Meet the Janicki-Knutson family! Anne was born and raised in the Washington, DC suburbs and Kent grew up in Brookings, SD. Kent and Anne both moved to Colorado in 1980 to attend graduate school in Denver and they have lived in Boulder County for 34 years. Anne spent her career working with Colorado water rights and water resources and retired in 2018. Kent has worked in the electric power industry for close to 40 years.

We are relative newcomers to 4-H and the Boulder County Fair. Kent’s older siblings raised cattle and grew corn and other crops in South Dakota and were very involved in 4-H. But Kent grew up in town and only spent summers out at the farm. Growing up in suburban DC, very few folks were involved in 4-H, but working with water right owners around Colorado gave Anne a great introduction to agriculture and the hard working families that steward the land and produce our food.

Kent and Anne raised three children (Mark, Caitlin and Jenna) and were active in youth sports and scouting activities. We attended County Fair to see the animals, listen to music and ride the carnival rides. But it wasn’t until our youngest daughter, Jenna, became interested in showing dogs that our family discovered Boulder County 4-H!

Jenna joined the 4x4 4-H Dog Club in 2010 and shortly thereafter, the leader stepped down and the club was about to be dissolved. After much pleading from Jenna, Anne signed up to be the club leader. Very quickly, it became apparent to our family that 4-H was unlike any other youth organization we had been involved with! This was an organization focused on growing strong leaders for our future by helping our youth develop confidence, independence, leadership and real life skills!!

Since becoming a 4-H Club leader, Anne has been the 4-H Dog Superintendent, Adult Advisory Council President, Dog Advisory Council President, 4-H Carnival Committee member, State Dog Committee Representative, and frequent Fair volunteer. Caitlin and Jenna are also very active 4-H Project Leaders and County Fair volunteers. Kent, while being the brawn behind many of our County’s 4-H Dog events, particularly enjoys volunteering at County Fair, and secretly hopes for a lifetime appointment as a Golf Cart/Courtesy Cart Driver!!

Surely, Boulder County 4-H has changed over its 100+ year history, but it is so rewarding to see urban families connecting back to our County’s agricultural heritage, learning strong values of community service, leadership and responsibility, and learning to help themselves and others. We are incredibly grateful to all the wonderful families and leaders who have taught us so much and who we now call friends, and we are so very grateful to be a part of Boulder County 4-H and County Fair!