July 16, 2009
Richmond County Cooperative Extension works to enhance quality of life
On a mission to get research-based knowledge out into the local community, Richmond County Cooperative extension offers a variety of services designed to enhance economic prosperity, environmental stewardship and quality of life.
"The local staff brings the university to the people by offering local educational programming in the areas of agriculture, community development, family and consumer sciences and 4-H and youth development," said local Extension employee LeAnn Crump.
Read more from the Richmond County Daily Journal.
Posted by Suzanne at 09:34 AM | Comments (0)
February 11, 2009
Counts' legacy is substantial
Sue Counts, who recently staged and hosted a “green retirement party” in Watauga County, believes Cooperative Extension is not only about demonstrating research-based information applications to improve peoples’ lives. It’s also about constructing community coalitions to launch learning projects derived from that research.
Read the story here:
http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/agcomm/magazine/winter09/college.html
Posted by Art at 10:45 AM
June 17, 2008
ECA collar coolers help beat Middle East heat
U.S. soldiers serving in the Middle East may soon thank Pasquotank County for cooler collars. Pasquotank County’s Extension and Community Association teamed up to hand-sew 100 reusable neckbands that hold moisture-retaining crystals. When soaked in cool water and worn around the neck, the neckbands cool the wearer. Service members receive theirs for free, but similar models retail for up to $13.
In addition to the 100 bound for the Middle East, an additional 30 neckbands are destined for those fighting wildfires in Tyrrell County.
For more than 80 years, the N.C. Extension and Community Association has worked to strengthen families and improve the quality of life within our communities. Pasquotank ECA members range in age from 14 to 90 years.
Posted by Natalie at 11:40 AM
June 12, 2008
Guidebook to enhance artisan, agritourism trails
Ever dreamed of paddling down Greene County’s Contentnea Creek, shopping through the artwork of a chainsaw sculptor, visiting the humble Wayne County birthplace of Gov. Charles B. Aycock or attending the fall Muscadine Festival in Kenansville?
If you’re the type of tourist who longs to wander the back roads of North Carolina, seeking historic sites, artisans, farms and produce stands, and of course, the state’s finest barbecue, the new guidebook, Homegrown Handmade: Art Roads and Farm Trails, is not to be missed.
The guidebook was launched in June at an event in Greene County, which boasts a number of sites in the book. The book was created through a partnership of North Carolina Cooperative Extension and the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources.
Five years ago, both groups asked the Golden LEAF Foundation for funds to develop a guide to both cultural arts trails and agritourism sites across Piedmont and eastern North Carolina. Golden LEAF asked the two groups to partner in their efforts, and Homegrown Handmade was born.
Cooperative Extension’s Southeast AgriCultural Toursim Task Force worked with the N.C. Arts Council to identify sites across 76 Piedmont and eastern North Carolina counties. Their efforts had resulted in the development of 16 driving trails across some of the state’s most scenic and rural counties. Until now, the trails were available only through the Homegrown Handmade Web site --
http://www.homegrownhandmade.com/ -- which required tourists to do some serious planning before embarking on a trail tour.
The book is available for $19.95 in retail book stories, through Web-based book sellers and Cooperative Extension county centers. It gives driving tourists the flexibility of leaving the Internet behind as they meander down country roads.
At the launch, several business owners described their experiences with Homegrown Handmade. Natalie Relyea, co-owner of Relyea’s Produce Patch and Crazy Claw Prawns, described how she and her husband had decided 18 years ago to diversify their tobacco operation into a produce operation. Recently, the couple received a grant to open the first prawn processing facility in the United States to support the growing region’s prawn industry. She expressed confidence that the guidebook would be a dream for both tourists and business owners.
“There’s nothing like riding in the country and seeing a green field with grazing cows,” she said.
Mary Betty Kearney of the Benjamin W. Best Country Inn and Carriage House and her husband have converted an historic home and carriage house into their business, the site of the guidebook launch. Visitors at the event also enjoyed another of Kearney’s products, hamburgers made from her family’s natural Nooherooka Angus beef.
