Larry Leier of Hague and the late Ole Linnell of Dunn County have been inducted into the North Dakota 4-H Hall of Fame.

The North Dakota 4-H Foundation also has honored four families as 4-H century families for 2013-14.

“Volunteers are so important to the 4-H program in North Dakota,” says Maureen Bosch Ming, recognition committee chair for the foundation. “They are key in enabling us to offer programming that serves over 30,000 youth in North Dakota.”

The individuals and families were honored at recognition ceremonies on the North Dakota State University campus and at the North Dakota 4-H Camp near Washburn.

Those inducted into the 4-H Hall of Fame have at least 15 years of involvement in 4-H at the local, county or state level beyond membership in the organization as a youth.

Leier is a certified instructor for the Emmons County archery and shotgun 4-H shooting sports programs and a volunteer at county 4-H events. He takes an active role in cleaning and preparing the 4-H grounds for the Achievement Day livestock show, and he has operated the kiddie tractor pull activity during the county’s annual Dairy and Ag days.

When the county has been without a livestock judging coach, Leier has driven judging teams to competitions. He also has been a longtime donor to the county premium pool, active presenter during Farm Safety Day, member of the 4-H Council and mentor to 4-H leaders in the county. He also was a presenter at Youth Activity Days in Emmons, Logan, McIntosh and Kidder counties.

Lavern “Ole” Linnell served as the Dunn County Extension agent from 1963 to 1993. Before that, he was the Dunn County assistant agent and the Fort Berthold agent from 1959 to 1963. He was well-known for his land judging teams and always lending a hand to any youth who wanted to show beef cattle. He took youth to the national land judging competition 18 times during his career. He also served as a 4-H livestock superintendent at the North Dakota State Fair.

After his retirement, he continued to serve the Dunn County 4-H program as a volunteer educator at clubs and 4-H events, and he was a sponsor of the yearly champion market steer award that was named in his honor.

Any family whose years as 4-H members, leaders and/or volunteers add up to 100 or more is eligible to be named a North Dakota 4-H century family. Those receiving that designation this year are the:

• Davis family of Foster County, with a combined 315 years of service in 4-H
• Chris and Viola Leier family of Emmons County, with a combined 139 years of service in 4-H
• Jon and Bernadette Hendrickson family of Bowman County, with a combined 111 years of service in 4-H
• James and LuElla Klein family of Emmons County, with a combined 104 years of service in 4-H

NDSU Agriculture Communication - Dec. 3, 2014