To Generations Of 4-H Members, She'll Always Be Grandma Judy

By J. Scott Angle

LAKELAND, FL — Judy Raymond remembers, back in the late ‘80s, the way the 14-year-old commanded the room and spoke with such poise. She left the Polk County 4-H Council meeting thinking, “I want that for my kids.”

With Raymond, “my kids” soon became a lot more than the ones under her roof in Lakeland. She started the Polk County Home Grown 4-H Club, and it grew to 120 members.

She bought a 15-passenger Ford Club Wagon, so she could transport her kids to club activities.

Home Grown member SarahGrace O’Leary spent so much time with the club that, when she was about 12 years old, she asked Raymond, “Will you be my grandma?”

Raymond didn’t answer right away. She took grandmothering seriously. If she was going to be a grandma, she was going to be at the birthday parties, drive to the movies, invite her over for snacks — all the things “real” grandmas do. And in SarahGrace’s case, it would mean nurturing a child so shy that she’d cry when she had to say her name publicly.

So, it was a couple of days before she told SarahGrace "yes." Then she encouraged her new granddaughter to participate in Home Grown’s public speaking program. SarahGrace started small, talking about what she knew and loved, her puppy. One of her first presentations was on intestinal parasites in dogs.

Between 4-Hers like SarahGrace who adopted Raymond as their grandmother, and the children of Raymond’s own children, about 20 youth knew Raymond as “Grandma Judy.”

For her 35-plus years serving the youth of Polk County, Raymond was inducted into the Florida 4-H Hall of Fame in July. UF/IFAS Extension Polk County Director Nicole Walker and 4-H agent Shreemoyee Ghosh nominated Raymond, supported by letters from several 4-H parents, including SarahGrace’s.

After two decades, Raymond handed over the direction of Home Grown to a parent whose kids had been club members. Raymond then started a second club, the Clover Buds Club, for the very youngest 4-Hers. She led it for more than a generation, and the oldest club alumni now have college degrees.

As the Clover Buds in Raymond’s second club grew up, she had to rename the club to reflect the age range. She was told she could not name the club “Grandma’s Kids,” so she settled for All-Stars. They meet in North Lakeland, and Raymond still drives members around in her fourth Ford Club Wagon in 35 years.

SarahGrace got what Raymond wanted for her kids. Through years of practice in 4-H, SarahGrace went from fear of saying her name before an audience to confidently delivering a speech at her high school graduation.

That van still brings 4-Hers to nursing homes with companion animals, to county fairs to win archery ribbons and, of course, to public speaking competitions.

Raymond still wants for her kids what she saw in that 14-year-old at the beginning of her 4-H journey. That county council president went to UF’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences and into a career in politics.

He’s no longer in office, but he’s still a great speaker. He’s Bartow native, former congressman and former Commissioner of Agriculture, Adam Putnam.

J. Scott Angle is the University of Florida’s Senior Vice President for Agriculture and Natural Resources and leader of the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS).