Jim Phelps constantly has gone beyond the call of duty while serving as the University of Kentucky county 4-H agent for the past 18 years in Knott County.  In addition to serving the youth of the county, he has provided exemplary service for the University of Kentucky extension office in a large range of areas, while providing hundreds of volunteer hours for civic organizations, churches, and worthwhile civic projects The times selected 4-H agent Jim Phelps as Time's 1991 Person of the Year for his outstanding public service and volunteerism.

Jim Phelps has been a vital, stable force in the Gingerbread Festival Committee for the past 11 years. He is the secretary again this year. Jim has been very willing to help all the civic groups in the county.  Jim Phelps is a very active church member at the Hindman Baptist Church.

The Hindman Lions club named Phelps citizen of the year in 1990. Also in 1990, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife named him "Hunter Instructor of the Year."

James Irvin Phelps, Jr., a Somerset Ky. native, grew up on a farm in Pulaski county.  He is one of 11 children.  Phelps is a graduate of Pulaski County High School.  he obtained  his BS degree in Agriculture from Berea college in 1968, an MS in Agronomy at UK, plus two years of post-Masters study in forest soils.  He is well-versed in many areas other than his chosen vocation; he is a qualified soil scientist, a master instructor for the Department of Fish and "Wildlife Resources who holds classes in hunter safety several times each year and can also train others to become instructors, and is knowledgeable as an amateur radio person.  Friends say Phelps is constantly seeking to upgrade his already impressive list of abilities.       

Phelps came to Knott County on Feb. 26, 1973, under the joint sponsorship of the University of Kentucky and Hindman Settlement School.

As County 4-H Agent, Jim works with students in elementary and high schools in Knott County.  His extensive work with youth includes special projects, for example, environmental camp, an energy awareness program, and the Blue Sky program concerning space and related topics.  ?Throughout the year, 4-H sponsors contests like a poster-type contest in the winter.  Field days in he summer are favorite times for youth.  Phelps discusses  some of these on his regular radio show on WKCB.                        

Jim also coordinates and is involved with annual events such as two 4-H camps each summer--one for fourth graders and one for fifth through eighth--and trips to the state fair.
 

Corbett Mullins
April 2003