Amy Henschen: 00:16

This is Behind the Clover, Real 4-H Talk with Real 4-H Pros. A look at 4-H from the perspectives of 4-H professionals from Illinois and beyond with your hosts, Henry Craft, Amy Henschen, and Ryan Littlejohn.

Henry Craft: 00:28

Welcome back to another episode of Behind the Clover. I'm Henry here with Ryan and Amy again today. Hope y'all are ready to uncover some more real 4-H stories because today we're bringing you yet another one, an exciting conversation with Illinois 4-H staff. Today we're wrapping up our transition series by talking with Dr. Kevin Carey.

Henry Craft: 00:47

And buckle up folks because as Illinois Extension job titles go, this one's a doozy. Acting Assistant Dean and Director of 4-H Youth Development and Senior Program Lead, Positive Youth Development. If that wasn't fancy enough, we'll give Kevin a fancier intro in a bit, but first we'll invite him to join us for our check-in. So folks, as always, what is up in life?

Ryan Littlejohn: 01:12

I just have to say that is a tongue twister for sure. Man, that's word soup right there. But what's up with me? Well, I'm twelve weeks until this baby's supposed to appear. So I am like crunch time to get things done before I go on leave.

Ryan Littlejohn: 01:34

So fair books are starting to get itself put together. Yeah. It does it itself. I don't do it at all. I'm magic like that.

Ryan Littlejohn: 01:44

Getting new awards ready to go into member record books. It's gonna be a crazy month of just getting paperwork done. I'm a paper pusher now. That's the winner and that's what we do.

Amy Henschen: 02:00

Ryan, you're also a state award winner. I just like to point that out. Ryan and the PD committee, which I guess I'm on too, just won an award for, like, team excellence. So go Ryan. Whoop whoop.

Ryan Littlejohn: 02:12

Go Amy and go PD team. We worked our tails off, yes, this last year to change how we see professional development in Illinois 4-H . And I think it was probably that was my biggest goal when I joined the PD committee. It was like, I don't like this, but I'm coming here to help you change it. And I think that's a great lesson for us all.

Ryan Littlejohn: 02:33

If you don't like something, help out, make the change. Right? We always need someone else's opinion to make it better.

Amy Henschen: 02:40

You might be surprised because, other people who are on it might want change with you. There's it's not always pushback when you wanna change something. So we were like, all of us won that. Woo. I think it's been a a better year for us.

Amy Henschen: 02:52

So, yay.

Ryan Littlejohn: 02:54

Amy, what is up with you?

Amy Henschen: 02:57

I am, like, freaking out because I am taking a group of teens to to Atlanta, Georgia in a week for National 4-H Congress. And, guys, I'm out of practice of all day being on all day with kids. And, like, by all day, like, these national events with teens, they, like, go from, like, 7 AM to, like, midnight. So I'm pretty sure I'm not prepared for the exhaustion level that will be my status as of Friday, when this starts. But I'm super excited because I haven't been to this event since I went.

Amy Henschen: 03:31

I'm gonna date myself here in the year 2000. This is when I went as a representative of Illinois to National 4-H Congress. So I'm really excited, a little bit nervous about the exhaustion level, and I think it's gonna be a really great time. So I'm excited to see, like, how this event's changed and how it's not changed since I went twenty-four years ago. So I'm pretty excited for that.

Amy Henschen: 03:52

And then I'm just I'm getting my data hat on again because we've got some exciting projects that need some data to, like, help us make decisions. So I'm kind of running some data on who we reach, like retention, a bunch of other stuff so that we can kind of make some good decisions about where we wanna go on some projects. So that's kinda what I'm up I've been up to. Kevin, what about you?

Kevin Care: 04:15

Well, I'm excited for you to go to Congress, and I'm excited to hear what's changed since the the turn of the the millennium. Right? Like, 2000 was, not that long ago, but, like, when you really do think about it, it was a hop, jump, and a skip. I, have been, you know, personally dealing with a flooded basement. And so I, have a completely gutted basement, missing walls and trim and doors and floors.

Kevin Care: 04:45

I have a new, like, Cadillac sump pump though. Like, it runs like a queen, like, just runs beautifully. So I'm glad that that's moving and unshaken. Benson turned five months old two days ago, so we had a little mini party for him, the day before annual conference, and he got a pup cup.

Amy Henschen: 05:06

Okay. For people who don't know who Benson is, you need to give us a little more context on Benson.

Kevin Care: 05:11

That is my rat terrier Yorkie Chihuahua dog, who is the indeed love of my life. And I talk to him and tell him all sorts of stories, and he's certainly getting more verbal himself. With work, honestly, I'm so excited about these upcoming weeks. There's so much celebration coming forward and there's positions posted, which means we have new people join our state 4-H team. We have new people joining across the state, and I just love building relationships.

