HANCOCK COUNTY – To Kendra Gilbreath, it seems like only yesterday that her son Kolton and his cousins – Carter and Jacob Wickard– were toddling around at family functions, playing in the dirt on their great-grandparents’ farm.
This month, the 17-year-old young men are embarking on their 10th and final year in the Hancock County 4-H program.
The 4-H tradition runs deep in their veins.
Their parents and siblings were all 10-year 4-H’ers, having been raised on Hancock County farms.
Each set of parents were high school sweethearts at Eastern Hancock County School, where all three cousins graduated June 3.
Jacob’s mom, Julia Wickard, said it’s been surreal watching the time fly by as the boys have grown up side by side.
“They’re 37 days apart in age but they’ve all kind of taken their own path, which is neat to see, yet I think they’re best friends at the same time. They have each other’s backs,” said the proud mom, who is married to Chris Wickard.
Each of the boys will turn 18 over the next six weeks.
Kolton plans to study at Ivy Tech to become a welder. Jacob is headed to Purdue to study agribusiness management, and Carter plans to work at his family’s cattle farm.
This week, however, they’ll all be together enjoying one last Hancock County 4-H Fair, where they show livestock. All the boys will be checking in with one another, ready to lend a helping hand.
Carter, whose parents are David and Leslie Wickard, said he and his cousins have always supported one another through their decade in 4-H.
“We try to work together as a team. We talked to each other throughout the winter and made sure everyone was good on their livestock,” he said.
While he and Jacob are more inclined to work with cattle, Kolton is the go-to when it comes to working with sheep.
All three boys have enjoyed going through 4-H with family.
“It’s been a lot more fun with my cousins,” Carter said.
Kolton said it’s been a blast growing up together in the livestock industry, living “the farm life” with his cousins.
“We all work very hard to get our livestock ready for the county fair and all the other shows that we go to throughout the year. I’ve always liked watching each of us win after putting so much effort into everything,” he said.
Aside from supporting his cousins, Kolton said his parents taught him some basic rules about showing livestock in 4-H: “Go out and give it your best. The most important thing is to have fun at it,” he said.
Carter’s mom, Leslie, said seeing the boys’ shared 4-H experience draw to a close this week is bittersweet.
“Seeing them all having succeeded in something like this is a pretty big deal,” she said during a short break from watching her family show cows in Maryland last week.
The seasoned 4-H participant and parent knows just how much the program has meant to her family.
“It’s made my kids who they are. It’s just something that has been ingrained in them – following rules, treating others with respect, learning how to win and lose gracefully. I think that’s just something we all learned (through 4-H) over the years,” she said.
With six kids between the three families, Carter’s mom said the combined families have spent countless hours cheering each other on at the Hancock County 4-H Fair as well as the Indiana State Fair.
It doesn’t seem that long ago that she and her future husband and in-laws were all competing in 4-H as kids, she said.
Chris, 52, Kendra, 50, and David Wickard, 49, grew up on their grandpa Max Kennedy’s farm outside Wilkinson.
The beloved patriarch passed away just before last year’s county fair, but the 4-H tradition lives on in his great-grandchildren.
Kendra, who is Kolton’s mom, has fond memories of her own days in 4-H.
While her brothers liked showing cattle, she gravitated toward showing sheep. She won a couple of grand champion ribbons at the county fair, along with a reserve grand champion title and some awards for showmanship.
“Doing all that and then seeing your kids do that is pretty cool,” she said.
She and her brothers have each raised their kids on their own farms in Hancock County.
Kendra said it seems like only yesterday that she and her two sisters-in-law were all pregnant at the same time with Kolton, Jacob and Carter.
“Everyone said when they were little to enjoy it while they’re young because they grow up so fast, but you don’t think about how fast it goes until it happens,” she said. “Those people were right.”
