{"id":14910,"date":"2018-12-20T13:43:48","date_gmt":"2018-12-20T18:43:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/4h\/?page_id=14910"},"modified":"2018-12-20T13:46:33","modified_gmt":"2018-12-20T18:46:33","slug":"songs-and-cheers","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/4h\/alumni\/page-farm-and-home-museum-exhibits\/songs-and-cheers\/","title":{"rendered":"Maine State 4-H Song, 4-H Club Songs, and 4-H Club Cheers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Maine<\/a>Although it is uncertain exactly when the words to the Maine State 4-H Song<\/strong> were written, it was introduced to the members of the Boys\u2019 and Girls\u2019 Clubs as the \u201cOfficial State Club Song\u201d by the September 1922 issue of the Extension newsletter Echoes from Clubdom<\/em> (the name \u201c4-H\u201d was not widely used in Maine until 1924).<\/p>\n

Using the music from the Civil War tune \u201cMarching through Georgia<\/a>\u201d composed by Henry Clay Work in 1865<\/a>, Extension Editor Abraham L. T. Cummings crafted the words*, \u201cHere\u2019s a song to dear old Maine, the state we love so well.\u201d More an ode to Maine than to 4-H, it does tie club work in, especially in the chorus, singing, \u201cCome on! Come on! The Club is calling you. Come on! Come on! Let\u2019s push our projects through. In home and farm achievement there is time for pleasure too, while we are doing our club work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sung for years at state 4-H events and anytime Maine 4-H\u2019ers 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 \u201cMarching through Georgia\u201d music may not have helped either. \u201cMarching through Georgia\u201d, 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.<\/p>\n

By the 1990s the fact that Maine had a \u201cstate 4-H song\u201d 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 \u201cborrowed\u201d but \u201cborrowed\u201d from a \u201ccontroversial\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

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 \u201cSong Leader\u201d or, if games will be included, \u201cRecreation Leader.\u201d 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 <\/em>(V8, #7 Oct 1927), \u201cBetter practice up on your club cheers, songs, and state song before coming to the County Contest!\u201d<\/p>\n

An example of a typical \u201cClub Song\u201d appeared on page 5 of the February 1932 issue of Club Echoes.<\/em><\/p>\n

(sung to the tune of \u201cThe Bum Song\u201d)<\/em>
\nWritten by Mrs. Isa Grindle, Local Leader, Exeter<\/em>
\nSung at County Contest, 1931, by <\/em>club.<\/em><\/p>\n

We are the jolly 4-H clubs
\nWe love to work and play
\nWe sew and mend and can and cook
\nThrough all the summer day
\nWe wish to show our parents and friends
\nThat club work is worthwhile
\nBy doing all our club work
\nWith a cheery word and smile.<\/p>\n

Come on let\u2019s shout for club work
\nAll the whole year through
\nLet\u2019s try to make the better best
\nIn everything we do
\nIt\u2019s head and heart and hand and health
\nThat make our club a 4-H Club
\nNone better can you find.<\/p>\n

One of the earliest cheers included in Echoes from Clubdom<\/em> (v1, #13, June 1919) was the Litchfield club\u2019s cheer:<\/p>\n

1 2 3 \u2013 who are we?
\nWe are the clover club, don\u2019t you see?
\nAre we in it? Yes, we are!
\nFour leaf clover club
\nRAH RAH RAH!<\/p>\n

This one was published in 1925 (Echoes from Clubdom<\/em>, v8, #2, August 1925):<\/p>\n

Gang-way please, gang-way please
\nWells Ever-ready club wants to sneeze
\nGang-way please, gang-way please
\nWells Ever-ready club wants to sneeze
\nKERCHU!!!!<\/p>\n

Club Echoes<\/em>, (v8, #9, March 1931), the state 4-H Newsletter that replaced Echoes from Clubdom,<\/em> reported this county cheer from Waldo County:<\/p>\n

Great big W
\nLittle crook a
\nGreat long L
\nWithout any tail
\nHumped back D
\nLittle round o
\nAll put together
\nSpell Waldo.<\/p>\n

Club Echoes<\/em> (v8, #7, January 1931) reported that this Aroostook County county-cheer was used to announce the Aroostook County 4-H delegation\u2019s presence during the 1931 State 4-H Contest. According to the newsletter\u2019s account, the cheer was led by \u201c4-H Cheerleader\u201d Alda Cook of Mapleton.<\/p>\n

Put one O
\nPut two O
\nPut three O
\nPut four O
\nPut five O
\nPut six O
\nPut seven O
\nPut eight O — AROOSTOOK!<\/p>\n

Then, to underscore the point, the editor added in parentheses \u201c(potato)\u201d.<\/p>\n

More information about 4-H music can be found on the National 4-H History Preservation website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

The words to the Maine State 4-H Song<\/em><\/h3>\n

First verse:<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Here\u2019s a song to dear old Maine, the state we love so well,
\nBiggest in New England, and the state in which to dwell;
\nThe story of its glory we will ever gladly tell,
\nWhile we are doing our club work.<\/p>\n

Chorus:<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Come on! Come on! The Club is calling you.
\nCome on! Come on! Let\u2019s push our projects through.
\nIn home and farm achievement there is time for pleasure too,
\nWhile we are doing our club work.<\/p>\n

Second verse:<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Shout the praise of our dear State, its rivers, lakes, and coast,
\nFragrant fields and wooded hills, the pine of which we boast;
\nBest of all, the happy homes and folks we love the most,
\nWhile we are doing our club work.<\/p>\n

Chorus<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Third verse:<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Maine, the State of purest air, its waters crystal flow;
\n\u2018Tis true we have real winter, and a lot of ice and snow.
\nBut winter sports are glorious and keep the cheeks aglow,
\nWhile we are doing our club work.<\/p>\n

Chorus<\/strong><\/u><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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\u2019 and Girls\u2019 Clubs as the \u201cOfficial State Club Song\u201d by the September 1922 issue of the Extension newsletter Echoes from Clubdom (the name \u201c4-H\u201d was not widely used in Maine […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":14757,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"templates\/page-withsidebar.php","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-14910","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nMaine State 4-H Song, 4-H Club Songs, and 4-H Club Cheers - Cooperative Extension: 4-H - 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