January 2008
IN CHRISTIAN COUNTY
In Christian County we’re growing ideas that make a difference in your life, your family, and your community. We
have a dedicated staff of trained professionals delivering educational programs in agriculture and natural resources,
family and consumer sciences, 4-H/youth development, and community and economic development. The Christian
County Cooperative Extension Office is your connection to UK and the world.
You’ll see some key numbers in this report. But the numbers don’t show you the people or the impact of our work.
So the rest of this report shows the faces behind some of the numbers.
FAMILY & CONSUMER SCIENES
Money Sense for Women
Financial stability is a goal
most people strive to reach but
don’t always know how to do
it. As women become more
independent in our society,
they sometimes find themselves
needing tools to gain financial
independence. To help women gain those levels the
Christian County Extension Office partnered with
several businesses, organizations, and individuals in
the community to offer a financial seminar entitled,
“Money Sense for Women”. This seminar offered
sessions on “Saving and Investing on a Shoestring”;
“Establishing and Maintaining Good Credit”;
“Banking 101”; Living a Debt Free Life”; “Starting
Your Own Business”; and “Protecting Your Purse –
Identity Theft Protection”. There were 130 women
who participated in the seminar. Sixteen percent of
those attending were 18-32 years old, 82% we are 3562, and 12% were over 62. This showed us that the
topics were of interest to all ages. A survey passed
out the day of the seminar showed that: 99% of the
participants gained knowledge about saving and
investing on a shoestring and 60% plan to either save
more or to invest some money.
Healthy Foods to Go: How to Eat Healthy When
Eating Out
Some health experts believe the increased frequency
of eating out may have a role in the increase in
obesity in the US. Foods eaten away from home tend
to be higher in fat, saturated fat,
calories and sodium and lower in
fiber, calcium and iron than
home-prepared foods. Since
Americans are not going to stop
eating out, we need to learn to eat
more sensibly when we do. In an effort to help
people make better choices when eating out, the
Christian County Homemakers offered workshops on
“Healthy Foods to Go: How to Eat Healthy When
Eating Out”. 107 people attended the workshops and
then taught the information they learned to
approximately 1,166 others. Several months
following the workshop, 92% of the participants
reported selecting healthier and/or less calorie foods
when eating out.
Get Moving Kentucky
In an effort to promote better
health throughout the county,
the Christian County Extension
Service teamed up with the
Health Department, as well as Todd and Trigg
Counties, to offer “Get Moving Kentucky” for the
fifth year in a row.
www.christiancountyextension.com
Participants were encouraged to start or increase their
exercise program for at least eight weeks.
Participants kept a log of their progress.
At the end of the eight weeks, 225 people
documented 477,001 minutes of physical activity.
Eighty-one percent of the participants increased their
level of physical activity and 48% lost weight or
reported a health gain such a lowering cholesterol,
blood pressure or blood glucose.
poisonings) in a variety of situations. Five hundred
4th grade students from seven schools were given
instruction in six safety areas over a two hour period.
The different instructional areas were taught by
Extension Service Staff, the Hopkinsville Fire
Department, the Christian County Health
Department, Hopkinsville Electric System and Air
Evac. The teachers reported that the program was an
important asset in preparing students for CATS tests.
Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program
The Expanded Food and
Nutrition Program (EFNEP)
Assistant works one-on-one or
in small groups with limited
resource families to help
improve their diets and health.
Nutrition, food preparation, meal planning, and food
shopping skills (including reading labels and price
comparison) are taught to participants. The EFNEP
program assistant has worked with 73 limited
resource families (meeting once a month for 6-12
months) and 4,154 youth. She works with the
families at the Housing Authority, Sanctuary House
and those families working on their GED’s.
Faye Vyhnal, 4-H Program Assistant, has worked
with several after-school groups to implement 4-H
Clubs for local youth.
After sporadic leadership
at the Boys & Girls Club,
Faye was able to get the
club going again and
recruited a parent volunteer
leader, Rhonda Blane.