Kevin Care: 05:40

And so I really think about this time of the year about being in connection and community with people, both personally and professionally, and look forward to holidays. I will get my fourth Christmas tree up tonight. I have five, so it will be getting put up and decorated before I lay my head on my pillow tonight.

Ryan Littlejohn: 05:59

Do you have a different theme for each of your trees?

Kevin Care: 06:04

So all of my rooms are, there's color coordination with rooms. They're decorated in a certain way. It is very particular. They all have their own box of decor with the right tree skirt. It's very meticulous and it's very important to me.

Kevin Care: 06:18

And they're all different styles of trees. Some are skinny and tall, some are shorter, some are, you know, my full size living room tree. I just actually bought a new one, is getting a makeover this year, extreme makeover Christmas tree edition. So I'm jazzed that I get to do that one last. So.

Ryan Littlejohn: 06:37

That is like awesome. But my wife is the Christmas tree person in our house and we also have five trees and we have our main one in the living room that is just Hallmark ornaments. And then there's a K State one for us both going to k state. And then I think my absolute favorite one is what she calls the junk tree. And it's every ornament I made as a kid that my mom gave to me.

Ryan Littlejohn: 07:01

It was like, I don't want these anymore. And she doesn't like the aesthetic of it, I guess. So it hides in the office with my little bubble candle lights. So, I get it.

Kevin Care: 07:13

I, I have a tree that also has a bunch of hodgepodge on it. It's just the potpourri tree. But other than that, work is wonderful. So thankful that I've gotten to be here for nine months in this organization and certainly in two different roles and getting to know all three of you in such a meaningful way. And I'm so thankful to be here.

Kevin Care: 07:32

And Henry's gonna tell us, like, what's going on in your life.

Henry Craft: 07:35

Thanks, Kevin. That's you should join the podcast. I'm pretty sure that that should just be a thing. We don't work a lot on it at all, you know, so actually, we do a lot with it. But you're totally welcome to come join us.

Henry Craft: 07:46

You'd be a great add.

Ryan Littlejohn: 07:48

I think, Henry, I think we have to add the Yes, Henry. You have a question? I loved that. That was great.

Henry Craft: 07:54

Ding ding. Yes, I do. So yeah. I listen. You guys are talking about all this holiday stuff.

Henry Craft: 08:03

I am I'm a very particular about my my nostalgia. I will, I will say that. But this year, I made a mandate in my house that holiday music started on November 1. I was the monster that totally did it. It sounds like we're we're with like minds here.

Henry Craft: 08:24

Thank you for that, or at least some. Yeah. It's been something I don't know what, what it was about this year, but that's, that's my personal update. I've got, really great lights up and some great tunes in the car. I just wanted to feel festive this year.

Henry Craft: 08:41

So

Amy Henschen: 08:42

So, Kevin, you already told us you have five Christmas trees. Yes. Like, what is that? Is decorating those your favorite tradition? Do you have some other favorite tradition?

Amy Henschen: 08:50

What is it?

Kevin Care: 08:51

No. That is not necessarily my favorite. I have two that are my favorite. Number one, I have a Spotify holiday playlist that like has been running for years for me. And so I just continually add music.

Kevin Care: 09:07

I will tell you the first time I get to listen to Kelly Clarkson's entire, Christmas album really kicks the season off for me. As many of you know, Kelly Clarkson is my indeed favorite person on the face of the earth. No offense to the three of you or others listening, but I really need her to just like, come sing like Kellyoke Christmas style while I'm doing my trees and like getting my house decorated because it brings me pure joy. The second thing for me about the holidays is Harry Potter movies on Christmas day. I always watch one or two or three.

Kevin Care: 09:46

If I'm feeling the late night splendor, I will indeed stay up and watch a fourth one, but it is an all day adventure for me. And so my mom tends to do part of that with me, but I'm like glued to the television on Christmas day.

Amy Henschen: 10:00

I sort of love that the Harry Potter movies, because they always include a Christmas kind of holiday break thing, are like so many people's traditions. We def do that as a family as well. I now that you mentioned a Christmas album, I need everyone to add also if you have a holiday album that you listen to because I've never listened to Kelly Clarkson's Kevin, and I'm gonna check it out. I'm an Amy Grant Christmas girl. That was, like, what I grew up within my family, and I have a lot of love for it.

Amy Henschen: 10:26

And, like, there was also, like, a Harry Connick Jr. one that I also really liked, same circa the nineteen nineties. So those are two that I still bring back.

