Posted on August 19, 2019 at 1:18 PM by Global Reach
From an early age, 4-H was part of John Webb’s life. He began his 4-H career as a member of the Plank Jr. Farmers 4-H club in Keokuk County where his father was the leader. He took garden baskets and rabbits to the county fair and helped his older brothers prepare their dairy cattle. His mother was a 4-H leader for the Stick-to-it club where his sisters were members. Later, he ran for and was elected to the County Council, joined the Eleven County Council and was a camp counselor.
John and his wife, Jona supported their two children, Stacia and Jeremy through their 4-H careers. While his children were in 4-H John was asked to join the Keokuk County Exposition Board and spent 19 years serving the community. He wore many hats during this time and took on many responsibilities. He spent countless hours caring for the grounds, setting up, managing and cleaning up after events.
In the year 2000, John took over as president of the board and remained in this position for 12 consecutive years. In his role as president he worked diligently to protect and ensure the future of the Keokuk County Exposition, always keeping the community’s youth and 4-H program at the heart of their work. He has stated on many occasions, the happiness and participation of the youth during the Keokuk County Exposition Fair is what made all of his hard work worthwhile.
An accomplishment he is most proud of during his time as president is the acquisition of a 501 C3 IRS status, allowing the board to apply for and accept grants. The board has since been able to acquire funds for the ongoing maintenance and improvement of the fair grounds.
Although John is no longer a member of the Keokuk County Fair board, he continues to offer his support and guidance in order to provide the youth of the county with amazing opportunities, lessons, and knowledge he and his family have gained as a result of participating in 4-H. As his family continues to be part of the community where he grew up, he is looking forward to carrying on the 4-H values and tradition from a new perspective in the years to come as a grandparent.
