4-H Month: Florence Pullen is a leader in every sense of the word
BY SHAWN LOUGHLIN
Earlier this month, the Huron County Federation of Agriculture honoured Florence Pullen from the Clinton area with its Outstanding Contribution to Agriculture Award and a big reason why is her decades-long commitment to the local 4-H program.
Pullen began as a 4-H leader in 1980 when her boys, Dave and Mike, were small. She didn’t give it up until 2020, meaning that she had dedicated 40 years of her life to being a local 4-H leader. In fact, she is only one of four from Huron County who have received a prestigious Arbor Award from 4-H Ontario. The others? Pat Saundercock in 2003, Don Dodds in 2006 and Darrell Bergsma in 2024. Pullen won hers in 2009.
The 4-H Ontario Arbor Award is the provincial organization’s highest and most prestigious volunteer award and they are exclusively awarded to those who have volunteered with 4-H in Ontario for at least a decade.
Speaking with Pullen about the ceremony all those years ago, she said that in addition to the honour of the award, a crucial aspect of the award is the planting of a tree of the recipient’s choosing in a location also of the recipient’s choosing. Pullen chose to plant a ginkgo tree on the Seaforth fairgrounds - a rare choice for a tree in this neck of the woods, she says, but a subtle nod to her botany studies at the University of Guelph many moons ago. (She even makes mention of the class demographics back then - she was one of just four women who graduated as an Aggie that year out of a class of 120 - that has changed significantly in the years since.)
Pullen was a 4-H member as a child, of course, growing up in Perth County. But, when she met Don - a well-known and revered figure in Ontario agriculture who served as the county’s ag. rep with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food from the late 1960s to the early 1990s - they made their way to Huron County and started a family. At the time of Don’s death last year, he and Florence had been married for nearly 65 years.
Once in Huron County, the couple had their boys and they made their way into the local 4-H clubs, specifically the sheep club, which is what was bred and grown on the Pullen farm. The Pullens tended to one of the earliest (if not, the earliest) flocks of purebred Suffolk sheep in Canada. And while there wasn’t a sheep club in Huron at the time, the boys joined as part of the dairy club and a sheep club would eventually be developed.
As a 4-H leader in those early days, she worked to help foster the journeys of her sons, but then, once they aged out of the program, she remained and continued to work with the youth of Huron County for decades afterwards. In addition to leading various clubs, she also led the Go for the Gold team to the provincial competition at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto on two separate occasions, even placing second on one.
When asked what kept her coming back for all of those years, Florence said that she has always enjoyed her time educating children, both professionally and as a volunteer, and has loved to be part of the organization through the generations, working with young 4-H members and then, years later, their children. It’s so rewarding to see that continuity and generational knowledge being passed down, she said.
Specifically, Florence said that she takes great pride in the impact that 4-H has had on the young people of the county, especially when it comes to their confidence and ability to speak in public and address a crowd. Seeing a shy member who hangs back and is reticent at meetings come out of his or her shell after some time in the program is tremendous to see, she said, even noting that long-term Huron-Bruce MPP Lisa Thompson has credited her childhood in 4-H for her ability to speak in public and to do so with confidence.
It makes a lot of sense that Florence would settle into a lifelong quest of teaching, as she has so much knowledge to impart. She and Don had been praised for their work and innovation with their unique sheep flock, another contributing factor to her award win earlier this month. Their work with the breed and with AI (artificial insemination, in this case) has been the envy of many across the province and Florence and Don were the ones behind that.
This November, as Canada again recognizes 4-H Month, volunteers like Florence are the champions who keep the 4-H world spinning. Without them and their willingness to impart their knowledge onto the next generation of young people, keeping the cycle going and ensuring that valuable information isn’t lost is at the heart of what the 4-H program does best.