She also described her term as a Greene County commissioner, working to convince fellow policymakers that the economic future of the county – once the state’s most tobacco-dependent – was tied to prospects for attracting and supporting new business enterprises. Today, a number of Greene County’s successful small businesses are featured in the Homegrown Handmade guide.
A podcast from the event is available on the N.C. Division of Cultural Resources Web site.
-N. Hampton
Posted by Natalie at 08:46 AM
May 12, 2008
Program recognizes volunteer efforts
Nearly 50 women gathered at Piney Grove Baptist Church Thursday to celebrate more than 70 years of serving Surry County as volunteers, leaders and educators.
Both members of the Surry County Extension and Community Association and staff of the North Carolina Cooperative Extension attended the 71st Annual Achievement Program titled "You've come a long way ladies."
Read more from The Mount Airy News.
Posted by Suzanne at 11:14 AM | Comments (0)
February 04, 2008
Aguilar named to 4-H Latino post
Cintia Aguilar, the College’s first Latino interests facilitator, is determined to serve new audiences, forge new partnerships and promote multicultural 4-H clubs.
For more, visit:
http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/agcomm/magazine/winter08/college.html
Posted by Art at 10:19 AM
January 03, 2008
New Web site 'connects' textile companies in N.C., around the world
A new online resource launched by North Carolina State University in partnership with the N.C. Department of Commerce aims to bolster the state's textile industry by connecting North Carolina companies with each other and to other markets across the United States and around the globe.
N.C. Textile Connect (www.nctextileconnect.com) is a comprehensive Web site designed to foster and encourage business partnerships among textile companies within North Carolina and beyond. It also provides valuable information to prospective customers within the state, inside the United States and abroad.
Read more from the News Services' news release
Posted by Natalie at 02:23 PM
September 23, 2007
Bugfest draws crowds in Raleigh
The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences was well represented at Bugfest, an educational events sponsored by the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences in downtown Raleigh. A number of college-connected faculty, staff and students presented exhibits in the "beneficial bugs" area of the event, held Sept. 15. In this photo, children enjoy examining a live specimen. Bugfest participants from the college included: Chrystal Bartlett, Cooperative Extension marketing director; David Orr, Mike Linker, Fred Hain and Jennifer Keller, Entomology; David Penrose, Biological and Agricultural Engineering.
Posted by Natalie at 08:04 AM
August 16, 2007
Union County hosts women's conference
Last spring, Monroe became the Emerald City, as the yellow brick road led to Union County’s Agricultural Services and Conference Center, site of the 2007 Union County Women’s Leadership Conference and Luncheon.
Hosted by the Women’s Leadership Coalition, the annual conference is an initiative of North Carolina Cooperative Extension. Robin Landsman, Extension Family and Consumer Sciences agent in Union County, worked with the Coalition in organizing the event. Dr. Deborah Crandall, director of Extension’s Southwest District, delivered opening remarks, and Monroe Police Chief Debra C. Duncan was keynote speaker, following a workshop called “Leadership According to Oz: Accountability Competence.”
Approximately 170 women participated in the workshop to gain skills in networking and diplomacy, relationship building and professional development, and leadership skills and mentoring.
Workshop participants represented “the diversity that is Union County,” Landsman said. “Our demographics include diversity in age, race and professions. We reached an audience of women in business; women employed in local government and public service; entrepreneurs, students and community volunteers. There were also a few at-home mothers considering their options for returning to the workplace.”
This year’s workshop theme was based on The Oz Principle, a business book about getting results through individual organizational accountability. Co-authored by a business writer and the cofounders of a management-consulting company, The Oz Principle uses L. Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz stories as metaphors for a journey toward greater accountability in business, with the destination of “home” as analogous to a focus upon results.
The luncheon was likewise an over-the-rainbow experience: On a stage full of Munchkinland blooms (scenery created by the Union County Master Gardeners), singers from area high schools performed songs from the 1939 “Wizard of Oz” film.
