Alice Welbes - National 4-H Champion Biography-1
Alice Welbes: 1932 Oregon 4-H Canning Champion & Her 14k Gold Elgin Wristwatch
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Alice Welbes (1915–1995) grew up on a 30 acre farm in rural Multinomah, Oregon, where she was an incredibly talented and successful 4-H Club prodigy.
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During her high school years in the early 1930s, Alice won dozens of local, state, and national contests. She became a national champion in sewing & dress making, and in growing & canning fruits and vegetables.
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In 1932, Alice won the Oregon state 4-H Canning contest. She not only won a $50 14k white gold Elgin watch, but also a $300 college scholarship and a trip to the national 4-H convention in Chicago (one of eight girls nationwide). Quite an honor for a 17-year old farm girl in the middle of the Great Depression!​
​Her Elgin is engraved, “Alice Welbes ~ State Winner ~
4-H Canning 1932 ~ Donor ~ Kerr Glass Mfg. Corp"
Alice's Elgin was returned to her daughter Alice Rampton in May 2025.
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"You never actually own a watch...You merely look after it for the next generation"
