Others who donated $1000.00 a year (many donors
contributed multiple times) had their names shown
inside. A giving tree displayed on the closet door
inside the Lab denotes the names of still more folks
who donated varying amounts to the Lab, as well as
the county Farm Bureaus and businesses who donated
directly to schools.
The Mobile Ag Lab could not have come to fruition
had it not been for the privilege to network with Jeanne
Mueller, Director of Elementary Education with
Maryland Agriculture Education Foundation. She was
a great inspiration to me and helped to get the Mobile
Lab up and running with her expertise in curriculum
choices, and experience with the “do’s and don’ts”
of moving the Lab. I also appreciated working with
Tanya Wible from the Pennsylvania Friends of Ag
Foundation; she was a wealth of information and help
to me as well.
Without our dedicated hauler, Steve Putnam and his
wife, Beverley, the Mobile Lab would not have moved
across the state. The route was oft times bumpy to say
the least, and like threading a camel through a needle’s
eye, but Steve succeeded in getting the Lab into every
requested location.
I must thank our wonderful teachers, both past and
present: Roianne Hackett, Anna Border Shepherd,
Jane Morgan, Doris Ann Taylor, Nancy McCord,
Jill Parker, Marilyn Tompa (and her volunteer sister,
Patsy), Donetta Sisler, Dawn Robinson, and Janet
McIntyre. Without them, the mission could not have
been fulfilled. I don’t have enough words to express
my thanks to them.
Thanks also to Eric Thomason and Betty Irvin
Payne who worked with the program, and to my
Assistant Coordinator, Mark Riggleman, who has
worked with me for the last two years. I appreciate
the role that each of these staff members played.
Thanks to Patty Sayre for keeping up with our
schedule; Brenda Snyder for making sure that the
invoices, hauler and teachers were paid expediently;
Joan Harman for providing a venue for publicity; Vera
Gillum for encouraging words and Crystal Squires for
helping to make supplies at the onset of the program.
Thanks, too, to Bill Aiken for promoting the Lab in
the counties.
L to R: President Charles Wilfong, Helen
Hardman, Secretary-Treasurer and Administrator
Steve Butler
It has been a pleasure to develop and work with
the program throughout the state and I have been
privileged to interact with many wonderful educators,
school personnel and students. Many thanks go to
the volunteers (parents, grandparents, neighbors, Farm
Bureau members, businesses) who gave their time to
work in the Lab.
Thanks to my husband, Terry for supporting,
encouraging and for sharing me for six years as I
trave