Extension career has seen three decades of change

By Staff
Dutton retiring Jan. 31
Haley Aaron, Hartselle Enquirer
As Jan. 31 approaches, the shelves in County Extension Coordinator Julie Dutton's office become emptier day by day. Gradually, Dutton is emptying the bookshelves and desk drawers as she prepares for her retirement at the end of the month. Many of the books that once lined the shelves are already gone, and Dutton plans to give more to extension officers that can use them in the future. Stacks of papers line her desk as she sorts through what to keep and what to throw away.
While Dutton has already begun the process of cleaning out her office, there are still several items she has yet to pack away, such as the 1930s era cast iron sewing machine, items that provide a glimpse into Dutton's career. However, the remaining objects can't provide the full story.
Even Dutton herself finds it difficult to summarize her 31-year career. "It's kind of hard when you get to the end of a career to look back and think about what you've done and how you've done it," she said. However, she is sure of one thing.
"I've enjoyed it," she said.
She has enjoyed the ability to be creative, working to plan programs that benefit the community. She has enjoyed making curtains, upholstering chairs and preparing other projects for programs. Perhaps most of all, she has enjoyed working with people who appreciate the programs the extension office provides.
"All of the people that we work with through the extension want the services, want the information and they're all so easy to work with," she said. "That makes a big difference. It's not like working at a job where you've got someone coming in and complaining about this or that. We just don't see those things."
Dutton began working in the Lawrence County office in September 1976. During that time, she worked back and forth between the Lawrence County and Limestone County offices, teaching clothing classes in the two counties. "If you count miles, it's 52 miles from one office to the other office, so I was just running the wheels off my car," she said. In April 1977, she began working with Lawrence County's 4-H program.
In July 1980, Dutton started work at the Morgan County office. "At that time, you had to live within the county that you worked in," she said. "I was getting married and my husband's family lived in Morgan County. He wanted to live in Morgan County, so I had to switch jobs."
The shift to Morgan County brought more that just a change in location. Dutton began working with the extension's adult program. Initially, she was somewhat nervous about working with adults instead of children.
"I remember the first time that I tried to do a program for them," she said. "These are ladies that were my mother's age and we were talking about child care and so I though 'What can I tell them about child care?' We went through the program and I stammered and I stuttered."
Dutton said the program participants overlooked her nervousness. "They were all very nice and very receptive, and they said that even though they had raised their families and they had grandchildren, that they would pass that information along to the younger set," she said. "They were very good to work with me."
Over the years, the extension office has provided a large variety of programs covering topics ranging from upholstery to heart healthy cooking.
As the interests and schedules of county residents has changed, the office has worked to cater their programs to the community.
While homemakers were once able to attend programs during the day, as more and more women began working, it became more difficult for extension offices and other groups to host morning or afternoon programs. "With my generation, everybody went into the workforce and so there were very few stay-at-home moms," Dutton said. "Prior to that, everybody was at home, and you had the homemaker groups and the community groups."
Now, the extension office holds evening meetings and works with community groups to hold programs.
During her career, Dutton has seen people lose interest in skills such as canning and sewing, which were once considered essential skills. "I've seen people lose the skills that everybody used to have as I was growing up," she said. "Everybody's mother could sew and make them dresses and clothes. I would think there would be very few parents who have elementary students now that can actually sew and have those skills."
Why have people lost interest? Dutton believes that because items are less expensive than they were in the past, people no longer make their own clothes or can their own food. "You weren't able to go in and get things at the prices we get them now," she explained. "Now, you can go in and get a blouse or a skirt for what we used to buy a zipper for. So of course people aren't going to go out and start to make clothes if they can get clothes a whole lot cheaper."
While working at the Morgan County Extension office, Dutton has presented programs and fielded phone calls concerning food safety and preparation. On a typical day, Dutton estimates that she receives between five or 10 calls.
By teaching classes, Dutton said she has also learned many new skills, and she often uses items that she has made to decorate her home. "It's not just that you tell somebody how to do it, you learn how to do it as you go, so I've enjoyed the fact that I can use those things," she said.
When she retires, Dutton plans to continue using skills she learned throughout her career. However, she will also have more time for other things as well. "I want to do anything I want to whenever I want to," she said. "My plans are to do some of those things I had wished I had time for." Dutton plans to redecorate her home and spend time gardening. She also plans to stay busy working on the family's cattle farm.
"I don't intend to turn into a farm hand, but I will probably end up helping more than I have been able to in the past," she said.