Earl, you're outta luck. Mary Anne's a 4 H'er.

I think I have an idea for a movie script. As the century turned, young people were moving to cities, drawn by the potential for jobs. They saw no future in laboring behind a plow. The atmosphere of economic prosperity was darkened by the nagging concern for the future generation of rural children. My film opens in rural Clark County, Ohio, 1902. We are introduced to mild mannered school principal A. B. Graham. He is calling to order the first meeting of the out-of-school "Tomato Club". This club of boys and girls promotes vocational agriculture in rural schools. It has officers, projects, meetings, and record requirements. As the plot develops, we will learn that the "Tomato Club" is the birth of the 4-H program in the United States.

My film ends with background vocals provided by the Dixie Chicks. Our heroines, Maryanne and Wanda, are at their new roadside stand on highway 109. They are selling Tennessee ham and strawberry jam. Earlier in the film the girls had used some of the skills cultivated during their Tomato Club (4-H) years to free Wanda from an abusive relationship. They drug the cad Earl, wrap him in a tarp and stuff him in a trunk. They pack a picnic lunch and drive to the lake. We fade to a scene with a group of cops speaking to the ladies. One tips his hat and says: "Thank You ladies, if you hear from him let us know". Fade to black, credits appear and the Dixie Chicks sing "Good Bye Earl".

Now that I have your attention: the goal of 4-H is to develop citizenship, leadership, and life skills of youth through mostly experiential learning programs. Though typically thought of as an agriculturally focused organization as a result of its history, 4-H today focuses on citizenship, healthy living, and science, engineering and technology programs.

During the formative years of the 4-H program, researchers at experiment stations of the land-grant universities and USDA saw that adults in the farming community did not readily accept new agricultural discoveries. But, educators found that youth would "experiment" with these new ideas and then share their experiences and successes with the adults. So rural youth programs became a way to introduce new agriculture technology to the adults.

The 4-H pledge is as follows:

• "I pledge my head to clearer thinking,
• my heart to greater loyalty,
• my hands to larger service
• and my health to better living,
• for my club, my community, my country, and my world."

The four "H"s stand for Head, Heart, Hands, and Health. The organization serves over 6.5 million members in the United States from ages 5 to 19 in approximately 90,000 clubs. 4-H clubs and related organizations now exist in many other countries as well.

You may enjoy reading: Sometimes I have believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.

Also, may I recommend for your enjoyment: Relax in a pony and trap and enjoy the magnificent view.

The Silver Surfer (Norrin Radd) is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics superhero created by Jack Kirby. The character first appears in the comic book Fantastic Four #48 (March 1966), the first of a three-issue arc fans and historians call "The Galactus Trilogy".

Originally a young astronomer of the planet Zenn-La, in order to save his home-world from destruction by a fearsome cosmic entity known as Galactus, Norrin Radd made a bargain with the being, pledging himself to serve as his herald. Imbued in return with a tiny portion of Galactus' Power Cosmic, Radd acquired great powers and a silvery appearance. Galactus also created for Radd a surfboard-like craft — modeled after a childhood fantasy of his — on which he would travel at speeds beyond that of light. Known from then on as the Silver Surfer, Radd began to roam the cosmos searching for new planets for Galactus to consume. When his travels finally took him to Earth, the Surfer came face-to-face with the Fantastic Four, a team of powerful superheroes that helped him to rediscover his nobility of spirit. Betraying Galactus, the Surfer saved Earth but was punished in return with everlasting exile there.

Stan Lee enjoyed the character and decided to feature him in his own individual title in 1968. John Buscema was penciller for the first 17 issues of the series, with Kirby returning for the eighteenth and final issue. The first seven issues, which included anthological "Tales of the Watcher" backup stories, were 72-page (with advertising), 25-cent "giants", as opposed to typical 36-page, 12-cent comics of the time. Thematically, the stories dealt with the Surfer's exile on Earth and the inhumanity of man as observed by this noble yet fallen hero. The Silver Surfer comic book series became known as one of Lee's most thoughtful and introspective works. Englehart writes that Buscema and Lee were "pouring their souls into the series".

Waldo County, situated in mid-coast Maine along scenic Penobscot Bay, has genuine New England character evidenced by working port towns and quaint rural villages. Visitors are awed by the area's unspoiled beauty. From striking coastal views to sweeping mountain vistas, dramatic natural settings abound. In addition great care has been taken to preserve and refurbish numerous historic landmarks, homes and buildings. Consequently, the Maine of yesteryear is still found here.

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