Dr. Wanda Sykes, Southeast District Extension director, suggested the Oz Principle approach during last year’s state FCS training, “and upon reading it, I agreed,” said Landsman, who provided copies of the book to the Coalition members. They unanimously decided to theme the conference around the book’s messages -- including the use of Wizard of Oz characters to illustrate the courage to See it, the heart to Own it, the wisdom to Solve it and the means to Do it in exercising accountability.
The event organizers included Coalition members Doris Belk, Kathie Easton, Holly McEachin, Julia Mitchell, Joyce Rentschler, Carol Tyson and Anne Velasco, as well as Landsman and Chris Austin, FCS secretary in Union County. Landsman also notes the support of Crandall and Jerry Simpson, Union County Extension director.
The workshop was led by Belk, McEachin, Mitchell and Tyson, along with Landsman, who said, “They were all volunteers who took the risk to learn about how to develop and present a workshop to their peers. It was extremely important to us to model what it means not only to be accountable but to set a goal, take risks and stretch ourselves to meet those expectations.”
The result? The audience gave the workshop leaders a standing ovation.
“Each year we get better by listening to the feedback of our participants,” said Landsman. In this year’s evaluations, participants indicated that it was time well spent, with 90.82 percent of them rating the workshop as excellent.
A similar high percentage – 94.74 – gave an excellent rating to the remarks of keynote speaker Duncan, who shared her experiences of being a woman in a leadership role. “As long as the job is done right, gender doesn’t matter,” Duncan told the group in her speech, “Holding Yourself Accountable and Succeeding in a Man’s World.”
Her message dovetailed neatly with the conference’s goals to inspire area women to accomplish change, empower one another and make a positive difference in the community.
The event was underwritten by the Real Estate Link of the Carolinas and sponsored by numerous local businesses, groups and individuals.
“Our sponsors include organizations that employ large numbers of women and have a high percentage of women in management and leadership positions,” Landsman said. “These businesses continue to support us financially, as well as by sending large numbers of their employees to our event.”
–T. Leith
Posted by Natalie at 11:21 AM
December 21, 2006
Oldest agent passes away
Elizabeth Poyner Sanderlin, the retired North Carolina Cooperative Extension agent for whom the auditorium of Extension’s new $6.6 million Currituck center will be named, passed away Dec. 20, 2006 at her home. She was 102.
Sanderlin, “Miss Liz” to her many friends, spent much of her working life helping her community grow from a rural, swamp-dotted backwater to a major agriculture- and tourism-supported county.
A funeral service will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 23, at Moyock United Methodist Church. Burial will follow in the Moyock Cemetery. The family will receive visitors from 6-7:30 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 22, at the church.
Memorial donations may be made to either the Currituck County Library or the Elizabeth P. Sanderlin Auditorium fundraiser by making a check payable to Currituck 4-H Foundation, c/o NCCE Currituck County, P.O. Box 10, Currituck, NC 27929.
To sign the online guest register, visit www.twifordfh.com.
In August, Cooperative Extension employees and residents joined Sanderlin and county officials at the 28,262-square-foot education and outreach center’s groundbreaking. The 500-seat Elizabeth P. Sanderlin Auditorium named in her honor and the new center will be available to the public when they open in late 2007.
Sanderlin smiled throughout the groundbreaking ceremony and stepped up to a shovel to have her photo taken with commissioners and others.
The new building, on U.S. 158 at Barco, will include four classrooms, two conference rooms, a demonstration kitchen, an Extension library and offices, which will allow Extension to concentrate many services and programs now offered by 14 full-time staffers from the county courthouse.
Landscaping will include water quality best management practice demonstration ponds and botanical gardens.
At the groundbreaking, Rodney Sawyer, Currituck Cooperative Extension director, noted that Extension’s Currituck operations began in the 1920s. He also recounted events in the life of Sanderlin, Currituck's home demonstration agent from 1951 to 1969.
“Miss Liz is an 'Extension icon,'” he said. “Her contributions to the citizens of Currituck County and North Carolina exemplify the Extension philosophy of helping people put knowledge to work to improve the quality of life.”
