A longtime Douglas County resident is returning to his roots.

Mark Flory, 24, has been named 4-H agent for Douglas County’s K-State Research & Extension office and will begin his job Feb. 9.

“Your home county is always something special to you. So, it was always a dream of mine to get to come back. I worked hard as a youth and hard through college and so I was hoping that the opportunity would come, but now that it has happened, it seems almost surreal.”

Flory was a 13-year member of Lone Star 4-H Club. He graduated from Lawrence High School in 2003 and Kansas State University in 2007. He began working as the agriculture and natural resource agent in Miami County in May 2007.

“It’s been a wonderful experience, but I’ve realized that my true passion, or what I feel like I should be doing, is the 4-H side of things, so I feel extremely fortunate to be getting to come back and do that for Douglas County,” he said.

Flory will be responsible for the county’s 4-H program, which has 10 clubs, 370 members and about 150 volunteers.

He wants to get more youths involved in 4-H and help them build leadership skills.

“We are basically trying to build future leaders,” he said. “People who can help themselves, help their communities and get out and be effective citizens.”

He will be working with Kjrsten Abel Ruch, who has been the interim 4-H leader since Emily Morehouse left in October for a job in Washington, D.C. Abel Ruch will be the 4-H program assistant, a position she has held for the past two years.

Besides hiring Flory, the 11-member Douglas County Extension Executive Board also has named Bill Wood as director of Douglas County Extension. Wood, who has been agriculture agent for nine years, and has been serving as the interim director since Trudy Rice left in September.

Wood said the extension office, which provides educational programs and information to the community, is reshuffling some duties as a result of the hirings and because it is still down one full-time agent. The position may not be filled because of financial cutbacks at the state and county level. The office’s budget for 2009 is $819,000, down from $863,000 in 2008. Wood said there could be more cuts in 2010.