MONROE — Ayden Bergemann joined 4-H in hopes of exploring his mind and gaining confidence in himself.
“I wanted to be able to help the community more than I was in Boy Scouts,” Ayden said of why he joined 4-H. “I wanted to do more stuff. I thought 4-H was the best route for me, and people had great things to say about it.”
After eight years, he feels he made the right decision.
“Everybody helps everybody. That has grown on me, too,” Ayden said. “The community service has helped me learn to be better myself — I’m more confident (and) a better person.”
His first 4-H club was the Hiawatha Club, which he participated in for a year before switching to Next Generation in Monroe.
“Hiawatha was a smaller club, and that’s what I was looking for at the time. But it wasn’t enough — I wanted to do more,” Ayden said.
His main points of focus in 4-H have been scale models, mechanical engineering and woodworking, plus, he has gotten into computers and robotics — which includes 3D printing.
“I love working with my hands, and I am learning to make my own furniture,” he said. He is most proud of a spiral bookshelf he made, which he said is “surprisingly lightweight, durable and looks pretty cool.”
He also owns two 3D printers, costing about $1,500 in total, and hopes to purchase a larger, $1,200 model in the future. He’s made a working belt for pants, something he didn’t think was possible with plastic.
He’s looking forward to printing and gluing together a violin, which would be made out of a plastic-wood resin mix. He said the grain lines will look realistic, though he would use real strings and a bow for making the music.
“I can’t print it all at once — it’s about two to three times bigger than my printer. I have to do it layer by layer,” Ayden said, adding that he doesn’t play the violin.
Ayden said that he loves showing off his 3D printers at the fair, where he’s met a lot of nice and interesting people.
His mother, Shauna Bergemann, said she has been pleased with her son’s experience in 4-H.
“(It’s) such a wonderful program and I am glad he joined when he did,” she said. “It was such a joy to watch him grow each year and try new projects. It really taught him responsibility and our club is like another family.”
This fall, Ayden plans on attending Minnesota State College Southeast with a focus on band instrument repair. The school has two campuses in southeastern Minnesota: Winona and Red Wing, each on the Mississippi River bordering Wisconsin.
“I can’t wait to see what he does in life,” Shauna said.
Ayden said that despite graduating this year and losing out on a chance to show at the since-canceled Green County Fair, he’ll definitely be back to show off his projects in 2021. “I want to come back to the fair one more time, and I hope to bring a lot” to show.
