CASSOPOLIS — Much to the surprise of Cass County 4-H Coordinator Hailey Harman, Cassopolis is one of the locations chosen for a national billboard campaign supporting 4-H.

The billboard is visible from McDonald’s when traveling eastbound on M-60. National 4-H Council has a partnership with an outdoor marketing company that will fill vacant billboards with their promotional endorsement, officials said.

“We’ve been hearing of some of the bigger cities in Michigan receiving them [the billboards] within the last few days, but I certainly didn’t expect to see one here in Cassopolis,” Harman said. “This is super.”

The advertisement encourages people to “inspire kids to do,” and gives the link of 4-H.org for more information.  Harman accessed the national 4-H website and was excited to see if she followed the link to the state and then the county, that the information directly connected to the Cass County site.

Serving as the coordinator for a little more than two years, Harman has been diligent to bring new programming to families in order to increase 4-H visibility in Cass County, she said. Some of those programs have included “Let’s Get Eggs-cited About Embryology” where members hatched and raised chicks, “Showing Livestock… Fun, Fair and in My Future,” farm safety, entomology and the latest endeavor of building Buddy Benches for area schools. 

On the radar for this spring is Cloverbud Conservation, tractor operator safety and taking advantage of the latest announcement of Dr. T.K. Lawless Park being designated an international Dark-Sky Park, an astronomy project at the park. Harman has also formed an active group of teen leaders that have undertaken some projects on their own, including the youth dance at the end of the Cass County Fair.

For more information on how to join this organization as a member or a volunteer leader, contact the MSU Extension office at (269) 445-4438.