A 4-H tribute to Nadine Boer
On Feb. 5, 2022, the community lost a longtime voice and supporter for not only our 4-H members, but many youth organizations in Mendocino County. The Mendocino County 4-H program and volunteers would like to share some dear memories of the beloved Nadine Boer to both cherish and recognize her vital influence on many who were fortunate to work adjacent to her in her mission to see children thrive.
Tascha Whetzel, a longtime 4-H volunteer and parent, writes this tribute to her dear friend who shared common goals during their time volunteering for the 4-H Ukiah Shamrocks Club.
A very good friend passed away this month and I will attempt to share and summarize the things I know to be true about Nadine Boer and her 4-H life. She shared memories about her younger years in 4-H. Nadine grew up in Salida, California with 4-H and learned many skills including sewing and baking. Her 4-H leaders were cherished; she appreciated the time these ladies spent modeling, teaching, and helping youth. She wanted to do the same thing with her own kids and our community’s kids.
I first met Nadine Boer in 2006, when our kids Audie and Megan joined Ukiah Shamrock. I knew instantly we would become good friends and would get the struggling club up and running. In 2007, Nadine and I became co-community leaders. From here, Nadine was on a mission to create learning opportunities. She would ask the kids, “what do you want to learn?,” and then she made it happen by reaching out to friends, family and community members. I had to consult my kids and my 4-H files, and found the following projects offered through the Ukiah Shamrock club during Nadine’s tenure:
fiber arts, felting, sewing, quilting, sun dying, spinning, cake decorating, fly tying, fishing, bee keeping, scrapbooking, gourd painting, flower arranging, photography, computers, plant science, hiking, welding, woodworking, rifle, shotgun, archery, communications, Wreaths Across America, dog care, horses, cavies, rabbits, poultry, swine, goats and sheep.
Please take note that this list primarily includes nonMarket animal projects. Although Nadine supported the local auctions and believed the skills taught in these projects were important, she felt strongly that kids should learn a variety of skills and experience successes that did not have monetary incentives. Nadine believed kids should have the opportunity to learn, to make items, to share their skills with others and to have pride in a job well done. She also believed that leadership and public speaking opportunities were paramount. Nadine was famous for reaching out to kids and asking them to try something new within the club: becoming an officer, chairing a committee, setting up community service activity, becoming a junior or teen leader for a project, and speaking at the club meetings. She encouraged and supported the other adult club leaders to provide opportunities for kids to help our community in the areas of veterans, senior citizens, food banks, and healthy living.
Nadine was a strong advocate for Mendocino County 4-H kids and was not afraid nor shy to question some of the practice and policy changes that occurred at our county and state level. When local money was diverted away from the clubs and when traditional record books and uniforms became optional, she shared her feelings with the county and state leadership. She did this because Nadine knew that the 4-H she grew up in and the 4-H she helped build in our community was important
and made her and our members better citizens and contributing members of our society.
Nadine impacted many youth in our county, and this included my own children. My son Tanner at age 16 wrote in his record book, “She is always helping and is always there when you need her. She keeps you updated all the time by sending emails and only asks of you when she knows you can do it right. She puts a lot of her time into 4H even though she doesn’t have a kid in it anymore. I admire her for that, and I hope she keeps doing what she does best.” Nadine leased her horse to my daughter Shannon when she was 15 so that she could learn to ride, to show and know more about horses. Shannon shared, “Nadine made the horse project happen for me because I expressed an interest for a project I could not do from our home in town. Because of this project I learned about responsibility, confidence, and hard work on a whole new level. This is so typical of Nadine, helping others and making the best better.” My daughter Megan at age 16 wrote in her record book, “she always does everything above and beyond the expectations. You can go to her with any problem, and she will help you to the best of her abilities. She is my shoulder to lean on and the one person I feel like I can go to with anything that’s bothering me or something great that happened. She truly is my second mom and basically does everything behind the scenes. Barely anyone knows what she does for our club, but I do, and I am truly thankful
to have her in my life.”
I was so fortunate to get to know Nadine, work with her, have fun with her and share our families with each other for the past 16 years. We had so many wonderful and humorous times. Thank you, Nadine, for being a great friend and a great role model for our children and our community.”
Linda Edgington, the former 4-H Community Education Specialist for Mendocino County, writes on their partnership in reinventing one of the 4-H Clubs and leading it into great success.
I met Nadine Boer through 4-H when she and Tasha restarted the union of the Ukiah Shamrocks 4-H club. She was the best person I had ever worked with and she taught me so much and questioned everything about 4-H. Her love of children was very clear in everything she did! Through her pumpkin patch and her knitting group “The Knit Wits,” I would love dropping in on her meetings to watch the loving interactions she had with her members.
She and I had some memorable moments driving to Brookville fair to set up a feature booth and several seed tables. She taught me how to dye hats of nylons for fun. She was always willing to help members with their demonstrations.
Some of my fondest memories were of her endless volunteering at various 4-H events; primary introduction to 4-H for younger members 5-8 years old, pumpkin patch activities where she gave each student an opportunity to pick their own pumpkin or taught how to make pumpkin pie in a cup. Nadine was tireless and kind; she will leave a huge hole in Ukiah for the children and her beautiful family.
Amy Harper also worked alongside Nadine as a 4-H parent volunteer and recalls Nadine as a force to be reckoned with and encouraged her to return to the 4-H world despite the fact that her own children had aged out of the program.
Nadine was a committed and passionate organizer and leader. Her energy was contagious. I first worked with her on the 4-H Centennial celebration in 2013, assigned to gathering and curating historical information from Mendocino County. After that I let her talk me into coming out of 4-H retirement to create and lead a Ukiah Shamrock project in Food Preservation. (I was a Shamrock club leader in the ’90s and also led multiple projects.) Produce from her Pumpkin Patch on Boonville Road really added to our project.
Nadine tapped me again to fill a part-time vacancy at Mendocino Book Company, a perfect post-retirement job, which unfortunately had to be dropped because of grandmothering commitments. Nadine’s work ethic was beyond compare. The world could use a lot more of that force for good. I will miss her!
Our current 4-H Ukiah Shamrocks Club Leader, Gina Weaver, shares on Nadine’s incredible generosity amidst being a new leader in the community.
Nadine was such a giving person. Always giving, especially to 4-H. My flower arrangement project for Ukiah Shamrock 4-H didn’t know what to do when COVID-19 hit and we still needed to make money to buy the flowers for our project.
Nadine said, “Bring them here to Pirate Pete’s Pumpkin Patch and we can sell your pumpkin arrangements for you — I will even donate the pumpkins.” Such an unselfish and giving person.
Every year she would let us hold our Halloween Party for our 4-H Club there too. Again, what a gem. You will be forever missed.