Dylan DeForrest has been coming to the Oregon 4-H Center northwest of Salem since he was in second grade. He was too young to go then, but his mother was the camp nurse, so he was allowed to attend.
Known by the nickname “Snacks,” he has gone entire summers where his family in McMinnville has rarely seen him. At 19, he is working as an employee at the center this summer between his college studies at Oregon State University Cascades.
Even when the 4-H Center was closed in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he came to the 326-acre campus 8 miles west of Salem and did service projects.
Last year he was with his grandparents on the way to Costco when he received a call that the Oregon 4-H Center was going to be put up for sale and close this fall.
“It was a pretty big hit,” DeForrest said. “It was really sad.”
The site has been the Oregon 4-H Center since 1968. But the 4-H Foundation has decided to sell the property after Oregon State University’s Extension decided to stop operating it.