The 4-H Club Driftless Dreamers is unique in that it was created for homeschool families. While other clubs form based on interests, activities or location to a certain school district, this club was established to tie 4-H into the existing homeschool peer groups. Driftless Dreamers held its first meeting in June 2023.
The families of the homeschool groups already cooperated in learning as well as athletic and extracurricular events; it was only natural to do the same with a 4-H club.
Youth members of the group brainstormed names for the group. Driftless Dreamers was a natural choice due to the topographical location and the creative members involved in the selection.
Driftless Dreamers draws families from Fillmore, Winona and Houston Counties. All of the meetings are held in person on the third Wednesday of each month. The majority of the meetings are held in Lanesboro, but occasionally meetings are moved to Rushford Village, Fountain or other locations.
Currently, Driftless Dreamers is composed of six families and 17 young people. Younger siblings of the club members often tag along for the events and meetings.
Driftless Dreamers is enrolled in both the Winona and Fillmore County 4-H programs. The members get to choose which of the fairs they wish to participate in. This past year both Winona and Fillmore County Fairs had some members of Driftless Dreamers exhibiting their projects.
Members of the Driftless Dreamers take on a broad range of topics. They might do projects on child and family development, citizenship, clothing and textiles, crafts and fine arts, creative writing, electricity, entomology, environmental science, animals, fishing, sports, and more! Each member can find a project perfect for their interests with such a wide selection. Beef cattle, dairy cattle, dairy goats, horse, meat goats, poultry and rabbits are the livestock that members of the club chose to exhibit.
In order to be eligible to exhibit at the State Fair, members must be age 12 and in sixth grade or over. This year three of the club’s state eligible members earned state fair trips. Two of the members brought dairy goats to the state fair. One of the members earned a purple award for senior showmanship and a third for her milking doe; the other member earned a purple for intermediate showmanship, Grand Champion Junior Nubian Doe and was an interview finalist. The third member exhibiting at state earned a blue ribbon award for her amigurumi crochet needle arts project on her very first trip to state! (Amigurumi is the Japanese art of crocheting small stuffed toys and dolls,)
With all the choices available, it’s easy to understand why the youths enjoy participating in 4-H. Current Driftless Dreamers’ Club President Ada Zoellner commented, “It’s fun to work in groups and see other people’s ideas and opinions.”
Emelia Zoellner added, “I like learning about our world!”
According to leader Kirsten Zoellner, “4-H perfectly ties into areas of study they’re already doing as part of their homeschool education. It challenges youth to be leaders, communicate well and to do good for their community. Being homeschooled also allows the youth to have utmost flexibility in when and where they can engage in 4-H projects and events.”
Getting the club off the ground was the biggest challenge; Winona County Extension Coordinators Kim Stehr and Mika Riebel helped to find a way for families from several counties to come together as one club.
Kirsten Zoellner declared herself to be a “lifer in 4-H.” Her oldest children started in 4-H in 2006, and it will be another 10 years before her youngest child ages out of the program. “I really believe in the tenets of the 4-H organization and the way it molds youth and families into the best version of themselves,” Zoellner shared.
The club has done many field trips; some of which include building bird feeders at the Rushford business Meier Woodworks, learning about fly fishing with Root River Rod Co., visiting the International Owl Center in Houston and a foraging expedition at Quarry Hill Nature Center.
With community service a goal of the club; members have helped local Chambers of Commerce and libraries, made cards and delivered them to local nursing homes, cleaned up graffiti and done a large blanket project for Project Linus.
The club loves to bring in expert volunteers to discuss their project areas and help engage the members’ interest. Meetings are subject to change on occasion; Kirsten Zoellner suggests anyone who is interested in checking out Driftless Dreamers should email the Winona County Extension Office at mnext-winona@umn.edu or call 507-457-6440 or email Kirsten at litendal@gmail.com first to double check the location and time of the next meeting.
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