Farm City Week Starts the Giving Season in Richmond County

Abby Hamilton helps Mr. McInnis's goat feel at home.

 Each November, we as a country are asked to return our thanks for the many blessings that we each have. As President Abraham Lincoln stated, "To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God."

I simply can't state it any better than that!  And in Richmond County, one of our biggest gifts is the relationship between our agriculture community and our business interests.  Each year during the week of Thanksgiving, Richmond County takes time to celebrate Farm-City Week.  We have both a wonderful farming heritage and a motivated business sector that must work together to understand one another and work towards the county's best interests on all fronts. 

To start the week off with some fun, the annual Farmers Parade is held in Ellerbe.  This year the parade route allowed tractors, floats, horses, people and even a goat or two to travel down Main Street.  The 4-H Livestock Club members could be seen waving and taking care of a couple future producers (goat kids) on a float being driven by their constant supporter, John McInnis (and Mrs Velma is always supporting them too.)  The parade saw more than 130 entries of all types and crowd estimates are that over 1,000 people came out to enjoy the show & shop at the many venders who set up shop for the day.

Chris Yaklin, Farm Bureau President

Monday saw the annual Farmer's Luncheon held at the Agriculture Services Center.  Several wonderful cooks volunteer their time to provide wonderful food for the event which saw well over 100 people coming together to celebrate our county's farmers.  They included:  Earl Graves, Gerald Littlejohn, Bob Hill, Gene Shaw, David McCoy, Myers Waddell, Helen Goodman and Betty Wilson.  Several businesses also assist with the event geared towards helping recognize the hard work and dedication it takes to provide food and fiber products to citizens of North Carolina including PeeDee Electric Membership Cooperative, Perdue and FirstHealth.  In addition to updates from the agencies housed at the Agricultural Services Center, Luncheon Attendees also got to hear from Chris Yaklin, President of Richmond County Farm Bureau.  Chris shared that he knew he wanted to farm from a young age and that it has helped make him who he is today and the important role Farm Bureau plays in the community; it's not just an insurance company.

The final event of Farm-City Week 2010 was the Farm-City Banquet.  The Banquet was held at the Cole Auditorium on the campus of Richmond Community College in Hamlet.  The banquet featured great fellowship and reconnecting with friends of both the farming and urban communities in Richmond County.  We started the night with our own Carol Capel singing with Miss Sarah Yaklin.  They sang "Mary Did You Know?" and did a fantastic job!  Commissioner Thad Ussery read the Farm-City Week proclamation from the Richmond County Board of Commissioners.  A.J. Outlaw, who works in the agricultural sector, provided entertainment for the event.  AJ is also an Elvis impersonator and provided us with his best impressions of The King, including my two favorite Elvis tunes:  Blue Christmas and An American Trilogy.  We ended the evening listening to Miss Molly Stutts of Ellerbe.  Molly is the NC Peach Queen and she shared some of her experiences during the course of her year.  She has had many chances to reach out to the community and enjoys each chance to help expand the understanding people have about agriculture.  She also made sure that everyone had some yummy peach recipes to take home to try for the Holidays.

We had a wonderful Farm-City Week in Richmond County!  Here at the Extension Office we are grateful for many things, including all of the wonderful people who make these events possible.  Special thanks & congrats to the staff of Farm Services Agency in Richmond County for all of the hard work they put into planning this year!  To see more pictures from this year's Farm-City events, click here.