MONROE - The Vogel family has spent a fair portion of their lives in 4-H. Combined, they have over 70 years of involvement, making them one of the handful who have been around through a lot of 4-H's 100 years in Wisconsin.
Werner Vogel, the patriarch of the family, started when he was young, showing his woodworking at the Green County Fair. His wife Wilma Vogel said there is a group of men from 4-H who Werner Vogel has been meeting with every year since 1978. Werner Vogel then got his son Roger Vogel involved in 4-H showing dairy and gardening. It wasn't long before Roger Vogel became a junior youth leader, and then a 4-H leader in his own right. Then his only daughter Chelsea Vogel came along and did the horse quiz bowl, among other things.
"I'd attended 4-H before I was old enough to talk," Chelsea Vogel said.
The whole family, minus Roger Vogel's wife who had to work, sat comfortably together at the 4-H food stand Wednesday. The announcer at the Three Hills Rodeo boomed out race times as the family talked about their early years. Roger Vogel reminisced about the old tent they used to sell food out of.
"It was just a big, white tent outside, and kids were handing out grilled cheese sandwiches," he said. "It's changed so much."
Roger Vogel said after the current 4-H food stand was built, he used to shimmy up the beams to staple decorations from the rafters.
"We used to drive our leader Tracy crazy," he said.
Every member of the family spoke about the changes over the years, mostly good. Chelsea Vogel said she misses the horse showings and racing; she said she wished she could go back and show horses. None of the family members are participating in 4-H events this year, but they have been enjoying the 160th anniversary of the FFA and 4-H-run Green County Fair every day this week.
Each family member's fondest memories of their involvement with 4-H are the trips they took. Werner Vogel, Roger Vogel and Chelsea Vogel all took trips to Washington D.C., though not all at once. Roger Vogel said that back when he went, the kids ran free for a day in D.C. and wandered around the White House mostly unchaperoned. Chelsea Vogel said her group also had mostly free rein in D.C.
"I got to shake the Secretary of Agriculture's hand," she said. "While we were there somebody said, "Do they have clearance for this?' and they were like, "They're 4-H kids, let them in."
She said she remembers running and dancing barefoot in the mall area of D.C. She said her group had traveled out of Wisconsin in a blizzard, but D.C. was warm by comparison.
"Somebody said to me, "You must come from a winter state,' and I said, "Yeah, I'm working on my tan,'" she said.
They all warmly remember their times in 4-H and don't balk at the changes that have been made. Unlike in Werner Vogel's time, now there are cat and dog showings, guinea pig showings, aerospace and archery.
"Hobbies have evolved over the years, just like society has," Werner Vogel said.
Werner Vogel, the patriarch of the family, started when he was young, showing his woodworking at the Green County Fair. His wife Wilma Vogel said there is a group of men from 4-H who Werner Vogel has been meeting with every year since 1978. Werner Vogel then got his son Roger Vogel involved in 4-H showing dairy and gardening. It wasn't long before Roger Vogel became a junior youth leader, and then a 4-H leader in his own right. Then his only daughter Chelsea Vogel came along and did the horse quiz bowl, among other things.
"I'd attended 4-H before I was old enough to talk," Chelsea Vogel said.
The whole family, minus Roger Vogel's wife who had to work, sat comfortably together at the 4-H food stand Wednesday. The announcer at the Three Hills Rodeo boomed out race times as the family talked about their early years. Roger Vogel reminisced about the old tent they used to sell food out of.
"It was just a big, white tent outside, and kids were handing out grilled cheese sandwiches," he said. "It's changed so much."
Roger Vogel said after the current 4-H food stand was built, he used to shimmy up the beams to staple decorations from the rafters.
"We used to drive our leader Tracy crazy," he said.
Every member of the family spoke about the changes over the years, mostly good. Chelsea Vogel said she misses the horse showings and racing; she said she wished she could go back and show horses. None of the family members are participating in 4-H events this year, but they have been enjoying the 160th anniversary of the FFA and 4-H-run Green County Fair every day this week.
Each family member's fondest memories of their involvement with 4-H are the trips they took. Werner Vogel, Roger Vogel and Chelsea Vogel all took trips to Washington D.C., though not all at once. Roger Vogel said that back when he went, the kids ran free for a day in D.C. and wandered around the White House mostly unchaperoned. Chelsea Vogel said her group also had mostly free rein in D.C.
"I got to shake the Secretary of Agriculture's hand," she said. "While we were there somebody said, "Do they have clearance for this?' and they were like, "They're 4-H kids, let them in."
She said she remembers running and dancing barefoot in the mall area of D.C. She said her group had traveled out of Wisconsin in a blizzard, but D.C. was warm by comparison.
"Somebody said to me, "You must come from a winter state,' and I said, "Yeah, I'm working on my tan,'" she said.
They all warmly remember their times in 4-H and don't balk at the changes that have been made. Unlike in Werner Vogel's time, now there are cat and dog showings, guinea pig showings, aerospace and archery.
"Hobbies have evolved over the years, just like society has," Werner Vogel said.