Maine State 4-H Song, 4-H Club Songs, and 4-H Club Cheers
Although it is uncertain exactly when the words to the Maine State 4-H Song were written, it was introduced to the members of the Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs as the “Official State Club Song” by the September 1922 issue of the Extension newsletter Echoes from Clubdom (the name “4-H” was not widely used in Maine until 1924).
Using the music from the Civil War tune “Marching through Georgia” composed by Henry Clay Work in 1865, Extension Editor Abraham L. T. Cummings crafted the words*, “Here’s a song to dear old Maine, the state we love so well.” More an ode to Maine than to 4-H, it does tie club work in, especially in the chorus, singing, “Come on! Come on! The Club is calling you. Come on! Come on! Let’s push our projects through. In home and farm achievement there is time for pleasure too, while we are doing our club work.”
Sung for years at state 4-H events and anytime Maine 4-H’ers wanted to express their connection to Maine, over time, with the changing of personnel and the discontinuation of specific events that incorporated the song as part of the program such as State 4-H Contests, the song itself became less and less known. Having been written using the “Marching through Georgia” music may not have helped either. “Marching through Georgia”, although a very popular, well-known song in the Northern states, was not, understandably, highly regarded in the South, raising concerns for some listeners resulting in less utilization of the song in general.
By the 1990s the fact that Maine had a “state 4-H song” was so little known that the members of the 1997 State 4-H Teen Council were surprised to learn one even existed. Given the fact that even though the words were original, the music was not only “borrowed” but “borrowed” from a “controversial” song, the State 4-H Teen Council that year discussed holding a statewide competition for a new state 4-H Song. This idea, however, was never fully implemented.
Singing songs, playing games and giving cheers have long been part of the 4-H movement. Many 4-H Clubs, along with the usual offices of President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer, will elect additional officers, such as “Song Leader” or, if games will be included, “Recreation Leader.” In Maine, to enhance the sense of belonging and loyalty, Clubs were encouraged to create songs and cheers of their own. These were, apparently quite loudly, with staff encouragement, presented during events such as State Club Contest and Eastern States Exposition Camp Vail. One example of such encouragement is this note found in the Penobscot County Farm Bureau News (V8, #7 Oct 1927), “Better practice up on your club cheers, songs, and state song before coming to the County Contest!”
An example of a typical “Club Song” appeared on page 5 of the February 1932 issue of Club Echoes.
(sung to the tune of “The Bum Song”)
Written by Mrs. Isa Grindle, Local Leader, Exeter
Sung at County Contest, 1931, by club.
We are the jolly 4-H clubs
We love to work and play
We sew and mend and can and cook
Through all the summer day
We wish to show our parents and friends
That club work is worthwhile
By doing all our club work
With a cheery word and smile.
Come on let’s shout for club work
All the whole year through
Let’s try to make the better best
In everything we do
It’s head and heart and hand and health
That make our club a 4-H Club
None better can you find.
One of the earliest cheers included in Echoes from Clubdom (v1, #13, June 1919) was the Litchfield club’s cheer:
1 2 3 – who are we?
We are the clover club, don’t you see?
Are we in it? Yes, we are!
Four leaf clover club
RAH RAH RAH!
This one was published in 1925 (Echoes from Clubdom, v8, #2, August 1925):
Gang-way please, gang-way please
Wells Ever-ready club wants to sneeze
Gang-way please, gang-way please
Wells Ever-ready club wants to sneeze
KERCHU!!!!
Club Echoes, (v8, #9, March 1931), the state 4-H Newsletter that replaced Echoes from Clubdom, reported this county cheer from Waldo County:
Great big W
Little crook a
Great long L
Without any tail
Humped back D
Little round o
All put together
Spell Waldo.
Club Echoes (v8, #7, January 1931) reported that this Aroostook County county-cheer was used to announce the Aroostook County 4-H delegation’s presence during the 1931 State 4-H Contest. According to the newsletter’s account, the cheer was led by “4-H Cheerleader” Alda Cook of Mapleton.
Put one O
Put two O
Put three O
Put four O
Put five O
Put six O
Put seven O
Put eight O — AROOSTOOK!
Then, to underscore the point, the editor added in parentheses “(potato)”.
More information about 4-H music can be found on the National 4-H History Preservation website.
The words to the Maine State 4-H Song
First verse:
Here’s a song to dear old Maine, the state we love so well,
Biggest in New England, and the state in which to dwell;
The story of its glory we will ever gladly tell,
While we are doing our club work.
Chorus:
Come on! Come on! The Club is calling you.
Come on! Come on! Let’s push our projects through.
In home and farm achievement there is time for pleasure too,
While we are doing our club work.
Second verse:
Shout the praise of our dear State, its rivers, lakes, and coast,
Fragrant fields and wooded hills, the pine of which we boast;
Best of all, the happy homes and folks we love the most,
While we are doing our club work.
Chorus
Third verse:
Maine, the State of purest air, its waters crystal flow;
‘Tis true we have real winter, and a lot of ice and snow.
But winter sports are glorious and keep the cheeks aglow,
While we are doing our club work.