny met future wife June at National 4-H Congress in Chicago. Dean and wife Marilyn met in college at the UI, although they grew up in neighboring 4-H clubs. Carol followed a year as an IFYE (International 4-H Youth Exchange) to Brazil with volunteer work in Laos as part of IVS (International Volunteer Services) and AID (Agency for International Development). It was in Laos where she met future husband Frank, who at the time was in the military.

“My mom was a taskmaster of doing your projects and getting them done and completing the intent of the project.”

The Falk house always was very open and welcoming to 4-H’ers. The Falks for years hosted an IFYE student. “Mom and Dad maintained strong ties with most of them,” Dean said. “When they’d vacation back to this country, many of the IFYE’s would visit my folks.”

Travel was a common result of the hard work all the Falk children put into 4-H. Four out of six went to Chicago, the oldest ones by train; one traveled to National 4-H Conference in Washington, DC.; many drove to judging contests in Portland; and Carol was an IFYE participant. Of course, all attended Club Congress (Idaho Teen Conference) in Moscow.
Life in the Falk family was always centered on 4-H, “especially that summertime period, leading up to the fair, when it pretty much dominated our free time,” Denny recalled. “We had a small farm and my dad worked out fulltime. All the farm work was done at night or weekends.”

“My mom was a taskmaster of doing your projects and getting them done and completing the intent of the project,” Denny continued. “Mom and Dad would prod as necessary to make sure the kids took the leadership to get their projects completed.”

Elder sister Carol agreed: “I watched them with all the 4-H’ers that went through their lives. They really helped a lot of kids. I don’t ever remember them getting frustrated or down on a kid. They had the most patience in the world.”

George knew that the Bonner County Fair meant doing chores alone and eating his own cooking when the kids were growing up. “I try to get her to stay home at least one night,” George said in 1982 about Mabel’s priorities during fair season.

For their dedicated service, George and Mabel Falk received the Honorary Alumni Award from the University of Idaho College of Agriculture in 1984. In 1996 she received a 50 years of service in 4-H award. Mabel and George were recognized with the Outstanding Citizen Award for Priest River in 1978.

Gail remembers fondly the icon of 4-H in the Falk household—the kitchen table. “That’s where all our work was done. For at least a month before the fair, the table was always covered with reports and paper for 4-H record books.”

Carol agreed and insisted, “That table will remain on the farm and in the family kitchen forever!”

And at the present rate, the Falk legacy with 4-H, particularly with the Cheerful Workers 4-H Club, will last forever too.
 

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