Amy Henschen: 10:35

But my favorite thing I am not actually a Christmas person, but I'm, like, more of a, like, it's winter, woo hoo, kind of kind of person. But my mom did give me the little I don't know if you guys know those, like, tiny ceramic trees that are, like, maybe a foot tall that have these little plastic little lights you stick in the little holes. We had one of those growing up.

Amy Henschen: 10:56

My mom was like, I know you don't decorate for Christmas, but you loved putting little lights in this every year, so please take this with you back to your home so you have some decorations for the holidays. So I do take that out every year. This is my first year with cats, so I'm looking into museum putty so that doesn't fall over and get ruined because I would be crushed, because it does hold a lot of memories for me. But my mom is a crazy decorator, and I do love when I get to go out when she I've like, every other year, I kinda go out to Colorado for, like, Thanksgiving, and it's really fun to help decorate her tree with ornaments because we did a lot of travel ornaments. Like, that was our souvenir growing up on trips.

Amy Henschen: 11:33

We'd, like, buy a family ornament in New Orleans or in Maine or wherever we went. So it's fun digging those out of the boxes and remembering each of those trips as we put them on. So that's kinda something I love doing even though I'm not a big Christmas person. Henry, what do you got?

Henry Craft: 11:48

I, so we started a tradition, as, as so many things happen during, the COVID, we started tradition in my family, my going to a local glassblower and picking out really nice glass bulbs. And they're like beautiful. I would encourage you like to go out and find a local artisan that makes blown glass bulbs, because I was on a, I was on a mission to find some of those like 1970s glass bulbs. I don't really feel like they make those much anymore, but we found this guy and it's always fun because my kids get to pick out a bulb. My wife and I pick out a bulb and it goes on the tree and it's just a fun time.

Henry Craft: 12:39

So, yeah, that's my tradition, but album, Oh man. I don't, I, I kinda like John legend's Christmas album. Not gonna lie. Pretty good. Pretty good.

Henry Craft: 12:51

I don't know how many candles it holds up to Clarkson, but, you know,

Ryan Littlejohn: 12:56

you probably wouldn't guess this about me because I have all of my Christmas decorations up here at the office already, but that's because I need to get it all done before annual conference and like just, you know, timelines and stuff, but I'm kind of a Grinch and I'm like this year. I don't know what it is, but I'm like, let's just hold off on Christmas. Okay. Until we get after Thanksgiving. I tried to tell my wife that she did not go with me, but she's pregnant.

Ryan Littlejohn: 13:29

She can do whatever she wants, but I just, I don't know. I just, I don't wanna, I wanna savor the Turkey first this year and I've never been like that. Maybe it's cause I'm getting soft in my old age. I don't know. Maybe I just want to respect the holidays.

Ryan Littlejohn: 13:44

You know, when you guys were going to 4-H Congress, I was just being born. So, but the things that make the season for me are definitely Michael Buble's Christmas album. I'm a big Michael Buble fan. But also on top of that, like the day after Thanksgiving, Black Friday, when everyone else out is out shopping, like, that's the day we decorate the tree and watch White Christmas. That is just how you how you do Christmas in my mind.

Ryan Littlejohn: 14:15

And that gets me in the season. But, yeah, I I'm a little little Grinch right now. And I thought Henry was gonna be with me on this one, but he made a declaration that November 1 Christmas music was played. So

Henry Craft: 14:30

I did commit to it this year. I'm not gonna lie. I did commit to it. I have two questions, though. Actually, one statement and and a question.

Henry Craft: 14:37

So I know you all can't see, but Ryan is rocking a superb cardigan today, and I am very jealous. It's it's really nice, and it it just brings out that that holiday. I don't know how you can be a Grinch with a rocking cardigan on like that. Sorry y'all can't see it. But I've been on a quest to find some solid songs or music to some of our other holidays that we're celebrating.

Henry Craft: 15:08

So, like, is there does anybody know? And I hope I hope I can hear from someone. Send me an email if you're listening to this and you've got one in the bag. But, like, Kwanzaa, good Hanukkah, like, legit Hanukkah songs. I know we got Dreidel Dreidel, but there's just some other ones, right, that we could get into.

Henry Craft: 15:26

But even Yule or winter winter solstice, I I'm really intrigued because I wanna I wanna get in with that festive too.

Kevin Care: 15:35

I do enjoy Feliz Navidad. I think it did a lot of, important work at bridging language and culture because it utilizes language that is not English and it utilizes English and helps people feel connected to culture. And I know for some families that, are, Latin, they identified that that song is really important to them. And some of the artists that sang a lot of Spanish speaking, holiday songs, there's several playlists on Spotify. I would encourage you to go listen.