Rhonda will be meeting
twice a month with the Boys & Girls 4-H Club
members. Members have already made a trip to
Christian Way Farms this fall, and have started a
group project, Computer Mysteries. They are in the
process of choosing a community service project at
this time.
Lou’s Academy has two after-school clubs. Lou’s
Cloverbuds is for the under nine years old, and Lou’s
Clever Clovers for the nine and over age group.
Meeting each week at the day care facility, club
members have been active in gardening projects in
2007. This past July club members had twenty-five
horticulture entries at the Western Kentucky State
Fair, and six food entries.
In addition to the Boys
& Girls 4-H Club and
Lou’s Academy clubs,
Faye has started a club
with the children at
Christian County
Sanctuary with seven
enrolled members. The name of this club is
American 4-H’ers Club. The current project, Super
Star Chef, involves all aspects of developing cooking
skills. Youth are learning proper nutrition, measuring
correctly, reading recipes, becoming skilled at using
knives, and meal planning. The club goal will be to
prepare and serve a complete meal to their parents
next spring.
4-H YOUTH DEVELOPMENT
In an effort to help elementary school children learn
safety practices, the Christian County Cooperative
Extension Service organized a safety education day,
entitled Safe Kids All Day Everyday. In response to
teacher surveys, the event was designed around the
Practical Living Skills of the Kentucky Core Content
for 4th grade students. The core content showed that
students needed to learn the different Safety and
Health Agencies in the community and the
importance of using safety equipment such as
helmets for ATV’s, bicycles and life jackets.
Students learned safety
practices and
procedures to prevent
injuries and provide a
safe environment. They
learned students would
be able to identify and
explain ways to prevent injuries at home and at
school (e.g., seat belts, helmets, knee pads, falls, and
www.christiancountyextension.com
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Gardener. During this 2006/2007 program year
Master Gardeners have volunteered:
208 hours of service to youth education of
natural sciences;
171 hours of service providing advice and
horticulture publications to the public;
326 hours of service in planting and
maintaining demonstration gardens.
Where Food Comes From
Each year the Christian County 4-H Teens and
Livestock Club have hosted a farm tour for first
graders. In a team effort with the Livestock Club,
Step Up to Leadership
Clubs, Food Stamp
Nutrition, 4-H
Ambassadors, Boy
Scout Troup 666, and
the Food Production
and Catering Class at
Hopkinsville High
School, 4-H Farm Day was expanded to show the
643 students and their teachers where their food
comes from. When they arrived at the farm each
class was given a market basket where they “helped”
the different farm workers, who were 41 4-H teens,
gather the farm crops and products. Besides getting to
see a beef calf, dairy cow, pigs, goats, chickens, a
horse, sheep and sheep shearing the first graders were
able to experience several new farm “chores”. They
were able to “milk” a cow, and pick apples from trees
which were made by a 4-H member with help from
his scout troop and his livestock club. They gathered
eggs from a nest, collected wool, gathered
vegetables, “dug” potatoes, ground corn into
cornmeal and wheat into flour. They took all their
farm products to the market where they learned what
the farm products became in the food and fiber chain.
They had a nutrition lesson and churned cream into
butter. They finished the day by eating the butter with
a taste of honey on a biscuit or cornmeal muffin
which were made by a high school food production
and catering class. The milk was donated by a
Goldenrod milk processing plant. Each student also
received a coloring book that was especially designed
to reemphasize what they had seen at 4-H Farm Day.
Master Gardener
working with the
Children’s Vegetable
Garden at Jeffers Bend
A total of 807 hours of volunteer service has been
reported from 24 volunteers, a value of over $14,500
to Christian County. Additionally, these volunteer
attained over 1,700 public contacts.
Improving Profits by Improving the Water
High-quality greenhouse crops can be produced only
by using high-quality irrigation water. The chemical
constituents of irrigation water can affect plant
growth directly through toxicity or deficiency, or
indirectly by altering plant availability of nutrients.
To help greenhouse crop producers learn to evaluate
and adjust irrigation water a Greenhouse Production
meeting was held to address this issue.
A total of 14 producers attend the seminar and were
asked to complete a survey to indicate what they
learned about adjusting and evaluating their
greenhouse water. The results of the survey indicated
that 58% of participants increased their knowledge by
1 level and 21% increased knowledge by 2 levels. A
knowledgeable interpretation of water tests allows
growers to correct water quality problems and/or
choose fertilizers and irrigation techniques to avoid
crop damage thus increasing greenhouse profits.
HORTICULTURE
Master Gardener Volunteer Service
Master Gardeners is a program run by the University
of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service to train
citizens in many areas of horticulture. Upon
completion of the Master Gardener education
program, participants are expected to return 30 hours
of community volunteer service through organized
projects within one year to earn the title Master
Master Gardener
landscape project
at the Memorial
Building.
www.christiancountyextension.com
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A Better Environment through Better Plants
In order to reduce the amount of pesticides used in
home landscapes, consumer must learn alternative
methods of pest control. Proper selection of plant
material is one way to prevent pest problems. Proper
maintenance of plants can also decrease pest
problems and reduce the number of applications
needed to control a pest. Therefore, the Christian
County Extension Office sought to improve the
knowledge levels of homeowners in regards of
available landscape materials by offering a seminar
on new woody ornamentals, perennials, and annuals
and their maintenance. A total of 40 homeowners
attend a three day course and were asked to complete
a survey. The results of the survey indicate:
80% learned that using disease resistant
cultivars of woody ornamentals can reduce
pesticide applications,
76% learned that properly preparing perennial
beds can reduce weed pests,
76% learned that over fertilizing can increase
pest problems.
When asked, 97% of participants said that this course
helped them choose the next tree, shrub or perennial
for their landscape.
AGRICULTURE &
NATURAL RESOURCES
The Christian County Agriculture Development
Council approved $475,000 dollars in grants and
cost-share programs for local farmers. Since its
inception, this group has administered over
$2,320,000 worth of improvements for local
agriculture.
During 2007, over 13,500 pounds of used pesticide
containers were collected in Christian County. The
Rinse and Return program, as it is known, is a service
provided to local farmers and agri-businesses which
gives them the opportunity to recycle empty pesticide
containers. Because the program is of no cost to
participants, it is considered both environmentally
friendly and economically feasible. Local savings of
this program totaled just over $32,000.00.
Hopkinsville is the host for the Pennyrile Area CPH
sale. The certified pre-conditioned for health sale
provides cattle producers the opportunity to sell
healthier, heavier calves in graded lots. This is an
alternative to selling un-weaned individual calves at a
discount. By going through the process of preconditioning, calves rate a greater overall
performance, plus receive a premium at sale time.
This year’s sales made producers a total of $243,000
gross over the regular market price.
Back Row, Left to Right:
Jay Stone, Patti Guess,
Kelly Jackson, &
Danny Steddum
Front Row, Left to Right:
Faye Vyhnal, Toni Riley,
Marsha Parker,
Stephanie Parker, &
Norma Taylor
Christian County Cooperative Extension Service
For more information, contact us at:
2850 Pembroke Road
Hopkinsville, KY 42240
(270) 886-6328
Fax: (270) 886-6320
Email: DL_CES_CHRISTIAN@EMAIL.UKY.EDU
County Extension Agents
County Extension Assistants
County Extension Staff
Kelly Jackson, Horticulture
Marsha Parker, Family & Consumer Sciences
Toni Riley, 4-H Youth Development
Jay Stone, Agriculture & Natural Resources
Harold Eli, KSU, Small Farm
Norma Taylor, EFNEP
Faye Vyhnal, 4-H Youth Development
Patti Guess, Support Staff
Stephanie Parker, Support Staff
Danny Steddum, Maintenance
www.christiancountyextension.com
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