ORGANIZATIONS : 4-H and More : Programs to attract city kids are offered, but ‘it’s been difficult to get over the cows and cooking image,’ a spokeswoman says.

Picture a group of 4-H kids delving into the mysteries of rocket science, puzzling over the astronauts’ diet and how to eat in outer space.

Wait a minute. Rocketry and 4-H? Sounds a little like “Back to the Future.”

For generations, 4-H has carried the image of the farm boy who sees the calf he has raised for a year auctioned at the county fair. Or the girl who takes first place for her canned peaches.

All that still goes on, but 4-H is reshaping its image nationwide. Faced with dwindling membership, the organization is broadening its programs to attract more city kids.

In Ventura County, 4-H kids can learn about horses and home economics, but they can also delve into computer programming, oceanography, or outdoor sports and survival.

“It’s been very difficult to get over the cows and cooking image,” said Laurie Vanoni, 4-H program assistant for Ventura County.

In 1975, 4-H membership in the county hit a high of about 1,500 kids. But membership began a downward spiral until the mid 1980s. The numbers stabilized and now membership is at 735.

There are 27 4-H clubs throughout the county, with 10 to 90 members each. Youngsters must be 9 to 18 years old to join. There are no membership dues, but kids are required to pay a couple of dollars annually to cover publication costs and insurance, and to pay for project materials.

Some clubs meet weekly, some biweekly or monthly. They depend heavily on volunteer help, mostly from parents.

Kids in 4-H pick out a project or two from a list of 70--everything from beekeeping to leather crafting--to work on during the year. They set goals, keep records, give oral reports on their progress. They can even create their own project idea.

The horse project--caring, feeding and riding a horse or pony--is still the most popular. Kids can lease a horse or, if that isn’t possible, they can do the “horseless project” and simply learn all about the animal.

Since fewer and fewer kids live on farms and can raise cattle and sheep, 4-H has a project called “pocket pets.” Members feed, care for and learn about smaller critters such as cats, hamsters, birds and white rats.

“Most city kids can have a hamster,” Vanoni said.

Or a cat. Fifteen 4-H kids brought their cats to the Ventura County Fair two weeks ago for the cat show. These were cats they had fed, bathed and groomed for the past year. They had kept financial records ($20 a month in cat food, one owner confided). They had studied parasites and worms.

They had even decorated the carriers the cats arrived in. Some were curtained in taffeta and lace. Most had carpeting and little beds.

“She gets real jealous easily,” Paula Sanchez, 15, a member of Fillmore 4-H, said as she stroked her 2-year-old Siamese, Laverne.

Kids in 4-H can raise dogs as well, and they even can raise a special puppy to be trained later at Guide Dogs for the Blind in San Rafael. Nine 4-H members are in the program now, preparing their puppies for formal training by getting the animal used to such things as elevators, buses, getting into cars, crossing the street.

Some 4-H projects have a social twist, another sign that the organization is more urbanized. At Rio Plaza School in Oxnard, 4-H members work with children in a special after-school program, teaching them arts and crafts.

This year, older 4-H members will be trained to work with migrant high school students on an environmental project. They will even create a miniature oil spill in a large washtub and determine how best to clean it up.

While 4-H has tried to change with the times, it hasn’t been easy. In more and more families, both parents work and have little time to volunteer for 4-H activities, Vanoni said. It’s tough to attract adult 4-H leaders, as well as young members.

As an extension of the University of California, 4-H traditionally has had strong ties to UC’s agricultural and home economics departments, said Lawrence Yee, Ventura County director of 4-H and University Cooperative Extension.

“As we’ve branched out into things like rocketry, we have not developed the same ties or support within the university,” he said. “I’m disappointed because I think there is a lot of potential there. We’re trying to turn it around. I’m hopeful we can. But the jury is still out.”

* FYI

For information about joining 4-H, call 645-1470 or stop by the 4-H office at 702 County Square Drive, Ventura.