Kevin Care: 16:06

You can also find some really good Kwanzaa playlists. The Kwanzaa song has been done several times in various iterations from some celebrities we would all know, but also from, parts of the world that we don't live in and or celebrate ourselves here in The United States. And so I think it's just a good way to go out and kind of search around because I get tired of my playlist. I can only listen to Kelly Clarkson, Michael Buble, Britney Spears' very one time holiday song, that gets overplayed on the radio. And of course, Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas Is You, which I think plays at least every hour on the hour on my Holly SiriusXM, station that I currently have on all the time.

Henry Craft: 16:49

I'm gonna have to go find that Kwanzaa song because it might just it might just join up with the rest. Awesome. Thanks for that venture.

Ryan Littlejohn: 16:57

So as you know, Dr. Kevin Carey is with us, and we're gonna give you a little backstory about him and then let him explain a little bit more maybe than what we don't know from his bio, about how he got involved with 4-H . Dr. Kevin Carey joined the Illinois 4-H team in early twenty twenty four as a senior program lead for positive 4-H youth development and the acting assistant dean and

Ryan Littlejohn: 17:24

director of the Illinois 4-H program. Kevin is no stranger to the higher education world, having served for ten years in a variety of roles at colleges and universities focused on student engagement, retention, and success. He's also no stranger to 4-H .

Ryan Littlejohn: 17:41

He was an eleven year 4-H member in Grundy County who raised cattle. He recently served as the president of the Illinois 4-H Foundation. Welcome, Kevin. Why don't you tell us a little more about yourself and how you got started working for Illinois Extension?

Kevin Care: 17:56

Thank you, Ryan. I appreciate the introduction. And first and foremost, thank you all for doing this. It is so important that we get the opportunity to hear stories of staff across the state. I think it really helps us build identity around who we are as 4-H professionals or volunteers and who we are just like as humans in the world.

Kevin Care: 18:15

And that's so important, I think, for the work that we do. And so thanks for asking me to be here. I am no stranger to 4-H . In fact, there was no option for Kevin Carey in joining 4-H . I'm fairly certain I was at 4-H meetings when I was not walking and or crawling as my family all just did the 4-H work early on.

Kevin Care: 18:39

And it just was, you know, where you went and what you did as an extracurricular activity in life. And so I joined the Highland Ag 4-H Club when I was a cloverbud and served my dutiful time and was fortunately retained through all those years. I think if I told my parents I didn't wanna do 4-H , they would have been like, not an option, which never would have happened because I enjoyed it so much. I actually started, and some people don't know this about me, I didn't start showing cattle until I was two years into 4-H . I actually started with sheep and my family didn't have a barn or a place on our property.

Kevin Care: 19:18

So we put this little gate and pin up in my dad's tool shed, and that's where my sheep were. And my parents knew nothing about sheep, but there was this really awesome man named Randy Sheedy whose kids showed sheep, and he lived in town. And he would come out and help me and teach me how to clip their hooves and make sure I was walking them appropriately and how to show them and set their feet up. I'll have to find a photo someday, but I was like not that tall as a kid and the sheep were about as tall as me. And you can imagine just like holding their head And wearing my little case I h hat with my little flannel on and my little Wrangler jeans, which people would just, I'm sure, be flabbergasted to see me in any of that attire because that is not how I dress today.

Kevin Care: 20:05

So I was very fortunate that our family has a long legacy in the organization and the county really instilled the relationships and connections past just our club through our Federation. John Davis being an exceptional youth development educator for years in Grundy and then serving unit nine until his retirement. Just very thankful that he got me plugged in early on. And so I, I decided that going to college was important to me and not in the agricultural industry. And I remember that that was just such a difference for a lot of people in my family.

Kevin Care: 20:39

And so I graduated with an English writing degree, decided to go to Ball State and move away for a while just to feel like I could explore a different state and live away from home because I only knew Central Illinois. And then I ended up in Ohio, which debatably people would say Springfield, Ohio isn't the birthplace of 4-H but by standards and record and history, it is indeed the birthplace of 4-H . The National Monument is there and you can go visit the Clark County Museum if you'd like to see the very first Rolodex of members, of the boys, club, boys corn club, and the girls' sewing club. Pretty cool place to have lived and have been part of a rich history there. And so I moved back in 2019 to work at Illinois Wesleyan and I was fortunate that, you know, randomly I was on Indeed one day and I saw this like senior program lead job open and I was like, cool.

