By Mark Miller
Parents of kids aged 8-18 looking for a small, Haslet-based 4-H club focused on tasks beyond
tending to and even owning livestock should check out the Lonestar Legacy 4-H Club — an
organization whose foundations are Head, Heart, Hands, and Health.
Started last year, the group emphasizes leadership development opportunities and personal
growth. Outgoing club manager Kacee Gordillo, who with her son Kaden, was instrumental in
launching the new club, is in the process of training her replacement, Clare Duncan, so she can
enjoy Kaden’s final two years at Eaton High School.
“He was kind of at the point where every project involving cattle, rabbits, photography, and
robotics were not possible without leaders, and leadership is the No. 1 thing in each of these
projects,” Kacee said. “The main thing with 4-H is it’s youth leading the youth. So, I always step
back as a leader and step in as needed, but my officers plan and run the meeting and arrange the
supply list. I’ve got 12 year olds who can do parliamentary procedure better than city council.”
Kacee previously managed one of the largest 4-H clubs in Tarrant County before splitting off to
form the smallest.
“We just started our own to do the things we wanted to do, along with a number of things that
were non-livestock,” Kacee said. “Our focus is more on leadership, public speaking,
entrepreneurship, and that type of stuff.
“Our kids still do livestock. They still do sheep, they still do rabbits. We have cattle here and
that’s great, but the misconception with 4-H and the No. 1 question we get is ‘do you have to
own an animal to be part of it?’
“There are two completely different sides to 4-H. There is owning the animal, caring for the
animal, showing the animal side of it and then there is all non-livestock.
“On the flip side of that, we’ve got photography, robotics, shooting sports, public speaking,
entrepreneurship — the list goes on and on. A lot of people don’t realize all the opportunities
there are for their kids.”
Kacee said the non-livestock aspects of 4-H improve confidence and provide the life skills youth
need today. Since every project needed someone to lead, she and Kaden were seeking more
focus on how to be a leader and providing ways for kids to become leaders even when they
didn’t know it.
“We’re trying to get young kids to understand ‘yes you are having fun with your rabbit, but what
did you do about leadership today,’ and they have to think outside the box.”
Lonestar Legacy has been able to quickly succeed, thanks to two early fundraising events. It
ended the first year with 15 members from Haslet, Bedford, Fort Worth, and Weatherford and
hopes for more this year. Haslet pitched in by providing the club with free meeting space at the
Haslet Community Center.
The new club is all about meeting the kids where they are, and Kacee said there’s emphasis on
helping youth who have never experienced 4-H.
“We send out a survey asking the kids ‘what do you want to do this year? Do you want to get
more involved or less involved, what projects interest you,’ and we build our year based on what
the kids are telling us what they want to do,” she said.
The club will be taking part in two upcoming events. The first is the Green Jacket Academy on
Oct. 25. The other is Light Up at the Luau for Spark junior leadership retreat Nov. 7-9 in
Brownwood.
For more information including how to join Lonestar Legacy, visit the club’s Facebook page here or email ll4-Hhclub@gmail.com.
Visit the Tarrant County’s website at agrilife.org/urbantarrant4h/.