August 2023
Family & Consumer Sciences—-Joy Powell, Agent & County Director
The Wayne County Ag Center Ribbon Cutting/Grand Opening has been scheduled by Jim Mangubat, County Executive, and Christine Chapman, Chamber Director. The Grand Opening is set for November 20th at 1 pm. We look forward to seeing you all that day.
The FCS program offers various educational opportunities in the fields of the following: Family Economics, Health and Safety, Human Development, and Nutrition. If you or anyone you know is interested in becoming a member of one of our FCE Clubs located throughout the county, please contact the Extension Office at 722-3229. UT-TSU Extension provide equal opportunities in programs.
The next county wide FCE is planned for September 27. It will be at the Wayne County Ag Center at 10:00 am. The county Council will be at 9:30 am. Our FCE Clubs are going strong with monthly meetings and their own projects for their individual clubs. Ladies, I will be sending out a letter soon with a date and time for our next FCE trip planned for the Lawrence Co. Fair in late September. We will plan to go up on the Senior Citizens Day to explore the exhibits and, of course, eat some fair food.
I continue to work with the local Senior Citizens Centers offering nutrition and physical activity programs throughout the year. Waynesboro and Collinwood Senior Centers have a great and growing attendance along with countless fellowship on a daily basis. I have started back working with Boyd Cottages offering weekly exercise classes.
I continue to offer Co-Parenting classes when needed, as well as, Homebuyer Education for clients who qualify for the program.
Agriculture & Natural Resources- Audra Flippo, Agent
Hello, I am Audra Flippo the new ANR agent for Wayne County. I am a native of Wayne County. I graduated from Wayne County High School and the University of Tennessee with a BS in Agriculture and Extension Education. I have experience in forestry and swine production. Most recently, I was the Agriculture teacher at WCHS.
My husband and I live on a farm in Perry County (at the edge of Wayne County) where we raise quarter horses and crossbred beef cattle. We sometimes raise hair sheep and pigs. We also enjoy beekeeping, camping, and trail riding with our horses. I look forward to meeting and working with everyone in Wayne County.
Upcoming Classes and Events
BQA (Beef Quality Assurance) Training –We cannot offer BQA during the two day Master Beef Producer course due to time constraints; therefore we have scheduled several different dates and times for BQA training. Call to register for the date and time that best fits your schedule.
Sept. 7 at 6 pm Sept. 12 at 9 am Sept. 12 at 6 pm.
Master Beef Producer—We will offer the Tennessee Master Beef Producer Course on Nov. 10 and Nov. 11. The course will be held on Friday, November 10 beginning at 5:30 pm until 8 pm and all day on Saturday, November 11 beginning at 9:00 am and concluding around 3 pm. Pre-registration and payment of $100 course fee is required. Deadline to register for Master Beef is Oct. 27. UT-TSU Extension provide equal opportunities in programs.
Wayne County Extension will be hosting the fall Lawrence/Wayne Cattlemen’s Association Meeting at the Ag Center on October 7, beginning at 9 am and concluding at noon with lunch. The topic for the meeting will be reproduction. Guest speaker will be UT Extension Beef Specialist, Saulo Zoca. Please call Anita to register for the meeting by Oct. 2.
4-H -Youth Development – Samantha Morrow, TSU Agent
It was a very exciting summer with lots of fun classes at our new Extension Office! We hosted cake decorating classes, sewing classes, 4-H Chefs cooking classes, and arts and crafts classes. I’m currently looking for volunteers to help with possible project groups for cooking/grilling, sewing, and arts and crafts. If you or someone you know is interested in volunteering with the 4-H to help lead these project groups, please contact me at the Extension Office at 722-3229.
We are wrapping up practices for the 4-H Grill Master Competition to be held in Jackson on Sept. 9. The participants have been learning how to safely use a charcoal grill to prepare a delicious product. The teams consist of 4 people, each preparing a different species of meat – lamb, pork, poultry, or beef.
The 4-H Honor Club, is open to any student in 6th-12th grade, will meet again on Sept. 11th at 4 P.M. at the Extension Office. If your student is interested in participating, please contact Mrs. Brenda or me to be added to the group chat on Facebook to receive reminders of meeting dates and times.
The 4-H Home School Group will meet for enrollment on Sept. 19th at 10 A.M. at the Extension Office. This meeting will be open to all home school students in grades 4-12.
The 4-H Chef’s classes continue on Sept. 19 and are open to students in 4th-12th grade. We will be making homemade bread, strawberry butter, and cinnamon honey butter. There are limited spots available for the class, so please register to secure your student’s spot – fee must be paid upon registration.
At the Ham and Chick Chain Show and Sale event, we will host a Fall Exhibit Show where youth can enter projects that they have made into the show. The categories include items in crafts, sewing and photography. One entry form per item. Visit https://tiny.utk.edu/WayneExhibit2023 to download a copy of the exhibit class list and an entry form.
4-H Youth Development – Brenda Mills, UT Agent
School has started and we have some amazing things planned! We will get 4-H underway in schools the second week of September. Meeting with new students, classrooms, and teachers is always fun!
We are kicking off Shooting Sports on Monday, Sept. 11th @ 6 pm at the Extension Office.
We started a new project in April to showcase this year in conjunction with the Chick Chain Show and Sale. We have four students participating in the Country Ham and Bacon Project. Mr. Jeff Letson, Hitman Smoked Products in Clifton, helps teach and houses our hams. Waynesboro Piggly Wiggly helped us obtain four raw hams to cure. The show and auction of our projects is on Sept. 30th. The kids have been able learn the process, kept a record book, an expense sheet, and will give a speech at the contest. We hope everyone can attend to help support both the Chick Chain and Ham Projects.
Livestock Judging practices will start in September. I am working to get volunteers to help build livestock classes that students can actually see at practices. The contest will be held on November 2nd @ 1PM.
Monthly Horse Club meetings start in September.
The B.I.G. Idea Workshop and Business Pitch Competition: Open to 9th-12th graders in the Western Region. There will be two days of workshops on Business planning, networking, and marketing. The final competition will be November 11th at the Western Region Office in Jackson. They will be competing for Grand Prize money to start their own business. It can be anything! Call me for more information.