MADISON — Marquette County resident Ben Brancel, Former Wisconsin Secretary of Agriculture, was inducted into the Wisconsin 4-H Hall of Fame during a ceremony at Green Lake Conference Center on November 2, 2019.
“We see the impact your volunteer service makes today and are encouraged to think how 4-H youth will shape the families, communities, and our world,” says Dondieneita Fleary-Simmons, Wisconsin 4-H Program Manager. “We know that bright futures are more possible because of all you do. We cannot thank you enough for Making it Happen!”
Ben Brancel has a deep-seated love for 4-H as he personally understands the impact of 4-H. Ben was an active Marquette County 4-H member, who served in a large variety of leadership positions and won many honors. It was because of his outstanding 4-H work that Ben was chosen to go to Washington, DC. While on that Washington trip, 17-year-old Ben met Congressman Melvin Laird. That meeting instilled in Ben a desire to enter public service. Ben credits 4-H and that meeting for placing him on a track of sustained service and civic involvement.
Ben began his public service on the local level followed by election to the Wisconsin State Assembly. In 1997 and 2011, Ben was appointed the Wisconsin Secretary of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. Among Brancel’s accomplishments over his two terms, was founding Wisconsin’s Discovery Farms and Pioneer Farm projects and leading the effort to revitalize the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory by housing it in the UW System. That led ultimately to the state-of-the-art laboratory today on the UW-Madison campus.
He assisted the Wisconsin 4-H Foundation to raise funds; tapped his connections and introduced key business people to the Foundation and encouraged their support of 4-H. Ben has co-hosted the Governor’s Blue-Ribbon Meat Products Auction with the Governor over the past two decades. Ben Brancel has been a friend and ardent supporter of the Wisconsin 4-H program throughout his career.
Ben summarized his feelings about 4-H by stating, “I owe everything to 4-H. I really haven’t offered anything back to 4-H that 4-H hasn’t given to me ten times over.” He shared how 4-H taught him perseverance and how everything doesn’t go right. Brancel was also one of two young people from Wisconsin selected to go to the National 4-H Conference and that experience led him to campaign for adding the words “the world” to the 4-H Pledge. That change came about because a bunch of young people from all around the world recognized that the world is our home and not just our hometown.
The Wisconsin 4-H Hall of Fame was established to recognize 4-H volunteers, financial supporters, staff and pioneers who made major contributions to the 4-H movement at the local, state and national levels. The candidates represent 4-H in the broadest sense – people who had an impact on the lives of children, their community or state through significant contributions of time, energy or financial resources to 4-H and its members.
Other 2019 Wisconsin 4-H Hall of Fame Laureates are:
Greg Hutchins, Retired WI 4-H Youth Development Director
Merry Klemme, Retired 4-H Youth Development Educator
Helen Augusta Hornby, Kenosha and Vernon County 4-H Pioneer (In Memoriam)
Dr. Ronald T. Schuler, Retired UW Extension Specialist, Mechanical Sciences
— University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension
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