On His Service Over the Years
Denver Loupe
Denver Loupe: I felt that I was successful at doing 4-H work
and the primary reason, of course, I had been . . . I was raised in
4-H and FFA, but as a teacher I got to know the vo-ag teachers in
St. James Parish. They had three high schools in St. James Parish
and I got to know all the vo-ag teachers there in each of the
schools. And consequently, when I went to work in St. James Parish,
because of the fact that I knew them, I was able to call them to
help me in the schools; so they were my local leaders. So again, it
brought 4-H and FFA together.
I came to Baton Rouge to the extension service's state office. I
became involved in sugarcane work and that was my specialty as an
agronomist, in sugar cane. And because of that, I was able to pursue
my PhD actually in sugar cane because I was doing technical work as
an extension specialist.
If you ask me what was the highlight of my career as a director, I
would pinpoint the fact that I was instrumental in improving the
technical background of agents; allowed them to go to school here at
LSU or, in many cases, Northeast, Natchitoches, or Southwestern, or
Nicholls. We had a lot of people who got master's degrees from those
institutions.
When I was director I had the first computer put on my desk and I
required . . . as director I required that at least one computer be
put in every parish in the state. If they could get the [?] of the
school board to buy it, they did that. If not, I had a little extra
money that was allocated for that purpose. But within a year I
maintained that you get a computer . . . that extension staff has a
computer in their office. I never learned to use it [laughs].