4-H leader strives to develop club like a large family

MARSEILLES, Ill. — The Brookfield Aces 4-H club is like a large family where members are encouraged to help each other with their projects, community service activities and fundraisers.

“I view them as my 4-H grandkids,” said Terri Sancken, who has served as the club leader since 2017. “When we start the year, I tell the kids that if they have questions, there are other kids who have done that project, so feel free to ask them.”

Sancken started working with the club in 2006, when her son, Brent, joined the group that was called the Brookfield Indians 4-H Club at that time.

“This is the oldest club in La Salle County — it was established in 1940,” she said.

When the group decided to change the name to Brookfield Aces, the club president designed the new logo.

“It is an Ace card with the shape of La Salle County inside the card,” Sancken said.

About 75 kids are members of the Brookfield Aces.

“To see all the different projects they are involved in, it warms my heart every time,” Sancken said.

The club meets on the third Sunday night each month from September to May at the Brookfield Township Hall.

“About half of my club has animals and half are projects,” the 4-H leader said. “Our club has a farm tour in June, our county fair is in July and the state fair is in August.”

Sancken continues some long-term 4-H traditions, including an annual awards program in the fall.

“All the members give one talk or demonstration during the year and it does not have to be on your 4-H project. It could be on something you did at school,” she said. “Or, something you want to learn more about. We just had a member give a talk on tuna fish.”

This year, Sancken organized a SPIN Club for building blocks.

“For six weeks, I had 16 kids meet every Tuesday night and each week the kids had a different challenge,” she said.

For example, the kids were asked to build a farmyard or a park that told a story. Another challenge for the kids was to build a bridge that was strong enough to hold bottles of water without support in the middle of the bridge.

“They also had to build a golf course with three different holes,” Sancken said. “It is awesome to watch their minds grow.”

“The shiest kids blossomed because they got to know this little building block family and they felt comfortable,” she said. “I set aside 20 minutes at the end of each night so they could tell about their project and I ended up getting 11 new kids for 4-H because of this SPIN Club.”

The pancake breakfast is a long-term fundraiser for the Brookfield Aces that has been an annual event for the past 49 years.

“Our club does it with the Highland Ag 4-H Club, usually during the first part of March,” Sancken said. “We are so blessed that community and families support the clubs and kids. Both clubs usually walk away with $2,000.”

For service projects, the club members go to the Marseilles nursing home and play games with the residents and serve them lemonade and snacks.

“The residents are thrilled and we also purchase word search books for the residents,” Sancken said.

Another service project involved making dog tugs for Pet Project, an animal shelter in Marseilles.

“We walk in the Seneca homecoming parade and hand out bags with candy and information about 4-H,” the club leader said. “In the fall for National 4-H Week, we decorate the Seneca Area Heritage Museum.”

Sancken grew up on her family farm where her dad raised crops and pigs.

“I showed hogs and my mom was an art teacher, so I did visual arts and baking,” she said. “My husband, Tom, was also in 4-H, so we knew we wanted Brent to be in 4-H.”

Brent’s first 4-H projects were Tennessee fainting goats and pygmy goats.

“Then he decided to raise pheasants,” his mom recalled. “He chose Melanistic Mutant pheasants that are dark in color, but in the sunlight they look more like a peacock.”

As her son entered junior high, Sancken said, he needed another challenge, so he started to work with robotics. This developed into a group of 12 kids that were divided into two teams.

“They practiced in our basement and met three times a week,” Sancken said. “It started September and the last competition was at the end of February.”

Each year the task that the robot must complete is different.

“One year they found out the wiring was bad on the robot the night before the competition, so the kids stayed up until 2 a.m. rewiring the robot,” Sancken said. “But they got to the competition, and when I look at these memories, it was a whole bunch of fun.”

The robotic team qualified for state competition three or four times.

“The team members still get together 10 years later,” Sancken said. “My son is now an IT engineer at a TV station and other kids that were on the robotics team are now employed at places that include John Deere and U.S. Steel.”

In addition to serving as a 4-H leader, Sancken is also the visual arts superintendent at the La Salle County Fair and a member of the La Salle County Friends of Extension and 4-H.

“That group was formed eight years ago when the state was going to cut funding to the Extension office and we were going to lose the secretary,” she said. “The first year we raised enough money to pay her salary and we still do that every year and more.”

The Friends group does several fundraisers every year, including a drive-thru barbecue dinner and a couple of Culver’s nights.

“We partner with the La Salle County Fair Board and organize a seed corn auction in early fall at the fairgrounds,” Sancken said. “We split the money with the fair board.”

An auction of donated items is also held on the Saturday evening of the county fair.

“We get baked goods and it is amazing the businesses that will donate,” the 4-H leader said.

Sancken bakes four dozen chocolate chip cookies each year to donate to the auction.

“What happens is someone will bid on them and then donate the cookies back to be sold again,” she said. “One year I had cookies sell for $3,000.”

The money raised by the Friends group stays in La Salle County to support the kids.

“There are a few fees we have to pay, but 99.5% of the money stays in the county,” Sancken said.