Kevin Care: 21:30

I'm ready to, like, not work on a college campus and do student affairs work. And I love 4-H . So y'all took a chance on me. And so I'm fortunate that I get to be here, and serve the organization and most importantly, uplift our our youth, our staff, our volunteers, and our families in both of the roles that I'm currently living. So just really fortunate to be here, live in Normal, Illinois.

Kevin Care: 21:53

What a great place to live. To say you live in Normal, Illinois is always one of my favorite things. And they're like, is that a real place? I'm like, yes, it is indeed my address. Would you like to see an envelope of a piece of mail?

Kevin Care: 22:06

And then I tell them about the town. It's very agricultural, state farm is housed here, three institutions of higher education, just a really beautiful Central Illinois town. And I'm so thankful that I get to be here with you all today and look forward to hearing what questions you're gonna ask me or what I'm gonna share.

Henry Craft: 22:25

So listen, I will just say, Kevin, I I will I will speak for I'll speak for all of the team and just say, it feels like you've been here, in a good way, a lot longer than, what, ten months. I, and I think that's a testament to just how seamlessly and intentional you just kinda came right in, and we're like, yep. I'm here for you. I think it's a testament to how you care for us. And so I know that's an intentional part of of how you like to show up as a human and it's, it's noticed.

Henry Craft: 22:59

And I think that's the, that's really telling to just how seamlessly you've, you've come on board. So we appreciate you. Thank you. Now that was for free, folks. The question that was on deck is, Kevin, we wanna know how do you like to spend your free time and decompress from your extensive job duties that go with your extensive job title?

Kevin Care: 23:28

Well, one, the job title does fit on a business card, which is funny. It does fit. There was a lot of back and forth when it was being designed if it would all fit. And so it does. So if ever you get a really long title and extension, it will work because I'm pretty sure there are 20 words in mine or or more.

Kevin Care: 23:49

So we're just going to go with it. I love to volunteer. I have always been a dutiful volunteer to places that bring me joy. And so I know it sounds like more work. It's not for me because they're passion areas.

Kevin Care: 24:06

And so I joined a fraternity in 02/2009 when I went to Illinois Wesleyan University, was fortunate to have a positive experience and started volunteering in the immediacy of my graduation in 2013 and have served in three or four roles. I present at conferences. I'm currently the chapter advisor for the Illinois state Sigma Pi fraternity chapter. I enjoy working with all 120 plus of my brethren there. If they're listening, I can say this to them.

Kevin Care: 24:38

They drive me nuts some days, but goodness, are they just a really great group of humans that I get to spend time with answering lots of questions and guiding them in the right directions and have a wonderful advisory board. I am a assistant speech coach at University High School, which is the private high school at Illinois State University. I will tell you the most, formidable experience in my life minus 4-H was being on the speech team in high school. It was my jam. It was my place I felt most at home.

Kevin Care: 25:08

I felt seen. I felt like I grew up. I felt, like it was a meaningful opportunity for me. And there's just so much that comes with that volunteering experience. And I'm pretty sure that Amy probably wants to say something about speech because I know that she also feels some sort of way about speech.

Amy Henschen: 25:27

I when I found out that Kevin Carey also was a high school speech team nerd, I was so excited. Although we could not have been in more different events. So you need to talk about so I was in the, like, stayed I'm wearing my suit, and prepared I was in original oratory, and I was in extemporaneous speaking where you draw a question about current events and have to prepare a speech with a set amount of time and then deliver it that day. Kevin was in the, like, fun, dramatic speaking events, and he correct me if I'm wrong. You were a state champion.

Kevin Care: 25:59

Close to. Yes.

Amy Henschen: 26:00

Okay. Very much so. State. Yes. In original original comedy?

Kevin Care: 26:05

In original comedy. Yeah.

Amy Henschen: 26:06

Which is like that is like the ultimate category if you're in speech team. Everyone's like, I can't I wanna go watch OC. That's what we called it because it's so funny, and those people are so talented. So I'm like, props to you to continue that thing that you loved in high school and to hinder give back to it. I love it.

Kevin Care: 26:24

14 voices my senior year in my original comedy, which you write and craft yourself. It was called Big Pete and Little Hugo featuring the gangster cows, which was like a West Side Story revival of two cow herds, the Moo Jerseys and the Californians coming together. And they had a rap battle at the end. And it was a newscast with a pigeon and a hummingbird. I don't know where I came up with it, y'all, but it was the it was the most unique and creative original comedy I certainly have ever, done.

Amy Henschen: 26:57

Is there a rec a video of this, and can we dig it out of some archives?

