Corbin became a 4-H member in 1949 or 1950 in Jefferson County.
After being introduced to 4-H, she quickly became involved in projects such as gardening, cooking, and sewing. "I loved it," Corbin recalls. "My projects included at least five or six years of sewing projects, canning projects, and various gardening projects, both vegetable and ornamental. I started flower beds in our yards and kept some records of the family garden. There were also some cooking projects. My mother was one of the club leaders. She also was an excellent seamstress, and I'm sure that a number of girls in our community benefited greatly from her instruction."
During the same time period, on a dairy farm ten miles away, Corbin's future husband was also quite involved with 4-H. "Both of his parents were leaders in 4-H," adds Corbin. "His mother was involved in the same activities as my mother, and his father helped the students in the cattle group learn such things as fitting, grooming, and teaching them to lead their young animals in the show ring. My future husband excelled in these endeavors to the point that he had many trophies and halters, won at the various 4-H shows, county fairs and the Pennsylvania Farm Show."
"Some of my favorite 4-H memories were the activities and trips involved with being a part of the County Council," Corbin says. "There were several week-long conferences at Penn State. There were always one or two carloads of friends from our county participating in these. I also loved round-ups and the frequent wiener roasts, hayrides, and square dances that were sponsored by the local 4-H groups."
By the mid-1950s, Corbin and her husband both were attending monthly County Council meetings. They also were helping with various countywide projects and attending Leadership Week events at Penn State. It wasn't long until the couple started dating, and, in 1959, they married. For several years Corbin lived with her husband on his family farm.
By the mid-1960s, Corbin and her young family moved several hours away where her husband had accepted a job as an electrician; interestingly, he had done an electrical project for 4-H in his teens, which had sparked his interest in becoming an electrician. As Corbin's family grew, she became a 4-H leader to a young group of neighborhood girls and some school friends of her daughters. The club continued for several years, during which time Corbin also participated in judging at fall 4-H Round-Up events.
"The awareness of the various segments of information available at the Extension office was ingrained, and I knew where to go for information concerning gardening, canning, and so forth," Corbin says of her time as a club leader. "Our family was large and widely spaced, so there was always a child or more helping with our gardening, harvesting, canning, and other projects of the type."
Outside of her work with 4-H, Corbin also performed volunteer work at local schools and with various sporting events, as well as being an avid gardener on her 2.3 acre property. She also has been involved with Penn State Extension's Master Gardener program. As a Master Gardener, Corbin represents the group at various public events and information tables; she also does a great deal of writing and public speaking for the group. She is particularly interested in studying invasive species of plants.
Reflecting on her time in 4-H, Corbin notes, "Many of the things that currently seem to be all the rage are important but so are the old standbys. Life skills like cooking, canning, and gardening can't ever be a detriment. As a primary activity for young people, 4-H really can't be beat. It teaches durable skills using cooperative, fiscally responsible methods that can do nothing but improve the future for all involved."