”During my career, her words of encouragement and support for our current efforts have fueled a desire to live up to her accomplishments,” Sawyer said. “She is like a guardian angel who looks over our programs and staff to herald the efforts and sing our praises. Miss Liz has inspired me to greater heights and gives credence to continuing the cause. She truly is a beloved citizen of Currituck.”
When Currituck County commissioners in 2004 declared Sept. 27 “Elizabeth Poyner Sanderlin Day,” speakers noted her longtime efforts to help rural women. One commissioner said he learned from her about 4-H, Extension's youth development program.
Sanderlin was born in Moyock, a village along the as-yet-unnamed Intracoastal Waterway, then edged by marsh-laced fields and woods. A 1926 Louisburg College graduate, she returned to Currituck, where she taught home economics, then worked for the Depression-era Works Progress Administration and later, the Farmers Home Administration.
She joined the then-North Carolina State College of Agriculture and Engineering’s Agricultural Extension Service (now Cooperative Extension at North Carolina State University) as a home extension agent in the 1950s and ’60s.
When David Cecelski profiled Miss Liz for The News and Observer (Raleigh) in December 2002, she recalled her childhood one-room schoolhouse, socializing with friends at the Northern & Southern railway station at Moyock when trains came in, roads so horrible that people “stayed stuck,” closing the gate against free-ranging cattle between Moyock and Snowden, and families raising what they ate (although her father owned a grocery store).
She remembered the excitement of “company coming in and church meetings.
“You never knew who was going to eat at our house because people would come from up the creek and other places to shop, and there weren't any restaurants over yonder,”
she said in the N&O story.
Such sociability served her well in her generations of Extension and other public-spirited work in the county. Sanderlin, with other county ag extension agents and the Works Progress Administration, developed the idea of farmer-supplied and operated roadside stands on U.S. 158/N.C. 168, Currituck County’s linear main thoroughfare, to snare the ever-increasing Outer Banks-bound tourist trade. For most of Miss Liz’s career, that five-lane asphalt highway was at best a narrow, yet critically important concrete strip. But as the county grew, so did its Extension programs, and Sanderlin remained a critical component of that growth.
-A. Latham
Posted by Art at 01:37 PM
September 11, 2006
'Summer Salsa Sizzle' held in Guilford
Guilford County held its first-ever cultural awareness event called the "Summer Salsa Sizzle" on Tuesday, August 26. The event helped create fun and provide educational opportunities to unite the culturally diverse communities, in this case the Latino community.
Developing a sense of friendship and trust is important to this audience before they will work with structured organizations, and this event went a long way towards this goal.
The Guilford County Cooperative Extension staff and colleagues from the Center for New North Carolinians at UNC-Greensboro hosted the event. With this partnership, these groups hope to continue reaching the diverse audience of Guilford County.
Tours of the Extension gardens, which were coordinated by the Guilford Master Gardeners, took place with an overview at the Latin vegetable demonstration and our tropical plants collection.
In the kitchen, a salsa cooking demonstration was held. Members of the community and the Extension advisory board helped to judge a homemade salsa contest.
Youth activities were also popular, with hands-on crafts and games created with help from the Americorps Volunteers and the Guilford 4-H staff. The Spanish 101 class was also popular.
A Spanish-language interpreter was provided for all activities. To top off the evening, local musical and dance groups performed while participants mingled, and vendors sold ethnic foods.
Mary Holderness emailed in, "What great fun! A wonderful blend of diversity of people and activities brought four friends to this Extension event, and they were amazed and delighted."
Posted by Natalie at 03:04 PM
August 24, 2006
Extension center construction to start
Elizabeth Poyner Sanderlin, who turns 102 next month, has spent much of her long life devoted to helping her community.
Now, as a tribute to Sanderlin's many years of devoted public service, the auditorium of the new $6.6 million Currituck Center of the N.C. Cooperative Extension Service building will be named in her honor.
On Friday, Aug. 11, nearly 100 Extension employees and residents joined Sanderlin and county officials in celebrating the groundbreaking of the new Extension Center next to Central Elementary School in Maple.
Read more from The Daily Advance.
