Arkansas 4-H Alumni Association

Ann M. Belden Wilson

Faulkner County

Outstanding Arkansas 4-H Alumna, 2010

Ann Belden Wilson was a member of the Casa 4-H Club in Perry County for eleven years. In addition to serving as a club and county officer, she was a State Teen Star, State 4-H Ambassador for two years and attended the Tennessee State 4-H Roundup as an exchange ambassador. She also represented Arkansas at the National Heritage Conference (Washington D.C.), National 4-H Conference, National 4-H Congress and the Eastern National 4-H Engineering Event (Virginia) the first year the event had a computer competition.

She was a member of the state 4-H Performing Arts Troup during the state sesquicentennial. Among the camps she attended were the first and second CAPS (Citizen Action Provides Strength) camps and the first and second Arkansas 4-H Legislature Camps. She was a certified instructor for the 4-H Blue Sky Beneath My Feet Program, which was a cooperative project with NASA.

During her last year in 4-H, Ann was the state winner in Citizenship Project, Public Speaking and Reporting, and was nominated to the State Hall of Fame.

While attending Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri, she helped organize a collegiate 4-H club. It was also there that she met her husband, Leonard. They now live in Conway with their two children, Alex and Ahvielle. She has a degree in Management Information Systems and works as a Business Analyst/SQL Developer.

Ann is the main leader of the Conway Lucky Charms 4-H Club and the Faulkner County 4-H Racing Clovers, which participates in local fun runs, as well as co-leading the Faulkner County Clover Bytes (STEM) club with her husband. She is a member of the Arkansas 4-H Leaders Association, where she serves on the board, and the Arkansas 4-H Alumni Association, where she serves as webmaster and archivist. Her work has been invaluable in helping the state alumni association preserve their past and connect with current and prospective members.

4-H gave me the self-confidence, poise, and skills to win a college scholarship and to deal with life out on my own, Ann said. It also gave me wonderful memories and a circle of friends with whom I will always have something in common. I am thrilled that I can now support a new generation of 4-Hers and watch them learn and grow.

Ann was honored as a 2010 Arkansas 4-H Alumni of the Year and Faulkner County 4-H Alumni of the Year