SIDNEY, Ohio – They’ve supported events hosted by farm bureau, helped those with 4-H projects and serviced their local schools and community. They’ve made thousands of cookies, tutored countless numbers of children and have always done their best to keep “community” in farming. Their decades of commitment to ag literacy and what it means to be part of a county farm bureau are tops among their many goals.

Those in and around southwest Ohio simply know them as the Golden Girls. They are Shelby County Farm Bureau volunteers Joyce Peters, Mary Lane Steenrod, Ann Joslin and Sylvia Lehmkuhl.

Jill Smith, senior organization director and member development specialist for Ohio Farm Bureau, says the four women have made a difference in the lives of people for this Ohio Farm Bureau, which serves members in Auglaize, Logan, Mercer and Shelby counties.

“For years, I would watch them pull their calendars out of their purses, and those calendars were busier in retirement than they were when they were working,” Smith said.

All grew up in 4-H, which is where their volunteerism originated. Peters’ mother was a 4-H adviser and Peters was a junior leader at that time. Once married, she became a 4-H adviser herself.

“Volunteering is in the blood, I guess,” Peters said. “I have four children and they, too, were in 4-H so it’s been pretty much non-stop since then. There’s just a lot of opportunities for volunteers in 4-H and farm bureau as well.”

Peters said her entire family has been active with farm bureau in some fashion.

“It’s fun to work with people and I enjoy being out with people, learning new ideas. I’m a teacher at heart,” Peters said. She is a retired middle school English and language arts teacher. In fact, all four were teachers at some point in their lives.

“After retiring from teaching I immediately became the education director at our local farm bureau office, taking charge of the education committee,” Peters said. “Volunteering is what I like to do. It’s part of your makeup, doing something for someone else.”

Ohio Farm Bureau was founded on the campus of Ohio State University in 1919, just eight years before Lehmkuhl was born. At 98, Lehmkuhl is the matriarch of this foursome. She became a volunteer at a time when the fledgling farm bureau was in a different world. At that time, some 30 percent of Ohioans lived on farms, Farm bureau was promoting higher fertilizer use to boost the 26 bushels per acre corn yield and fighting to bring electricity to rural areas.

Lehmkuhl has fond memories of volunteering more than seven decades ago.

“I was the chair of the third-grade safety program back then,” Lehmkuhl recalled. “The kids were judged in four safety categories. They got to display at the fair. It was a good program. Kids taught their dads how to be safe, how to do things on the farm safer. They took what they learned back to the farm.”

For Joslin, perhaps volunteering is in the blood. William and Pearl Joslin, her grandparents-in-law, were part of the first county farm bureau community council in Shelby County. The first project was helping with European food relief after World War II.

The Golden Girls have volunteered at countless events over their years of service, whether it’s helping teach neighbors and students about where their food comes from, telling others about the virtues of farm life or instructing 4-Hers how to bake cookies.

The four are cut from the same cloth. All were raised on a farm and all came from families with a strong tradition of volunteerism and community service. Their dedication to helping others is in their blood, something they don’t want to stop doing.

“It’s part of your makeup, doing something for someone else,” Lehmkuhl said.

Over the course of many years in the Shelby County area, Lehmkuhl said the landscape is changing somewhat.

“Kids have no connection to the farm anymore,” she said. “Many don’t know where their milk or eggs come from. Many of kids today haven’t been out on a farm.”

Steenrod added to that sentiment, saying “farm family children grow up with a work ethic other children do not have, it impacts their whole life.”

Added Joslin, “The farm is the best place to raise a family.”

Volunteerism has fallen off for many organizations in recent years and farm bureau is no exception. The Golden Girls find that raising a family on a farm and giving back to a community is something they cherish doing, though it’s not as easy as it once used to be.

“Jill calls me every once in a while, asking me if I can do something and it’s getting harder to do because my legs won’t let me,” Peters said. “But I like to help out as much as I can.”