Pettis County Extension Offers Wide Variety of Information

The 13th annual Pettis County Extension dinner and auction was held Saturday afternoon at Our Savior Lutheran Church, 3700 West Broadway, as a fund-raiser.

The theme was “Bee Engaged with Extension” tables were decorated with hexagonal-shaped creations resembling bee hives at the event, along with several "Bit-O-Honey" candies.

The dinner was accompanied by a silent auction, followed by a live auction conducted by Dick Hutchison. All items were donated.

Proceeds from the event will go to support all Pettis County Extension programs, according to Extension Council Board Member David Dick.

The programs offered through extension are a “work in progress” and vary from county to county, according to the wants and needs of its members.

“It’s more about the community members and gauging what the interests are, because we have access to a lot of things through the University of Missouri. So from time to time, those change, and we want to make sure we offer what the folks are needing,” he told KSIS.

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“A lot of folks don’t know that the University of Missouri is the only certified fireman’s school in the state. So if firemen are certified, they’ve gone though that school. That’s through the Extension Department,” he said.

“Extension touches everybody. They have information on everything. And if you go to the office at 1012-A Thompson Boulevard and they don’t have it laying right there in front of them, they will get it for you,” Dick promised. Call the office at 827-0591.

Not only do we have certain specialists who are based here, we have access in our west central region to at least 35 to 40 specialists for any given scenario,” Dick said. “They can put you together with groups that are already meeting, or you can get information you can access online through your computer or your phone – everything from bugs to what you want to eat to how many cows you can put on an acre.”

In fact, as an example, University of Missouri Extension will offer a webinar series on growing summer vegetables 6-8 p.m. on April 8, 10, 15 and 17 to help small farmers grow warm-season crops.

In the top photo: Israel Baeza and Fred Binder serve meats to hungry supporters of Pettis County Extension last Saturday afternoon at Our Savior Lutheran Church, 3700 West Broadway.