Meet Mary Bartz, the 4-H judge who goes back for seconds
When Mary watched the video about the new Minnesota 4-H Building, she was in tears before it ended: “It just touches my heart."
Mary has put her heart into Minnesota 4-H for more than 50 years, which is all the more impressive given she isn’t an alumna herself.
“I’m not really a 4-H alum, but I married into a 4-H family.”
Her husband’s family was deeply accomplished in the University of Minnesota Extension youth development program: 4-H State Ambassador honors, the Washington, D.C. trip, National 4-H Club Congress in Chicago.
Her in-laws tell stories of staying in triple decker bunks at the 4-H Building during the Minnesota State Fair.
Joining a sisterhood
The green clover found her eventually when she found her people at the University of Minnesota’s Beta of Clovia chapter. Her freshman-year roommate was a 4-H Ambassador. “When I moved in, I was curious about why there was green clothing everywhere!”
Joining was a decision that created lifelong friends. She served as the house manager, planning menus and cooking for more than 20 women, calling it an experience that shaped her every bit as much as her coursework. While her own mother took home economics certification courses on the St. Paul campus, she studied food science and nutrition with minors in business and journalism.
The Clovia kitchen led to Mary’s internship at the Pillsbury Bake-Off, her “first professional taste of a test kitchen.”
She went on to a celebrated career at General Mills, starting as a product representative on dessert products, developing and refining recipes, conducting tolerance testing to simulate every way a home cook might improvise, styling food for cookbooks, commercials and print ads, and eventually serving as a director in the famed Betty Crocker Kitchens.
Along the way she found that the worlds of Clovia, 4-H and General Mills overlapped consistently. Mentors and colleagues had Clovia and 4-H roots, including Elaine Christiansen, who was a recipient of the Friend of Extension award.
When the call came asking Mary to join the Minnesota 4-H Foundation board, she joined because of the connections she had already forged.
“All these life experiences stay with you,” says Mary.
Two decades at the judging table
Since 2004, Mary has used her expertise to judge foods and nutrition projects across Minnesota, Hennepin, Carver, Redwood, Cottonwood and Brown counties, as well as the Minnesota State Fair. She also serves as the canning coordinator for open class competition.
Her first judging gig came from a last-minute call from Nicollet County right after she left General Mills. A fellow University of Minnesota alum held her hand through that first fair, and the two of them still judge side by side more than 20 years later.
You can’t judge 4-H foods without giving them a taste. Sometimes, she goes back for seconds.
Mary lights up when she thinks of a young baker from Redwood Falls whose loaf of bread wowed her.
“It looked spectacular, and tasted equally spectacular,” says Mary with the reverence one might use to describe a Michelin meal. She awarded him the purple Grand Champion ribbon and has followed his progress every year since, the way a coach follows a favorite athlete.
Just as dear to her are the 4-H’ers whose projects don’t win. She remembers troubleshooting a pie with a young 4-H’er, pulling out her well-worn Betty Crocker cookbook. Months later, word got back to her that the 4-H’er mentioned what a good judge she was and how much that conversation helped.
For Mary, every judging table is a teaching kitchen. A thermometer inserted from the wrong angle is an opportunity for a gentle lesson. An overly salty pickle becomes a process workshop.
Why she gives
Mary keeps coming back to 4-H because, to her eyes, it builds character.
“There is rigor. There are expectations. That discipline sets kids up for future success. Even if they’re not the Grand Champion, even if they just get a participation ribbon. It prepares them for life, for the world of work, for the family they may choose to have, for the relationships they’ll have… these are our future leaders, future city council members, county commissioners, and state legislators.”
She thinks she knows how 4-H retains youth members year after year: “It’s a family activity. You don’t just send your kids to the 4-H meeting. You see multiple generations in the barns.”
What moves Mary to support the 4-H Building project is more than bricks and mortar.
“The 4-H Building is a building the way the church is a church,” she says. “What really makes the community is what happens inside” — like friends who run the cafeteria, college students assisting the Arts-In programs like she once did and generations of youth sleeping in the bunks.
“This renovation should have happened long ago,” says Mary. “You could say I’m looking forward to judging in the new space.”
Explore the 4-H Building campaign
Find more people like Mary who have shared their 4-H stories and see the changes that will improve the 4-H Building experience for 4-H’ers and judges.
Learn more about the 4-H Building campaign.
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