McQuillen, Von Behren revive Lovell Lions 4-H Club

     The revival of the Lovell Lions 4-H Club in Jones County is a classic win-win-win situation.

     • Win: Calli McQuillen of Monticello and Lauren Von Behren of Olin got to continue working with Jones County youth after their summer internships at Jones County Extension ended last summer, by becoming leaders of the new club.

     “After interning for us, they wanted to stay involved,” said Molly Schmitt, county youth program coordinator for Jones County Extension and Outreach. “They came to me with the idea of reviving the Lovell Lions club and were so excited.”

     • Win: The revitalized club, at this writing, has six members, giving each member the chance to be active in the club.

     “We elected officers; there are seven positions,” McQuillen said. “We combined two of them, so each kid does have an office position. I think that’s unique that all of them get to experience that.”

     • Win: Having the Lovell Lions back in existence helps lighten the load for clubs such as Prairie Hill, which was up to nearly 60 members.

     “They were getting far too large for their leaders to comfortably handle,” Schmitt said. “The hope is to relieve that club a bit by pulling some to the Lovell Lions.”

     Von Behren added: “A leader of Prairie Hill came up to me, and she was like, ‘Thank you so much for being a club leader. Our club is huge, it just gets to be so much, and kids aren’t engaged when it’s that big.’ ”

     Last summer, McQuillen and Von Behren talked about becoming 4-H leaders.

     “We just love being around the youth,” McQuillen said. “4-H had made such a big impact on both of our lives, so we wanted other kids to get that experience. Being leaders was a good opportunity.”

     Both were very active in 4-H, and both went on to become princesses of the Great Jones County Fair, McQuillen in 2015, Von Behren in 2017.

     McQuillen, now 21, was in the Lovell Lions before the club disbanded in 2011 due to low membership. It seemed only natural to revive that club.

     She and Von Behren approached Extension director Jennifer Fischer, youth development program specialist Jacki Luckstead, as well as Schmitt, about the idea.

     “They were super excited about it,” McQuillen said, referring to the three Extension employees. “We jumped into it really fast. They printed all the sheets for us to sign.”

     They met with the Jones County 4-H Teen Council, which also signed off on the plan, and the Lovell Lions were back.

     They advertised for members, using the Jones County 4-H Facebook page.

     “I had quite a few people contact me,” McQuillen said. “They were already in 4-H, in different clubs. They were like, ‘What time are your meetings? What day are the week are they?’

     “We chose the first Sunday of every month. Being that both of us are in college, it makes it difficult to come back (during the week), it’s what’s convenient for us, and also convenient for other people.”

     Fischer’s children, Maddie and Nate, joined the club, as did Monticello’s Lindsey, Cole and Connor Adams; and Matthew Beanblossom of Anamosa.

     “Just to see them interact, it’s been interesting. They’re all doing really well together,” McQuillen said.

     The Lovell Lions meet at the Citizens State Bank Youth Development Center. The club had its fifth meeting Feb. 3, which began with making valentines for delivery to the Monticello Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.

     It’s the type of thing they hope to continue, since the clubs Von Behren and McQuillen grew up with had similar projects.

     “In my club, we always did service projects,” Von Behren said. “I think that’s really important because you gain a lot from that.”

     Now, the hope is to add more members.

     “We’re hoping eventually more will trickle in,” McQuillen said.

     Von Behren agreed: “I want the club to grow more so that we can do more activities. We did a fundraiser, so now we actually have some money in our account, so that we can do different things with the club. I know we talked about at one point doing a bowling thing where we try to recruit some kids that are interested in 4-H but haven’t really committed yet.”

     McQuillen, 21, is in her last semester at Clarke University in Dubuque, majoring in nursing. Von Behren, 20, is a second-year student at the University of Northern Iowa.

     “They’ve really jumped in as club leaders,” Schmitt said.