AMES, Iowa – Iowa 4-H music specialist Max Exner was inducted posthumously along with 19 other 2006 honorees into the National 4-H Hall of Fame in recent ceremonies in Chevy Chase, Md. Exner is the eighth Iowan to be inducted into the National 4-H Hall of Fame, along with two others with Iowa State University connections.
Exner worked with the Iowa State University Extension as state music specialist from 1947 until 1980. In this role, he conducted a statewide leadership training program for community, church and youth leaders that included singing, music appreciation and folk dancing. He directed statewide festivals of Iowa’s County Women’s Choruses and led music and dramatic productions for several youth organizations and camps. Throughout his career, Exner also directed the State 4-H Chorus at the annual Iowa 4-H state conferences.
His 4-H work was not confined to Iowa. Exner arranged eight popular 4-H songs recorded on the album, “Songs of the 4-H Clover,” with The Chamber Singers of Iowa State in 1963. This album, along with a companion song book edited by Exner, was distributed nationwide by the National 4-H Supply Service. In the preface, he urged singers, “Sing the 4-H songs! Sing them with a lift and a lilt. There is gloom enough in the world! Sing the 4-H songs!”
Exner was not only an arranger and conductor, but an accomplished composer as well. Among his compositions were two popular 4-H songs, "I Have Just One" and "There Is a First Time for Everything." His anthem, "I Have a Dream," was approved by the Martin Luther King, Jr. Foundation and his folk songs appeared in songbooks published throughout his career.
Exner was active in the city of Ames, Iowa, participating in choral festivals, the Heartland Senior Variety Show and leading the Ames International Folk Dancers. He was inducted into the Iowa 4-H Hall of Fame in 2003.
The 2006 laureates and the state 4-H programs or organizations that nominated them include: W.C. Abbott, Sr., Louisiana; Oliver Anderson, Arizona; Thomas Carlton Blalock, North Carolina; I.B. “Tubby” Boggs, West Virginia; Dr. G.L.M. (Monty) Chappell, Kentucky; Maynard H. Coe, Kansas; Dolly Dwyer, Montana; Max V. Exner, Iowa; Eligio “Kika” de la Garza, National 4-H Council and National 4-H Headquarters; Shirley Ann Geis, Maryland; Lizzie Arabella Jenkins, Virginia; Ralph E. Kirch, National 4-H Council; Martha Jo Tolley, Tennessee; Marion S. MacDonald, Delaware; Otis Samuel O’Neal, Georgia; David Pace, Minnesota; Ray Parker, Oklahoma; Dr. Edward F. Schlutt, Texas; Andy Smyth, Idaho; and Martha Jo Tolley, Tennessee.
“This year’s National 4-H Hall of Fame laureates have made a difference in the lives of millions of 4-H youth, leading by example with their passion, dedication and creativity and helping to build strong leaders and citizens,” said National Association of Extension 4-H Agents (NAE4-HA) President Lisa Lauxman. “We are proud to celebrate their contributions by welcoming these inspirational people into the 4-H Hall of Fame.” The NAE4-HA sponsors the National 4-H Hall of Fame.
American Income Life Insurance Company partnered with National 4-H Council to support the ceremony. The National 4-H Hall of Fame is sponsored online by NAE4-HA at www.nae4ha.org/hof.
4-H is a community of more than six and a half million young people across America learning leadership, citizenship and life skills. National 4-H Council is the national, private sector, non-profit partner of the 4-H Youth Development Program and its parent, the Cooperative Extension System of the United States Department of Agriculture. For more information, go to www.fourhcouncil.edu.
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