Kandi Schaake drives a wagonload of visitors into the pumpkin patch in this file photo from October 2012.

In the 1970s, Sheila Lynch and her siblings began growing pumpkins for a 4-H horticulture project. The four children would track their investments and sales and hopefully turn a profit.

Douglas County’s 4-H agent at the time, Lindy Lindquist, had planted the idea in their heads that they could do more than just grow a few pumpkins, Lynch said.

“My brother wanted to grow the biggest pumpkin, and I just wanted to have a few to display,” she said. “I’m sure it was Lindy that said you can sell those pumpkins and claim a profit in your record books.

“That was another thing we got excited about when I was young,” Lynch explained. “It was a little 4-H record-keeping thing where we could say we made money in horticulture and you could win an award.”

The horticulture project soon exploded, Lynch said. Instead of taking the fruits (or vegetables) of their labor into Lawrence to sell on street corners, people soon started showing up at their farm looking to buy pumpkins.

Lindy Lindyquist

Now, Schaake’s Pumpkin Patch is a household name throughout the area. Every fall, cars line North 1500 Road and crowds flock to the family farm not only to pick out their pumpkins for the year but also to take a hay ride, pet a few farm animals or get lost in their hay maze.

Every fall, the pumpkin patch is an all-hands-on-deck affair, said Lynch’s mother, Janet Schaake.

“We have four children and 10 grandchildren, and they all come home to run the pumpkin patch during the month of October,” she said. “We’re also harvesting corn and soybeans, but the kids and I pretty well run the pumpkin operation during the week.”

The entire operation grew far beyond what any of the Schaake children imagined, Lynch said, and none of it would have been possible without Lindquist’s encouragement in 4-H.

“As a kid it was great,” Lynch said. “She was just always there. She was a friend, she wasn’t just a 4-H agent.”

Now retired and living in Manhattan, Kan., Lindquist said she likes to look back at her time as a 4-H agent in Douglas County and stays in touch with many of the children, now adults, she helped teach so many years ago.

On Oct. 9, Lindquist was inducted into the National 4-H Hall of Fame for her work with the organization throughout the state. She is just the 13th Kansan to be inducted into the national hall.

A Topeka native, Lindquist grew up cheering for the Jayhawks, she said.

“My dad was co-owner of a business in Lawrence, so although I grew up in Topeka, we had Lawrence business connections,” she said. “And when I came to school at K-State, the others students would have to remind me that our team was the Wildcats and not the Jayhawks.”

Lindquist, 64, grew up as a Girl Scout rather than a 4-H kid. It wasn’t until a student adviser at Kansas State University asked her what she knew about extension work that she considered a career with the organization.

“Because I lived in town, I didn’t think I could be a part of the extension, but I got invited to interview in Chase County, and when they offered me the job I didn’t know what to say,” she said. “I didn’t think they’d hire me because I hadn’t been in 4-H, but they were looking for somebody who was willing to try new things. They were just ready for some new ideas.”

For three and a half years, Lindquist worked as Chase County’s home economist and 4-H agent, and it was there she began to fall in love with her work.

“What I really really loved was working with the 4-Hers and the volunteers,” she said.

Then, in 1977, Lindquist was offered a position in Douglas County and jumped at the chance to live and work in Lawrence as a 4-H youth development agent. There she was able to branch out, create new clubs, competitions and projects and work with the children she loved so much.

“I think it was just the way that young people are, their eagerness to try new things and their wanting to learn,” Lindquist said. “I really loved the way you never knew what the kids were going to say or what you were going to do that would make an impression.”

For nearly 14 years, Lindquist lived and worked in Douglas County, developing new and interesting ways to incorporate 4-H’s educational materials into everyday life.

“It’s amazing the support that Douglas County has for education, informal as well as formal education,” she said. “I can remember the first time I went to a meeting of the Lawrence School Board and presented some ideas about our school enrichment program, and they were so excited. They were very supportive, and they gave me the go-ahead.”

As an organization, 4-H’s main goal is to teach children life skills that hopefully help them become productive adults, Lindquist said. Whether they were agricultural, social or financial skills, everyone was invited, she said.

Whether the children in 4-H were tasked with raising chickens, cultivating garden plots or organizing youth competitions, Lynch said it never felt like work because Lindquist made it fun.

“It wasn’t just something that you needed to do, but something that you wanted to do,” she said. “I can’t even remember who the agent was before Lindy. She just involved the kids more. There was always something we could do.”

After her time in Douglas County, Lindquist accepted a position in Manhattan at the state 4-H office, organizing both state and national events for the organizations. She retired in 2003 and still lives with her husband, Jack, in Manhattan.

Although she moved away from Lawrence long ago, Lindquist said the city and the children she used to help teach never stray far from her thoughts.

“I keep pretty regular track of my Douglas County 4-Hers,” she said. “I miss it a lot. It was a wonderful place to live and a great place to learn and have a lot of friends.”