All week long on SusanvilleStuff, in celebration of National 4-H Week, we will be featuring this year’s four inductees into the Lassen County 4-H Hall of Fame.
By Paiton Hallmark, Russell Mallery, Samantha Medvin and Layton Allen. Interview and photographs provided by Delores Hemphill.
October 7th – October 12th is National 4-H Week! The theme this year is Beyond Ready. Our theme this year really embraces what Lassen County 4-H members want to focus on – building a ready generation in a world of change!
The 2024 Lassen County 4-H Hall of Fame is brought to you by the 2024/2025 County Ambassadors: Paiton Hallmark, Russell Mallery, Layton Allen and Samantha Medvin. This year the Lassen County 4-H Hall of Fame will take up residence outside the Lassen County 4-H Office at 707 Nevada Street. Feel free to come look at it starting in November of 2024.
Our first inductee of the 2024 Class of the Hall of Fame truly embodied mentorship in our local 4-H program. Mentorship is the patronage, guidance, or direction given by a person to a less experienced or younger person. We would like to welcome Dolores Hemphill.
Dolores was a member from 1950-1959 in Lassen County 4-H. She was enrolled in the beef, clothing, food preservation and food preparation projects. She became a leader in 1960 and served for over fifty years guiding local youth in the 4-H program. She held positions at the club, county, sectional and state levels of leadership and traveled to Washington D.C three separate occasions. She attended the Western States Leaders Forum numerous times.
When reflecting on her time serving local youth in our program Dolores mentioned that kids should join 4-H because it helps them learn by doing. The program offers many different life skills, and it doesn’t matter if you’re a boy or a girl. She said that it benefited kids from rural communities because it provided opportunities for them to travel and experience things outside of their hometown.
Dolores helped run Lassen County 4-H Camp for nearly 20 years at the Eagle Lake Youth Camp and she always enjoyed watching kids come back year after year as they aged from junior members to becoming counselors.
It’s an honor, Mrs. Hemphill, to induct you as the first member into the Lassen County 4-H Hall of Fame Class of 2024.
