by Roger and Clarice Megard
The name changed. The organization is the same. Our club, which now exceeds 70 years, goes way back to the 1950's when the group was organized.
The rural youth organization was for many, an out-growth of 4-H. Our county group was Minnehaha County, member of the state and national organization.
The four goals for the Rural Youth organization were the four S's, Specialize, Socialize, Study, Serve.
Specialize was contests at the state level for speaking contests, forums, anything that was helpful to be better trained to be a community leader, such as school board, county board, 4¬H leaders and judges, church leaders etc.
Socialize - The Rural Youth group was comprised of young and peppy folk who square danced, circle danced and line danced. Meeting places were usually complimentary at city halls and town halls, The Fenn's Ice Cream Room, and members' homes. Every meeting had food. Young homemaker members always wanted to serve a fine lunch. Many times, they used a new recipe that all would enjoy and share the recipe with each other.
Every summer would include the club family picnic. Because the group had 50-60 members at the time with the group's kids invited, the attendance numbers could swell to over 100. Basket socials were an annual thing.
Study - We very often had speakers that were current on subjects that appealed to our group. Any young male high school graduates that grew up on a farm, became farmers to follow in the footsteps of their fathers. Some did attend college. The girls either worked as an office secretary, attended a teacher's college and after limited training began teaching (often in a rural school), and a few became nurses. However, a majority of the girls married at a young age, married a farmer and before you knew it they were a farmer's wife; they became the operator's assistant. Young couples soon added to their family. The numbers of children in each family were larger than they are now.
Serve- Young families were busy with their farming, wives helping the farmers, household duties and child care but still found time to help the organization serve lunch at farm auctions. The money earned was always given to individuals or groups that had need. The groups provided workers to help serve lunch at ag-related organizations. For years the group judged 4-H record books and gave prize money for the best books. When national extension participants met in Sioux Falls and they had a scheduled side tour to the Black Hills, a representative from our group hosted the group. Through the years, members were from every area of Minnehaha County and surrounding area.
More on Socialize: Eventually, after years of meeting in many sites within the county, the group decided that it would be a good idea to go by bus to the Twin Cities for an overnight and tours. A person from within the Rural Youth agreed to plan the event. With the success of the Twin Cities trip, the group attempted a similar bus outing to the Denver Western Livestock Show. When many more bus trips were scheduled, they were opened up to other guests.
As a result, the same group with a new name, YMW Alumni, was introduced. The name change came about when we (people who had aged) were introduced as Young Men and Women at a play or production, the crowd would snicker at the "Young" part, so we became Young Men and Women Alumni. Our group, plus others, enjoyed trips to the East and West Coast, the Midwest, Canada, Alaska, and Australia, with many of those trips being by air.
Seventy years later our group has 8 scheduled meetings per year. The gathering is always at noon. Individuals do not like to drive at night. The eye doctors agree. We do have 15-20 members that enjoy a different diner or steak house each month for lunch and reminiscing. We have enjoyed our children’s bridal showers and weddings and the births of grandchildren and now great-grandchildren. We have been saddened by the deaths of individuals in our group. We have been greatly saddened when we have buried members' children before their parents.
Our group enjoyed (particularly as we aged) getting together with the thinking we could solve all the world's problems. We tried but it has not worked yet.
For more information about the next meeting, please call . Most recently, the group met at El Tapatio's in Brandon on August 10th.
