David Liker (top left) and Lydia Liker (bottom left) shake hands with MD 4-H Foundation President & Chair Charlie Iager (top right) and foundation treasurer Grant Hill after purchasing farmland bequeathed to the foundation by the late Lansdale Pue.
Image Credit: Maryland 4-H Foundation
The generous donation of a Howard County farmer's estate is greatly enhancing the Maryland 4-H Foundation's ability to sustain and improve youth development efforts statewide, foundation officials announced recently.
The sale of development rights and real estate of an 80-acre farm bequeathed to the foundation by Lansdale Pue, who died on April 19, 2013, translated into more than $3 million for the foundation to support numerous 4-H programs, scholarships and trips.
Pue was a seventh generation farmer whose family operated a dairy from 1931 to 2006 and later raised beef cattle, row crops and hay. He graduated from the University of Maryland’s College of Agriculture & Natural Resources in 1968 and was a member of the Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity.
With no heirs active in farming to carry on the family tradition, Pue made the decision to leave his land to the Maryland 4-H Foundation. Last winter, the foundation sold the development rights through Howard County's Agricultural Land Preservation.
"Growing up with Lansdale Pue and participating in 4-H together, it is truly an honor to now accept the gift of his farm to the Maryland 4-H Foundation," said Charles E. Iager, Chairman and President of the Maryland 4-H Foundation and a fellow Howard County dairy farmer. "In acknowledgement of his stewardship of the land, the foundation board decided to have the farm preserved forever, ensuring that Lansdale's agricultural heritage will continue."
On July 28, that heritage was cemented when David and Lydia Liker, who operate Gorman Farm, bought the farmland where they plan to grow vegetables and host agritourism activities.
Money from the sale will be used in several ways to support Maryland 4-H. So far, the foundation board has:
• Put funding toward Maryland 4-H Dairy programs;
• Established five $1,000 scholarships for 4-H youth which will be awarded beginning in 2016;
• Established the Lansdale Pue Memorial National 4-H Congress Fund to support 4-H youth traveling to National 4-H Congress in Atlanta, Ga.;
• Endowed the 4-H Foundation's grant program supporting club, county and regional 4-H programs;
• Set aside funding for leadership development programs on the University of Maryland College Park campus; and
• Contributed to the county 4-H programs that have endowments with the Maryland 4-H Foundation.
"This generous donation of the Pue estate allows the foundation to continue to be responsive to the needs of the 4-H program and impact the lives of 4-Hers for generations to come," said Amanda Brown Clougherty, Maryland 4-H Foundation Executive Director. "We can do so much more because we have this gift. The foundation assists programs at every level of 4-H, from the club level to international travel, and that will be made stronger with this gift."
