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40-year Extension veteran retiresNebraska After 40 years in Extension, Dave Stenberg says he needs to "just rest a little bit." Stenberg started his career with Dawson County Extension in Lexington during the week of county fair in 1968. When interviewed for the position, one board member wanted to know if he would "stay around and do us some good or run off like the last guy." Stenberg said he'd stay even though he'd always planned to go back to the family farm where he grew up in Wausa. It just never happened. Perhaps the main reason is Stenberg's Extension work became a rewarding way of life... just like farming. "Extension is more than 'here's the information.' It's the people and the relationships you establish. Extension staff members are part of their communities. They go to the weddings; they go to the funerals. That's the strength of Extension--the rapport and trust that comes through those basic relationships," Stenberg said. Before joining University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension, he spent two years in Tanzania, at the south end of Lake Victoria, teaching farming skills with the Peace Corps. He managed a farm there, as well. Among the Extension accomplishments of which he's most proud, he listed being a part of shifts in tillage practices to minimum or no-till, crop rotation to reduce fertilizer and pesticide use and reducing water use. He helped redesign permit forms for pesticide use and waste management so they would be easier for producers to use. He helped select corn varieties that were resistant to Goss's wilt. In 4-H, he's proud of his early work in public speaking, presentations and judging -getting people to think and express themselves. He worked with meats and livestock judging for all 40 years. In meat judging, he coached teams that won 34 state titles and went on to national competition. Dawson County teams won five national championships. Three runner-up teams competed at the National Western in Denver. Of 16 livestock judging teams, nine went to the North American International contests in Chicago and Louisville. One won a national championship. Five teams competed at the National Western in Denver with one taking top honors. Two teams judged at the American Royal in Kansas City. "We did a lot of adult education through the kids. Parents looked over the kids' shoulders and saw what they were learning," Stenberg said. Stenberg also played a part in leadership development, training leaders in the Family and Community Leadership Program. He estimates his team taught leadership skills to about 80 people. He also has chaired the Dawson Area Development Leadership Committee where 20 people biannually hone their leadership skills. Landscaping on the Dawson County Fairgrounds has been a special project of Stenberg's. He'd like to make it an affiliate site of the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum. "I will continue to be involved in that project since so many people come to the fairgrounds to learn about trees, shrubs, perennials and grasses," he said. Although his last day in the Dawson County Extension Office was Oct. 31, an Open House will give dozens of people who worked with him an opportunity to wish him well in retirement. The Open House will be Nov. 16, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., at the Extension office on the fairgrounds in Lexington (1002 Plum Creek Parkway). Congratulations may be sent to: Dawson County Extension, PO Box 757, Lexington NE 68850-0757. 11/10/08 Date: 11/4/08
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