Kevin Care: 27:02

And I would have to ask Merilee Appleby, my high school English teacher, which also is the greatest name of a teacher, Merilee Appleby. That is like, if you're going to be a teacher when you're born, your parents name you Merilee and you changed your last name to Appleby. So, and then I did Green Eggs and Hamlet, which was in iambic pentameter and was a humorous interpretation, which also incorporated 14 voices. So I was doing pops and voices my whole senior year in both of those categories that graciously took me to state. So, Brian, what's up?

Kevin Care: 27:34

I'm you're confused. I'm sure.

Ryan Littlejohn: 27:36

So, yes, I'm from a different state. Like speech here, is it like forensics?

Kevin Care: 27:43

It is forensics. That is 100% correct.

Ryan Littlejohn: 27:46

Okay. So little fact you probably didn't know. I was a forensics kid, and I did extemporaneous speaking as well. And I also did a one act, with a partner. I don't remember what it was.

Ryan Littlejohn: 28:03

Something about a bathtub, baby in the bathtub. I don't remember. That was years ago. But I extent was my jam. Oh my gosh.

Ryan Littlejohn: 28:13

I absolutely loved it. And, Henry, were you or no?

Henry Craft: 28:18

Listen, I I was wondering if I should share this or not. Because, honestly, I feel like I missed so much opportunity. Anybody that knows me knows that I should have been a in speech in theater and all sorts of things because I'm just a ham. It is what it is. But I wasn't.

Henry Craft: 28:37

I was not. And I I feel I feel left out now. It's like the band's camaraderie that we had a few episodes back, and Amy was like, I wasn't in bands. I feel that a little bit. But yeah.

Henry Craft: 28:51

No. I should I I watched my kids do theater now, and they're rock stars. And I was like, that's genetic. I I missed a calling, I think. So but thanks for asking.

Kevin Care: 29:02

You did miss the the you did miss out because I get to coach two days a week with some of the most exceptional humans at University High School. And we traveled to Peoria this weekend for another tournament. This is our fourth tournament already this season. They won their first turn two tournaments and they lost their they got third. They didn't lose this last one, and I could just see the disappointment factor.

Kevin Care: 29:24

So this week, the coaching has been much more like I'm ready to show up and show out Saturday. So I love judging extent and I love judging o o. My life has changed. I actually don't like judging h I and O C. I really much prefer to coach the straight speaking events, just given nature of work.

Kevin Care: 29:42

That's kind of more what we do anyways, when we're up talking to people. I'm not up there doing voices and green eggs and hamlet for people. I mean, if people want me to talk that way, certainly. Yeah. I really get a lot of value out of volunteering.

Kevin Care: 29:54

I love going home and helping my dad as much as he needs on the farm. I really value shopping with my mother. Many of you know, I have a very, extensive wardrobe, and am very particular about what I purchase, what I buy, how I take care of my clothes, how it's organized in my closet. My shoes, my jackets are very important to me, two of the most important fashion pieces. And I genuinely get the privilege of having friends across The United States.

Kevin Care: 30:26

And so I get to travel and visit them both here in the Midwest and across many other places in the Continental United States. And so I really value when I go, the first thing I look up is local coffee places. I am a coffee snob. And so it's something that I just find myself always trying to do when I travel to a new place.

Amy Henschen: 30:46

I love that so much, Kevin. I'm also I'm like, where's the best sweet treat? Where's the best local coffee shop? Those are, like, the two things I'm always gonna look for. So if I've been to a city, I can tell you both of those items for when you go visit.

Amy Henschen: 31:01

So consult with me if you're going somewhere new and want, the coffee and ice cream or pie or whatever else. It's got I gotta have something sweet everywhere I go to. Well, Kevin, we wanna continue on the fun track, and I know one thing you do to decompress sometimes is maybe go out and sing a little bit. Because who doesn't like singing along two songs, maybe at a karaoke bar, maybe at a friend's house, maybe in your shower. So we want I wanna know what your go to karaoke song is.

Amy Henschen: 31:35

Or if you have two, you can feel free to share two. But what is your go to song if you're going out for a night at karaoke?

Kevin Care: 31:42

So it's funny. I do enjoy and love singing. It's just very cathartic for me. When I first started doing karaoke, I would always sing Piano Man by Billy Joel. It was just a go to.

Kevin Care: 31:55

It was one that the crowd knew. And, you know, it's 90% performance, 10% talent. However, my 90% talent, 10% performance is it's all coming back to me now by Celine Dion. And I know everyone. And it's I'm very particular.

Kevin Care: 32:12

When I request to sing that song, it has to be the extended version. It cannot be the shortened version. The song moves too quick and it it just the breath is hard. That little beat in the middle where, like, it's like, there were those empty threats in how the wood eyes. That just slows it down a little bit for me, and I can breathe.

