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By John Summers on

Parish council names 4-H building after Harry Laws, who spent 35 years growing West Baton Rouge's youth

Harry L. Laws spent 35 years as West Baton Rouge's LSU AgCenter extension agent. He paid 4-H enrollment fees out of his own pocket. He helped start the parish 4-H Foundation. Thursday night, the parish council named the building where he worked after him.

Community
Parish council names 4-H building after Harry Laws, who spent 35 years growing West Baton Rouge's youth

The West Baton Rouge Parish Council voted unanimously Thursday to rename the parish 4-H and Ag Center building in honor of Harry L. Laws, the LSU AgCenter extension agent who spent 35 years building the parish's agriculture and youth programs.

Laws served West Baton Rouge as a 4-H and county agent from 1975 to 2010. He died July 13 at age 74.

A native of New Roads and a resident of Bueche in Pointe Coupee Parish, Laws was a cattleman, hunter and fisherman who spent his career on the other side of the river building West Baton Rouge's agricultural programs. He and his wife Debra were married 52 years.

Parish President Jason Manola asked the council to approve the dedication, pointing to what Laws meant to the parish.

"I think everybody knows what Mr. Harry Laws contributed to West Baton Rouge Parish when it comes to 4H and a lot of what he's done for our kids, this community, and people that have benefited from him," Manola said.

The building that will carry his name sits on Turner Road in Port Allen, where the AgCenter's West Baton Rouge office has served the parish's farmers, families and young people for decades.

Laws was a driving force behind the 4-H program in West Baton Rouge. After he retired, he kept giving. He personally paid 4-H enrollment fees for local students who couldn't afford them. He helped establish the West Baton Rouge Parish 4-H Foundation. He supported the parish fair and livestock programs and contributed to scholarships for young people across Louisiana.

The annual livestock show at the WBR Parish Fair was named in his honor in 2011, a year after his retirement. He was inducted into the Louisiana 4-H Hall of Fame.

The council plans to formally unveil the building's new name at the Harry Laws Classic Livestock Show on Nov. 20-21 at the Louis A. Mouch Jr. Multi-Purpose Facility on Turner Drive in Port Allen. Council member Daryl Babin made the motion. Council member Brady Hotard seconded it.

His family asked that memorial donations be sent to the West Baton Rouge 4-H Foundation at 210 Turner Road in Port Allen, the same building that will now carry his name.

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