SEMO Fair continues without 4-H 'icon' Dortha Strack

For the first time in 54 years, the SEMO District Fair is operating without the experience and dedication of �Miss Dortha� Strack, who became somewhat of an icon within the 4-H community.

Strack died in February. She was the first inductee into the Missouri 4-H Hall of Fame.

4-H Youth development specialist Lesley Meier worked alongside Strack for several of those years and said this week has been difficult.

�We put up a display in honor of her at the 4-H building, and it was hard to hang some of that stuff up, because that�s what you saw every year,� Meier said. �Dortha always had this one 4-H shirt that she wore every year, so we hung that up, and that was hard.�

Meier said there are a lot of volunteers who have stepped up in Strack�s absence.

Strack was a great leader, she said, and �she made sure people knew what was going on.�

It�s been a �fairly flawless,� transition, Meier said.

Pete Poe, who handles advertising and promotions for the fair, agreed.

�It�s been pretty seamless,� he said. �And not to diminish anything that Dortha did for us.�

Poe said Strack �believed it, lived it, loved it and was it.�

�Obviously, we miss her personality and her presence,� Meier said, �and working in the 4-H building, it was hard to not have her there, giving her encouragement and her pep talk. It just didn�t feel the same.�

Meier said, �We say, �It may not be what she would�ve wanted, but by gosh, we got the job done.� It�s hard to put a finger on the impact that she had.�

More than anything, Meier said, �we just miss her.�

�She was an icon,� she said.

The one thing Meier said she learned while working alongside Strack: If there would be a rule questioned by someone, Strack would know the reason.

Meier said Strack was fair and honest, �no matter what.�

�Everybody got treated the same, whether they were from Cape County, Bollinger County or Madison County, it didn�t matter,� she said. �And I think that was why so many people loved her. Even if you disagreed with her, she would agree to disagree with you.�

Strack also was a great listener, Meier said, and would understand when people were upset.

�She�d hear their concerns and say, �Well, unfortunately, a rule is a rule, but I understand where you�re coming from,�� Meier said.

Working alongside Strack, Meier said she would even question some of the rules in place or why things were done a certain way.

But Strack �always had a reason, and she knew the reason, and there was always some validity behind that reason,� she said.

jhartwig@semissourian.com

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