By MSU Extension Agent Mary Rumph
Long serving Powder River Extension Agents Julie Riley and Mary Rumph have announced their retirement for the end of June. A party to celebrate their retirement is planned for Thursday, May 30th in the Courthouse Lobby from 2-4:00 pm.
“We are so appreciative of the support and kindness of the community and the incredible opportunity to work with generations of Powder River County people and neighboring counties through the 4-H program, working with volunteer boards providing educational events,” explained Riley and Rumph.
“Extension is a “people” job; and the people in Powder River and neighboring counties have been and will continue to be the very best to work with and have made an incredible impact on our lives,” they continued.
The Beginning. The headline in the Powder River Examiner dated June 14th, 1984, read “Extension agent hired”. Commissioners Ted Fletcher, Alvin Raschkow, F.F. Huckins and Lois Cox, Extension Aide, were involved in the selection of an Extension Agent for Powder River County. The unanimous decision of the committee was to offer the position to Mary Susan Pomeroy.”
Little did they know the decision would still haunt the community 4 decades later! Mary arrived in Powder River County driving a 1968 Chevy Impala with her dog “Doc” and cat “K.C.” Of immediate concern for community members was the reliability of her aging car; the Commissioners were asked to provide her with reliable transportation.
Mary was elated to rent “The Old Sullivan House” from Earl and Betty Aye west of Broadus on Highway 212. She was so thankful to find a home in the country. Earl and Betty were the best landlords ever; even when their cattle decimated her little garden plot while she was attending 4-H Congress with Powder River County 4-H delegates. She couldn’t blame the cows, it was the only green vegetation for miles during the hot, dry and grasshopper-laden summer of 1988.
Everything about Powder River County felt right to Mary from the start. Growing up in Northeastern Colorado on a farm/ranch nurtured her love of agriculture; and she loved the sparse population of Eastern Montana. As a 10-year 4-H member, the County Fair was a highlight of her formative years. Now she had the opportunity to still participate in a county fair…and get paid to do it!
The Middle. In December of 1988, Mary married a local rancher from Biddle, Owen Rumph. Of course, that meant she became “related by marriage” to a sizable portion of the population in the county. In the spring of 1991, a few months after the arrival of their daughter, she was fortunate to have support by the local commissioners and MSU administration to job share with Julie Amsden Riley. Julie, who is married to John Riley, also a rancher, was substitute teaching in the school system. She had been an account officer at First Bank Butte and an analyst for the Federal Home Loan Bank in San Francisco before returning to her hometown in 1989.
The job share arrangement allowed for Julie and Mary to have a professional career with differing strengths and interests that have created a comprehensive Extension program for the community.
“We hope we have created programming that has positively impacted the community,” explained Riley.
Early on we worked with members of the Extension Homemaker Clubs to raise money to purchase a cardboard baler to house at Larry’s IGA and open the Recycling Center.
“We didn’t have a baler when we first started collecting cardboard and when the loose cardboard reached the roof of the Center, we knew we had to do something with it. Don Rogge, County Maintenance Supervisor, Karen Amende, County Clerk and Recorder, Diana Edwards, member of East River Extension Homemakers, Lyman Amsden, Mayor, and members of the community loaded the loose cardboard onto a semi-trailer, then hauled the cardboard to Billings where we unloaded it, also by hand. Raising money to purchase a baler, to be housed at Larry’s IGA, to compact cardboard was a much easier option.
“We helped form the School Community Development Council and Community Foundation; we taught exercise classes; built a Community Garden, developed a trail system with memorial benches; offered a Bug’s Life reading-based after-school program; offered over forty Ag Winter Series events for producers to receive pesticide points; helped organize forty 4-H Camps at Camp Needmore and Powder River County Fairs; facilitated a Big Sky Big Leadership educational series; most recently helped Broadus become a Montana Main Street member; and, have answered thousands of insect and weed control questions.”
“Working as Extension Agents was made possible only through the efforts of the many, many, many Powder River County people of all ages who volunteered their time, energy, thoughts and ideas to make it all happen,”
We truly built upon the mission of the Montana State University Extension Service land grant university system to bring education and research to meet the needs of the community.
At the Extension Office and through the many events organized by the office, it’s the administrative assistants who do so much behind the scenes work to create a welcoming space for sharing information and education. Sylvia Zimmer, Cindy May, Jen Rosencranz, Teri Lindberg, Jeanne Traub and Kathy Roberts have all played that important and vital role. In 2001, Kelda Page joined the team and has supported programming efforts for the last twenty-three years. In fact, one of the commissioners commentated, “okay, you two can go, but Kelda, you aren’t leaving!”
Over the forty years, nineteen different County Commissioners, two regional department heads; and at least eight MSU Extension Directors have served as “bosses” throughout their tenure. Not all thought the work accomplished was impressive. The threat of budget cuts both locally and at the University level created angst at different times.
The End. Julie and Mary decided to retire at the same time (June 28th) because they honestly don’t want to work without each other. One might call it co-dependency; but it’s also logical. Their goal for a new agent to begin when they retire has been realized, Jackie Rumph Beardsley will begin July 1.
“Julie and I will continue to support Extension and Community efforts as dedicated “volunteers,” concluded Rumph.
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