Farm City Parade Rings in the Holiday Cheer!!

It may have been a bit cold on Saturday morning, but many people braved the weather to come out and celebrate Farm-City Week in Ellerbe! The Annual Farmer's Parade started at 11:00 and included entries ranging from our Grand Marshall, Mr. Paul Wilson, Jr (pictured with wife Mrs. Betty Wilson,) to marching bands, to candy throwing 4-H'ers, to tractors, all decked out for the event! More than 115 floats and other entries were a part of this year's kick-off event. It was really a great event for all involved, and I think many kids took home more candy than on Halloween!!

Farm-City Week began as a way to bring people from urban and rural life together to celebrate the hard work that farmers and folks in the agricultural community provide for our country. It is held the week of Thanksgiving to help get everyone in a mood to be thankful for all that we have, and maybe because this is the week where we eat A LOT of the hard work of farmers!

This year Richmond County 4-H was at the parade site to educate youth (and some brave adults) about agriculture and where some common products come from. Carolina the White Beveren rabbit made her debut appearance as an educational animal and Henrietta the chicken, who is a veteran teacher, was a little shy, but still showed her feathers for the crowd. Kids were also able to make a free Houseplant Scare Crow, almost guaranteed to keep away spiders, flies and house cats! The craft materials were provided free of charge due to a generous gift from Richmond County Farm Bureau!! THANKS!!!

To check out pictures from the parade and the 4-H booth, CLICK HERE!!

Science Adventures Helps Youth Understand Nature & Teamwork!

We had another great, if hectic, year of 4-H Science Adventures at Millstone 4-H Camp. Around 600 Richmond County 5th graders recently spent a day at camp learning about science and teamwork. The program is geared towards giving teachers and students a day of learning about natural resources and the environment in the natural beauty and fun setting of Millstone 4-H Camp!

The program was successful again this year with 96% of teachers surveyed finding that the project was a useful addition in helping their class meet requirements set by the NC Department of Public Instruction Standard Course of Study. Also, 93% of reporting teachers noticed an improvement in class participation and student attitudes.

Thanks to all the volunteer instructors who give their valuable time to participate in this event. They include: Richmond County Beekeepers Marv Powell and David Auman, Victoria Hudson of the Richmond County Health Department, Morrow Mountain State Park Staff, Ben Cooper of Richmond County Soil & Water Conservation, Scotland County Soil & Water Conservation, Pee Dee Wildlife Refuge Staff, William Terry and Ben Shutt of Millstone 4-H Camp, Weymouth Woods State Park Staff, Sandhills Research Station staff members Mark Thompson and Jeremy Martin, Alan Clark of the NC Forest Service, Paige Burns and Tiffanee Conrad-Acuña of Richmond County Cooperative Extension, and Lauren Irby of Chatham County Cooperative Extension.

Thanks to the teachers and school administrators who give up time in the classrooms to allow this program to reach their students. Finally, thanks to the students who give their attention and a willing to participate in this program. We look forward to hosting the program again in 2009. Richmond County 4-H is proud to be supported by the United Way of Richmond County, as well as the wonderful citizens of the county! For more information about joining or volunteering with 4-H, please contact Michelle Stumbo at michelle_stumbo@ncsu.edu, or 997-8255!


Nature at work! We found this little lizard hunting the fly on a sign at the NC Zoo! 4-H'ers learned about Predator/Prey relationships like this one at 4-H Science Adventures!!