Kevin Care: 32:32

And then you can carry the song to the very end, all seven minutes of it, which bless Celine Dion. And if you haven't watched the documentary and followed her journey, you need to. So I just feel like I'm paying homage to her every time I do sing that song, but it is indeed my current go to, as a as a karaoke song.

Amy Henschen: 32:52

Love it so much. Gents, do you guys karaoke? Do you have a jam that you normally would be your jam for karaoke?

Ryan Littlejohn: 32:59

I do have one, but I did watch Kevin's rendition. I'm not gonna say where, but I watched him perform karaoke recently, and it was phenomenal. So I think he needs to go on a one act show. K. When he when he retires, he's to go full time karaoke bar singer.

Ryan Littlejohn: 33:19

Okay. Because you will, you will truly enjoy it. But I have never karaoke in my life. Never have. And that's weird.

Ryan Littlejohn: 33:27

Cause you know, I'm a music kid and theater and choir and all that. Like it would be common sense for me to be really good at that, but I just never done it. So I started thinking about this and I thought, well, what are the songs I like really jam out to and would rock to? I realized there's two different types of songs. So my early in the night song is Friends in Low Low Places by Garth Brooks.

Ryan Littlejohn: 33:52

K. I love Garth Brooks. But my 1AM in the morning song is gonna be What Makes You Beautiful by One Direction.

Amy Henschen: 34:00

Okay. I count me surprised on both of those counts. But I for not having karaoke, do you pick two songs that the room will appreciate? And that's, I think, the key is not picking for you. It's picking for the room.

Amy Henschen: 34:12

So I think both of those would be a big hit at a karaoke bar. Henry, what do you got?

Henry Craft: 34:19

I I'm a, never been a lyrics guy. Like I could you a tune to just about any song, but remembering lyrics. So I'm like the I'm, I'm tough when it comes to karaoke. I'm always intimidated.

Amy Henschen: 34:29

They're on the screen, Henry. They're on the screen.

Henry Craft: 34:32

I know, but I'm like I was a performance major. I was a trombone performance major. There's a lot of pressure on making sure the music's right. I'm just saying. All that to say, I could sing you every lyric to Wonderwall because that was a I pledged, in our fraternity.

Henry Craft: 34:48

That was our that was our song. And currently, I would say Tennessee Whiskey by Chris Stapleton. Love that song. Amy, what do you got? Where are you singing?

Henry Craft: 34:59

What are you doing?

Amy Henschen: 35:00

Okay. So I am unfortunately not a great singer, and I have a limited range. But I know my range, so I know what to do. But I wanna try to get another person who's a good singer to sing with me. So I try to do things that, like, either, like, I could sing with someone or, like, sing as a group.

Amy Henschen: 35:14

So, like, I love me some Backstreet Boys, and, like, I want it that way. Classic. You can get some friends, make it a good, like, group song. The the bar is gonna appreciate that one. But then my other one, my sister is a year older than me, and we used to sing a lot growing up, especially a lot of Disney hits.

Amy Henschen: 35:31

And, obviously, Disney hits don't fit with every karaoke group vibe. But if I can rock up with some Disney hits, we used to do a lot of the duets, but she'd always make me be the boy. She's like, I'm older. I get to be the girl. But I'm my vocal range is much better for the boy anyway.

Amy Henschen: 35:47

So A Whole New World by Aladdin. I get to be Aladdin. I'll find some cute girl to be my my, opposite and or I can find Kevin. You could be the girl. I'll be the boy.

Amy Henschen: 35:56

We'll rock it. So those are probably my two.

Kevin Care: 36:00

I will tell you, like, that range for that male part of that song, though, is quite high. It is. But the female part, you know, I think we have our new plan. I think at All Team, in the fall, we're kicking it off with a whole new world.

Henry Craft: 36:15

So do you sing Celine Dion with with falsetto, or are you full voice? Like, what's your what's your attack on that?

Kevin Care: 36:22

It is full falsetto. It is fully on pitch. And it is indeed, there is emotion that comes with it. It's not just stand at the microphone and sing, I don't even look at the lyrics, friends. There is no need.

Kevin Care: 36:38

That lyric lives in my head rent free. It just does. And I'm okay with that, truthfully. Like A to Z lyrics in Kevin's brain, it's all coming back to me now. Opposite of you, Henry.

