LINN —  Christy and the late Don Brandt of Linn have been inducted into the Missouri 4-H Hall of Fame, recognizing a lifetime of volunteer service that included establishing a local 4-H club more than 50 years ago, teaching generations of young people, and helping preserve Osage County’s agricultural heritage.

The Brandts were among 22 individuals, couples, and organizations recognized during the Missouri 4-H Celebration of Excellence Award Brunch on Saturday, Oct. 17. The Missouri 4-H Foundation established the Hall of Fame in 2007 to honor volunteers who have contributed at least 20 years of service to Missouri 4-H and demonstrated a lasting commitment to youth development, leadership, and community engagement.

Don, who passed away on Dec. 7, 2024, at 82, was honored posthumously. Christy attended the ceremony with three of their sons, Alfred, Mark, and Paul, and said the recognition brought back memories of an involvement with 4-H that began in their childhoods. “It was nice to be recognized,” Christy said. “It was a nice recognition of something that I hadn’t thought about for a while.”

Both grew up participating in 4-H, Christy as a member of the Pointers Creek Club and Don in the Buckendorf Club. Neither club remains active, but their experiences helped establish a foundation for the volunteer work they would undertake as adults.

More than 50 years ago, Don Brandt and Carolyn Koenigsfeld established the Happy Helpers 4-H Club as their children reached the age to participate. The club continues to operate and remains active in Osage County.

“It’s still a pretty active club,” she said.

All six of Brandt’s children participated in 4-H, generally continuing until high school, when they became involved in FFA. Dairy projects were a natural part of their experience, reflecting the family’s longstanding involvement in the industry. The children occasionally attended project meetings in Cole County to learn about preparing cattle for livestock exhibitions.

During the club’s early years, meetings were held in members’ homes, a practice that eventually became impractical as participation grew.

Christy contributed as a project leader, initially teaching sewing and later cooking. Her cooking projects typically involved small groups of about three children who attended a series of meetings to learn and practice skills outlined in the 4-H curriculum.

She continued teaching cooking after retiring, although she said her direct involvement ended approximately five years ago, around the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Don’s active participation had also diminished after their children completed their years in 4-H.

“I enjoyed working with these kids and teaching them cooking skills and sewing skills earlier, too,” Christy said.

Their contributions to youth education extended beyond organized 4-H activities through Brandt Dairy, a family operation whose roots date to the 1940s and whose connection to the industry reaches back to 1840.

The farm became a regular destination for school groups, Scouts, FFA members, 4-H participants, and other visitors interested in learning about dairy production and agriculture. Christy recalled that the family began hosting school tours when their son, Alfred, was in kindergarten, more than five decades ago.

Those visits continued for generations, introducing thousands of children to the responsibilities of dairy farming and the processes involved in producing milk. Visitors also included preschool classes from Jefferson City, and farmers from Armenia, South Korea, and Japan.

Christy recalled taking her St. George fifth-grade students to the farm near the end of the school year, a tradition she said the children enjoyed.

Although the farm’s educational activities were separate from the couple’s formal 4-H responsibilities, both reflected a longstanding willingness to share practical knowledge with younger generations.

For Don, agriculture had shaped his life from an early age. Born Sept. 28, 1942, in Freeburg, he was the son of Alfred and Josepha Brandt and represented the fifth generation of his family associated with the farm.

His father was killed by a Holstein bull in 1955, when Don was 12 years old. As the oldest boy in the family, Don assumed significant responsibilities while his mother, pregnant with her eighth child, continued raising her children and operating the dairy.

Despite those challenges, he remained active in agricultural education. A student at St. George School in Linn and Fatima High School in Westphalia, Don became the first state FFA officer from the Fatima chapter in 1960. He earned the American Farmer Degree in 1963, one of only 11 young men in Missouri to receive the distinction that year.

Don and Christy married on Aug. 14, 1965, and continued the family’s dairy tradition on property near Linn. Their operation became known for its registered Holstein cattle and milk production, requiring daily attention through holidays, severe weather, and the changing demands of the dairy industry.

The property’s potential was not immediately apparent. In a 2024 interview with the Unterrified Democrat, Alfred recalled how regional Extension Agent Marion Gentry had questioned whether the rocky, brush-covered land could support a successful farming operation. “Don, you couldn’t raise Hell on this ground with a bottle of whiskey and a redhead!” Gentry said.

“He proved them wrong,” Alfred said of his father’s determination.

Don and Christy also became involved in agricultural organizations beyond Osage County. They were named Young Cooperators of the Mid-Am Dairy Cooperative in 1972 and served three years with the organization, attending National Milk Producers conventions in New York, San Francisco, and Miami Beach, among other destinations.

Don served as a state officer of the Missouri Young Farmers organization and chaired its state tour held in Linn in 1981. His community involvement included service on the St. George Parish Council, the Osage County Historical Society, and the Freedom Mutual Insurance Company board, where he served as chairman for many years.

He was also a longtime member of the Knights of Columbus and a Fourth-Degree member of the Monsignor Kutz Assembly in Westphalia.

His interests reflected a connection to the area’s agricultural past. Don enjoyed family history and making miniature farm equipment from discarded materials. He also restored his great-grandfather’s broom-making machine and used it to produce brooms, preserving a practical piece of the family’s history.

The dairy tradition continued under their son Alfred, who eventually became the last to operate the family’s commercial milk production business.

In March 2024, Alfred announced that Brandt Dairy would cease milking operations after approximately 80 years. Aging facilities, mounting repair costs, and changes in the industry made continued production increasingly difficult.

Although the decision ended nearly 60 years of twice-daily milking at the Linn farm, it did not end the family’s agricultural involvement.

“This farm has been in our family since 1840, and we are not going anywhere,” Alfred said at the time.

The closure marked a significant change in a family tradition that had endured for generations, but the lessons and experiences shared through the farm remained part of the community’s agricultural history.

For Christy, the Hall of Fame induction recognizes another longstanding family commitment, one that began when she and Don were young 4-H members and continued as they raised their own children and volunteered to help others.

She said she believed the nomination reflected their many years of association with 4-H rather than any particular recent accomplishment. The recognition also provided an opportunity to reconnect with others involved in agricultural education, including fellow inductee Dale Ridder of Gasconade County. He had been an Ag teacher at Linn and later returned to serve as interim superintendent.

Asked what Don would have thought of the recognition, Christy said he would have appreciated the honor. “He would have been pretty happy about that,” she said. “He would have been pleased.”

Christy continues to enjoy sewing, a skill she once shared with young 4-H members. During the interview, she was working on a quilt for a graduating granddaughter, one of two grandchildren completing school this year.

Although her years of organized 4-H project instruction have ended, the practical skills she taught remain part of her family’s traditions, while the Happy Helpers club Don helped establish continues serving young people more than half a century later.