Posted by Suzanne at 03:48 PM
August 22, 2006
Crossing Over: NC LOT tours Mexico
Faced with an unprecedented boom in potential clients due to continuing waves of immigrants, especially from Mexico and Central America, North Carolina Cooperative Extension is gearing up to better serve Latino and other underserved clients. A recent fact-finding mission to Mexico has provided some valuable perspective and insight for the effort.
Read more in Perspectives
Posted by Art at 10:16 AM
July 19, 2006
EDEN helps communities cope with disaster
Ah yes, it's the beginning of summer in the U.S. -- which means that, so far in 2006, sections of the Northeast have already experienced major flooding, the Midwest and South have coped with tornadoes, parched portions of the West and Southwest are struggling with another year of miniscule rainfall, and the Gulf Coast is casting a wary eye at what may be another active hurricane season.
In short, Mother Nature can be a real trip.
But USDA is assisting in a program designed to help reduce the impact of disasters at the community level. It's called "EDEN"--or "Extension Disaster Education Network."
Read more from USDA News
Posted by Natalie at 08:24 AM
June 16, 2006
Survey to gauge Extension's response to Latinos
Due to the burgeoning Latino population in the state, Cooperative Cooperative Extension’s Latino Initiative has developed a quick survey to gauge how we are doing and where we should go as a state in serving this population. In order to get a complete picture of how we can best serve North Carolinians, we would like to gather this information from all agents and county Extension directors in North Carolina (we will aggregate data per county and report this back to you).
The survey asks 15 questions and should take less than three to five minutes to complete. Personal information will be coded and will remain confidential. Please follow the following link to the survey or paste it in your browser.
http://ceres.cals.ncsu.edu/surveybuilder/Form.cfm?testID=2526
Posted by Natalie at 08:08 AM
April 17, 2006
EDEN provides West Nile Virus site
With all the news related to avian influenza, the Extension Disaster Educaton Network urges Extension professionals to remember the efforts being made to combat West Nile Virus (WNV). As a human health concern, it only takes one bite from an infected mosquito to transfer the disease.
Thanks to Kim Cassel – EDEN's point of contact for South Dakota State University – EDEN now has a complete Issue page on WNV: www.eden.lsu.edu/wnv. This is an informative page that provides an overview of the virus and answers the following questions:
* How many kinds of mosquitoes are in the United States?
* Why do mosquitoes bite?
* What disease-causing microorganisms can mosquitoes transmit?
* What is the most effective way to prevent mosquito bites and control mosquitoes at home?
A number of helpful and informative resources are accessible through this page, including a report titled "Public Health Confronts the Mosquito: Developing Sustainable State and Local Mosquito Control Programs."
As the summer season approaches and mosquitoes once again become the seasonal obstacle, this page may prove a valuable resource for Extension professionals.
Posted by Natalie at 08:02 AM
January 04, 2006
Franklin equine group assists hurricane victims
The Franklin County Extension Horse Advisory Committee last month sent two $500 checks to Hancock County, Mississippi, to assist two Gulf Coast horse owner families affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The committee raised the donations at its 2nd Annual Educational Trail Ride in November at Double D Equestrian Center near Louisburg.
The North Carolina Cooperative Extension staff in Franklin County worked with the Cooperative Extension center in Hancock County, also known as “Ground 0” County, to locate two families who needed assistance.
One family had 33 horses. Seven survived the hurricane, but three later died. Nine are still unaccounted for. This family has Federal Emergency Management Agency trailers to “call home.”
The other family had six horses, and four perished in the storm. They also lost part of their barn, and their home was destroyed. Through the Extension Service, the families thanked the Franklin County group, saying, “you don't know what blessings we have received through this donation,” especially before Christmas.
Members of the Franklin County Extension Horse Advisory Committee are John Daniels, Thomas Cofield, Karen Becerra, Irene Ayscue, Diane Hays, Don McKnight, Wilbert Perry, Yevette Rothgery and Henry Shearin. The advisor to the group is Martha Mobley, agricultural Extension agent, Franklin County. For more information on the Franklin County Extension Horse Advisory Committee, call 919.496.3344.
Posted by Natalie at 09:06 AM
