Judy Egolf, left, and Lauren Klusman, right, accepted the All Star awards on behalf of Sue Martin and Barry Ostrom. Photos by Deb Patterson.

By Deb Patterson
InkFreeNews

WARSAW — Maple Leaf Duck, Creighton Brothers, Barry Ostrom, Sue Martin and Carolyn Frank all have one thing in common. They were all recognized as the 2021 Kosciusko County Extension All Stars at the 2022 Annual Extension Meeting Monday, March 7.

The keynote speaker for the evening was Stephanie Overbey, Kosciusko County Community Foundation CEO. Additionally, the evening included a review by the county extension educators.

Beth Lamb and Amy Irwin, extension board members, presented the award noting the businesses and individuals are valued as leaders within Kosciusko Extension.

Maple Leaf Duck has provided ducks for 4-H’ers, opened their test kitchen and served as a tour host for the 2019 National Association of County Agriculture Agents. They have joined extension for 23 years in educating and promoting animal agriculture in Ag Day and Taste of Ag. During COVID, Maple Leaf provided videos for fourth graders throughout the county.

Stephanie Overbey, CEO of the Kosciusko County Community Foundation, was the keynote speaker at the annual Kosciusko Purdue Extension Annual Meeting Monday, March 7.

Lamb stated if the 4-H Poultry Barn’s breakfast was enjoyed, or a 4-H’er received a 4-H Foundation Scholarship, Creighton Brothers were responsible. During Ag Day they provide baby chicks for fourth graders to hold. The company is a charter participant and sponsor of Ag Day and Taste of Ag.

Ostrom was president of the Kosciusko County 4-H Council when COVID hit. Ostrom led, guided and directed the 4-H Council through the detailed process of a limited, in-person general project and 4-H Livestock judging event, while other counties collapsed during the barrage of protocols. He continues to serve extension as the co-treasurer of the 4-H council.

Martin started with the Elkhart County Extension Homemakers in the early 1980s and held various local, county and district positions. Following the death of her husband, she allowed her extension homemakers membership to lapse. She met Louise Nichols in 2014 at the Kosciusko County Fair who invited her to visit the Knitting Together Club. Martin joined the club and served as its club president, became county vice president, incoming president and now county president. She has served Kosciusko and Elkhart counties in different capacities for about 25 years.

Frank has been a 4-H volunteer for 19 years. She was a 10-year 4-H member with the dog project as her primary project. She watched her mom judge dog shows and discussed the shows on the way home, leaving a big impression. As a result, Frank started judging dog shows while still in 4-H and hasn’t stopped. She led the Kosciusko 4-H dog project in 2021 to allow 4-H’ers to participate. Without her time and dedication there would not have been a dog project.

Foundation Overview

Overbey presented a 15-minute overview of the community foundation. She touched on the mission, history, leadership, grant making, endowments and special initiatives. Regarding the special initiatives, she noted a crossover between the foundation and extension. She provided statistics, which included the foundation’s $75.5 million in assets and their annual grant making total of $6.3 million. The grant breakdown included faith-based, scholarship, educational, human services, health, arts and culture, recreation, civic and environmental.

While there are four pillars in the special initiatives, Overbey touched on child care and housing. Regarding child care, she noted affordability is among the problems and there are child care scholarships available. Regarding housing, a study has provided a market analysis.

Forward Kosciusko County was also noted, providing a comprehensive plan. The 11 participating communities are now in a position to be eligible for state and federal funding.

During her presentation, Overbey showed some of the agriculture-related funds available, presenting information on just one of the endowments where investments on five gifts totalling $45,956 has resulted in 47 grants totaling $42,325 without touching the principal.

Educator’s Update

Jackie Franks, county extension director and health and human services educator, highlighted her participation in the Jail Chemical Addiction Program with 39 inmates taking part in the areas of Be Heart Smart, ServSafe Food Handler, ServSafe Manager, INWork: Skills for tomorrow’s workforce and nutrition lessons. She also touched on the Be Heart Smart, Dining with Diabetes, nutrition classes, Get WalkIN’, a virtual scavenger hunt and more. During the year there were 122 educational sessions, 145 learning hours and 2,724 participants.

Andrew Ferrell, 4-H youth development educator, highlighted his 10-month time with extension. His goal is to change the mindset that 4-H is about the fair and livestock. Ferrell and Tammy Boggs, 4-H staff member and STEM program assistant, have begun to work toward this goal by providing programs or youth outside the traditional view of 4-H. He touched on programming focused on robotics, coding, plant science, electricity, energy alternatives, photography and 3-D printing in area schools, Warsaw library, Baker Youth Club and YMCA. The 3,000 educational contacts through 85 programs have increased the traditional 4-H enrollment by 8%. There are 17 clubs across the county, 541 4-H members, 120 mini 4-H’ers and 237 adult volunteers.

Emily Luc, assistant agriculture and natural resources educator, is a grant logistics coordinator for the grant between the state department of agriculture, state rural health association and Purdue University Extension. She talked about mental health in rural farming and ranching, public promotion of stress reduction and mental health wellness with farmers, farm families and agribusiness persons and the implementation of training to educate call center personnel on mental health in rural communities and farm families.

Information on Annie’s Project and Women in Ag/Young Ladies in Ag, master gardeners and Munch & Learn programs were also presented by Luc.

Judy Egolf presented information about the Extension Homemakers program.