Kevin Care: 36:51

My mom used to tell me that I waste a lot of pointless time in my brain because I have so many songs memorized word for word. Because I grew up with the CD, the six CD changer in my mom's car and the CD album with all the little books with the lyrics, and I would read them. Like, we had Cher, we had Rod Stewart, we had Belinda Carlisle, we had Debbie Gibson. I mean, it was a full eighties moment in time with Belinda Carey, the Beach Boys. I mean, Shania Twain's Come On Over album.

Kevin Care: 37:24

Like, like those are, those are bops that Belinda Carey gets all the credit because she was an eclectic music listener.

Henry Craft: 37:32

And you're like, mom, listen, your aptitude expands based on how many things you wanna put in your brain. So there's not limited space. I'm just a smart cookie. Alright?

Ryan Littlejohn: 37:43

Okay, Kevin. So we have to know what is your favorite story or experience from your time with 4-H ? Now this can be serious. This can be funny. We prefer not to, be incriminating as some of us may have shared before, but it's whatever you wanna tell us.

Ryan Littlejohn: 38:03

Like, what is that memory from 4-H that just stands out?

Kevin Care: 38:07

I think there's a translation of story here for me. I grew up an only child. And my town, you know, wasn't very big, less than a hundred people. And my my family all lived pretty much in the same county. And I was the youngest first cousin on one side of the family and the second to youngest cousin, first cousin on the other side of the family.

Kevin Care: 38:31

And my other cousin, Alyssa, who lived down the street, who was my best friend and pretty much sister growing up, also was in 4-H and we did all the same things together. I just really valued the chance to spend time with my family in a meaningful way. And my cousin Eric and my cousin Laurie, showed cattle in a lot of different places. And my cousin Eric still does a lot in the cattle industry. And now my cousin Shaylee, who's ten years younger than me, also does a lot of work in that area.

Kevin Care: 39:05

And it's just a family tradition. And it really meant a lot to me because I got to meet people from across The United States, but really just people even in Illinois. And there are people now when I, when I go to fairs or, you know, when, when I took the job in 4-H they were like, we're so thankful that you are back in 4-H because you always were doing something with 4-H . So my favorite memory is winning the grand champion steer show at the Illinois State Fair. Of course, it is a memory.

Kevin Care: 39:34

That slap was everything for me in 02/2008. It was the same year I also interviewed interviewed to be on the Illinois 4-H youth leadership team. So I had won that Saturday and I interviewed that following Sunday night and spent four wonderful years on the youth leadership team. And it's like everything came to be true. Like it just felt like that was my first state level experience in 4-H , that whole journey and the people that I met, how they come in and out of my life now.

Kevin Care: 40:05

So example, Olympia high school speech tournament last weekend. Ed is the head coach over there. Ed's son was a first year on the youth leadership team when I was in my fourth year. So it's weird how the worlds collide and how things are just simply meant to be and 4-H just does that. But winning the state fair grand champion steer show was something.

Kevin Care: 40:25

I got reserved the following year. Going grand and reserve, and then I was like, I should have stopped, friends. So anyone listening, after you do really well at the state fair in the livestock area, you should decide to do something else. Because then I stood like third and fourth in my class with stew, two steers my last year and just was like,

Henry Craft: 40:46

wah wah wah.

Kevin Care: 40:47

So I think my my timing was just perfect because it helped accelerate my 4-H experience. And I have I'm completely indebted to my family for how much they taught me and the time they spent with me and the memories with my aunt Barbie at 4AM in the morning washing cattle, tied up to the fence to get them into the cooler unit for the day because it was gonna be a hundred. And her spraying, we met, spraying me with the water hose when I would get sassy with her. And then my cousin Shaylee was so young at the time. I would go back to bed, but she would just want to play.

Kevin Care: 41:24

And she'd try to wake me up all the time. And then she won the grand champion steer show at the state fair a couple years later. And so we get to be the only people in our family that share in that legacy after my family tried for years and years and years. And we got to be the people that, that brought that home to, to, a long generation of people that had tried.

Henry Craft: 41:45

That's really cool that you get to share that with your cousin. Well, Kevin, I appreciate you sharing that story. I think it's really cool to just hear about your roots in 4-H and full circle. Right? And now you get to get to lead it.

Henry Craft: 41:56

That's cool.

Ryan Littlejohn: 41:58

Join us next time as we continue our conversation with doctor Kevin Carey and learn more about his experiences from 4-H'er to foundation member to acting director.

Amy Henschen: 42:09

Listeners, we need you. Please take a few minutes today to fill out our quick listener survey to help us keep making behind the clover better. To take the survey, visit go.illinois.edu/btcsurvey. So once again, the BTC stands for behind the clover. go.illinois.edu/btcsurvey.

Amy Henschen: 42:33

Thanks.