Jim Ostlie wins national 4-H award for his dedicated service

Editor’s note: Information for this story came from the Minnesota Extension Service and Publisher Reed Anfinson
Swift County 4-H volunteer Jim Ostlie service was recognized recently with the 2024 National Outstanding Lifetime Volunteer Award from the National 4-H Council.
The National 4-H Salute to Excellence Volunteer Awards recognize 4-H volunteers who show exemplary service to 4-H. A panel of reviewers chose Ostlie from an outstanding list of nominees.
He currently leads the Swift Fall Winners 4-H Club, and his dedication to and leadership of the program has helped it flourish.
Ostlie was nominated for the Minnesota volunteer of the year award, and he earned it, Swift County 4-H Extension Educator Becca Golden told the county board of commissioners at their April 16 meeting. “But what was more exciting was that his nomination then went on to the 4-H North Central Region for the Midwest where he won. Then it was submitted to the national 4-H organization, and he won that, she said.
He works for the Minnesota Department of Agriculture as a livestock development specialist. It was a member of the Chub Lake Beavers in southern Dakota County that Ostlie came to love the 4-H experience. He would go on to college at South Dakota State University in Brookings, S.D., where he studied animal science. It was also where he met his wife, Laura. “We have Jim in our county, and he put us on the map for a lot of good reasons,” Golden said. “We are really proud of him.”
Ostlie has been a volunteer with Swift County 4-H for over 13 years. A 4-H alum himself, Ostlie was drawn to volunteering because of his own positive experience as a 4-H’er.

For more on this story, subscribe to the Swift County Monitor-News.