4-H Promotion Compendium: National 4-H Song Contest

National 4-H Song Contest

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During the summer of 1937 National 4-H Club News sponsored a National 4-H Song Writing Contest. Compositions were submitted from 30 states with songs from Arkansas, Wisconsin and Illinois chosen by the judges for the three top places. The judges included Homer Rodeheaver, evangelist singer and composer, Allan Grant, staff pianist of NBC, and Walter Goodell, composer and arranger.

On Saturday, February 11, 1938, during the National Farm and Home Hour broadcast coast to coast at noon time on the NBC network, all three top songs were sung with accompaniment. Then 4-H leaders and members across America were asked to vote for their favorite by submitting their ranking on a postcard or via letter.

The three top ranking songs were: "4-H Pastoral" by Martha Ruth Mayo, West Helena, Arkansas; "4-H Pep Song by Myrtle Carry, Footville, Wisconsin; and "Stop, Look, Listen and Sing" by Ruth H. Williams, Morgan Park, Illinois.

Hundreds of votes came in from 36 states who voted "4-H Pastoral" their choice by a sizeable margin. The winning song is a soft, meditative number, inspiring the love of nature, consisting of three verses and a chorus. The National Committee on Boys and Girls Club Work offered all three winning songs in sheet music format.

4-H Pastoral
Martha Ruth Mayo

First verse: Oh, a south wind blows over winter snows, And I know that spring is coming, When soft warm rain will fall again On green things gently growing; On green things gently growing. Chrous: So as we live let us learn to give To the folks the wide world over Whose hearts may yearn for the things we learn At the sign of the four-leaf clover. Second verse: There's a time of joy for the girl and boy Who live in the open country, When garden and field give up their yield And the table groans with plenty; And the table groans with plenty. Third verse: So we cook and sew and we plant and hoe, In a highly approved manner, As our happy band march hand in hand Under-neath the 4-H banner; Under-neath the 4-H banner.