On His Service Over the Years
Denver Loupe
Denver Loupe
Denver Loupe: I felt that I was successful at doing 4-H work and the primary reason, of course, I had been . . . I was raised in 4-H and FFA, but as a teacher I got to know the vo-ag teachers in St. James Parish. They had three high schools in St. James Parish and I got to know all the vo-ag teachers there in each of the schools. And consequently, when I went to work in St. James Parish, because of the fact that I knew them, I was able to call them to help me in the schools; so they were my local leaders. So again, it brought 4-H and FFA together.
I came to Baton Rouge to the extension service's state office. I became involved in sugarcane work and that was my specialty as an agronomist, in sugar cane. And because of that, I was able to pursue my PhD actually in sugar cane because I was doing technical work as an extension specialist.
If you ask me what was the highlight of my career as a director, I would pinpoint the fact that I was instrumental in improving the technical background of agents; allowed them to go to school here at LSU or, in many cases, Northeast, Natchitoches, or Southwestern, or Nicholls. We had a lot of people who got master's degrees from those institutions.
When I was director I had the first computer put on my desk and I required . . . as director I required that at least one computer be put in every parish in the state. If they could get the [?] of the school board to buy it, they did that. If not, I had a little extra money that was allocated for that purpose. But within a year I maintained that you get a computer . . . that extension staff has a computer in their office. I never learned to use it [laughs].