By Angela H. Hill

After 28 years as a 4-H agent and unit coordinator at the Patrick County Virginia Cooperative Extension office, Carol Byrd retired Tuesday.

“I knew it was time to retire when I started seeing children of the children I had first seen going to 4-H camp,” Byrd said with a chuckle.

It’s the countless hours she’s put in working with children that many in the community say they will remember most about Byrd; praising the positive impact she had on students in 4-H.

Patrick County School Board Vice Chairman Kandy Marshall Burnett said she remembers Byrd from 1988, when Burnett was only 10 years old and Byrd was just starting with 4-H.

“The one thing I remember about her, even at age 10, was that as we were learning to do projects and get up and do public speaking – and that was very challenging at age 10 – I remember that no matter how poorly a child did she always found something that that kid did great and she encouraged that child,” Burnett said.

“She has shaped the lives of so many children in a positive way,” Burnett continued. “She has this inner light that has stayed with her forever. You felt safe and you felt welcomed and you felt accepted, and that is really what 4-H is about. It’s about accepting everyone for all their differences.

“She taught us so many things about respecting ourselves and each other and our community, and how to be proud of ourselves,” Burnett said. “She’s honestly one of the most influential people in my life, who shaped me to become who I am. I remember all the little things she said along the way. I use them on my children.”

Byrd began working with students when she first moved to Patrick County in 1982. She and her husband are both from Mississippi. She became a high-school math teacher at Carlisle School in Martinsville, and her next job was helping GED students with math.

Byrd started with the extension office in 1987 as a part-time 4-H program leader, becoming full time a year later. Byrd said the one thing she’s loved throughout her career is the variety in her daily work.

“I love the fact that you’re doing something different every day. One day you’re in the classroom, one day you’re at a day camp, the next day you’re at a workshop on a new program,” Byrd said.

One of the biggest parts of her job, Byrd said, has been summer 4-H camp at Bedford County’s W.E. Skelton Conference Center, a week-long camp with up to 130 county student campers plus 30 teen leaders and 20 adults. Her second biggest program were the in-school speech and science lessons.

As the unit coordinator, Byrd was responsible for the extension’s budget and general fund management, including overseeing the influx of financial aid so that students from all income levels could experience 4-H camp.

Vicki Bennett, owner and agent of the Stuart office of New York Life insurance company, was involved in 4-H endeavors with Byrd for 17 years. Bennett said the words that best describe Byrd are “selfless, giving and caring.”

“The characteristic with Carol that stands out to me is truly in this capacity: There was no child left behind, regardless of age, race, whatever,” Bennett said. “Everybody is on the same level. She goes above and beyond what her job requires her to do to make sure that every child who wants to be involved is involved.”

Burnett echoed that sentiment, sharing what camp meant to the many children who may not have been able to attend without financial aid. “You never know what a child is coming to you with. For example, when we would go to camp, you never knew if a child had a horrible home life and that one week of camp was the best week of their life. She helped facilitate that for a lot of children, and she’s still doing it.”

Jim Marion, who is now retired, worked with Byrd through his position on the Extension leadership council at the state office. He said Byrd’s acumen with funding kept local programs in good standing, and her efforts filtered down to the students.

“She has a good ability to work with organizations and the people who fund programs. Funding comes through Virginia Tech, through the county, and from a lot of organizations from Rotary to the Farm Bureau to the Cattleman’s Association, you name it,” Marion said.

“She was constantly and successfully raising funds from those organizations and individuals, and anything extra went into scholarships for 4-H camp,” Marion continued.

Byrd also taught many a Patrick County high-school student the tenants of personal financial responsibility through the Reality Store program for ninth and 12^th graders. In this simulation of life at age 24, students are challenged with balancing income against living expenses to give them a feel for how their finances might look after college graduation.

Byrd said the program, which began in 2002, will continue after her retirement. “It’s a really good experience for high school kids,” Byrd said. “It’s such a fun way to teach the kids wonderful things like taxes and childcare and grocery bills.”

Marion said that Byrd brought the Reality Store program into statewide prominence. “She picked up this idea from another state, and if I’m not mistaken this was the first county to have a Reality Store. She won a statewide award for her efforts here, and her program became an example, a roadmap for other counties that wanted to do this. The program would frequently have observers from other counties come to see what we are doing and take it home and adopt it.”

Burnett said Byrd’s dedication to teaching skills is another way she made a difference in students’ lives.

“She liked to let the children, as they got older, lead each other. She let them take on leadership roles because children really take ownership when they have responsibility,” Burnett said. “She allows them to do that, and she places trust in them … It’s about teaching them to believe that they can have responsibilities and tasks and do them efficiently and well and be proud of themselves for it.”

Marion also said that Byrd was excellent in recruiting and retaining both volunteers and paid staff. “She’s an outstanding people person … she had the ability to work with Virginia Tech supervision and she hired good people. They always seemed to work together very well in her office. When they had big projects, you’d find everybody working on them at the office.”

“She surely is a hard worker,” Marion continued, “and she was able to get that out of her associates in the office too. That office is one of the better run offices in the state.”

Byrd said that the Virginia Extension Office will not hire another employee until July at the earliest, and that the current office staff will have to pinch hit to manage 4-H camp this summer.

However, Byrd is confident that all programs are in good hands. Burnett agreed. “The people she has working there, they have seen how much Carol has worked for years and they’re going to continue a wonderful program,” Burnett said.

“It’s not going to go downhill. It’s going to continue to grow,” she said.

As for her post-retirement plans? Byrd said she hasn’t planned much beyond visiting family, enjoying time off, doing more with her church, Grace Baptist Church – and, of course, volunteering to help with 4-H programs.

Marion said she put in her all, even at her last county 4-H talent show Friday night at Patrick County High School.

“There were 15 or so kids competing and it was really, really good,” Marion said. “She was there taking care of the sound and everything else, and I thought, ‘She really ought to be coasting out of this job.’ But that’s really not her style.”