Times Editor
About 70 area residents came together for a meal and educational opportunities at the first Farm/City luncheon, held at the Union County Agricultural Education building (which houses the UF/IFIS Extension Office).
For the past several years the event has been held as a dinner at the Hal Y. Maines Community Center at Lakeside Park. This year it was decided to change both the time and the location. It was thought that a lunch would be more accessible to persons wishing to attend.
The event was held on Nov. 19, the week before Thanksgiving, as has been the tradition. Many people have come to believe that the event is intended as a sort of community Thanksgiving celebration, but, according to UF/IFIS Extension Agent Luke Harlow, this is not the case.
“The purpose of this event is to increase the awareness and understanding between the producers (farmers) and the consumers,” Harlow said.
Lunch was catered by Brian Barton and sponsored by the Farm Bureau. Fried chicken, mashed potatoes and other delicious fare was served by 4-H and FFA members to the attendees, who included several county commissioners and other local officials.
In a change from previous years, there was no guest speaker. Instead, conversations between attendees and with the representatives of several organizations who had tables set up along three walls of the meeting room with information on their purpose, as well as numerous “party favors.”
Farm Credit, represented by John Hall, offered a table load of goodies for the delight of all ages, including measures for agricultural chemicals and stress relief squeezers in the shapes of farm a
animals.
Florida Forestry offered rulers and other items. The forestry representative was Holly Tucker, daughter of Union County Elementary School Principal Marcie Tucker and retired Union County Forester Jay Tucker.
Susan Harris was on hand, representing the Florida State Beekeeping Association. The association is the sponsor of a new state license plate that has been approved, pending the pre-sale of at least 3,000 tags before production begins. Person wishing to purchase the new “Save the Bees” tag can request one and receive a voucher through their county tax collector or register for one online.
On a more local note, Cecelia Young and Nancy Brewer were on
hand to inform attendees about the Union County Beekeepers Club, which holds monthly meetings (except in December) on the third Tuesday of each month, at the Ag Center.
Union County 4-H, UF-IFIS and Farm Bureau were also represented at the event.
Thanks go out to all of the organizations who participated in the event, all those who attended and the members of the Union County 4-H and the Union County High School FFA Chapter, who donated their time to work the event.
