Lines to the Ladies
Pam Hessler, WVFB Women’s Leadership Committee Chair
For those of you who don’t
know much about me, I’ve
always been a gal who loves her
four seasons and believes there
are few states in this nation that
truly experience each of the
seasons and all the beauty that
comes with them. West Virginia is one of those special
states in which the beauty of each season is so prevalent.
So, yes, in general, I enjoy winter. But I will have to
say, I’m quite finished with this one. I remember hard
winters as a child and the joy of sled riding, building
snowmen, and snow caves, but well, at my age now,
I don’t do a lot of that anymore. I now worry about
getting to my off-the-farm job and not falling on the
snow and ice and breaking bones or putting my car in a
ditch. This has been an above average winter for both
below average temperatures (and at times down right
frigid) as well as snow, at least in the Eastern Panhandle.
At the time of this writing, we are seeing temperatures
going above freezing and could be close to 60 degrees
by the end of the week. Although I can’t wait for some
warmer weather, let’s hope it comes gradually so all the
piles and piles of snow stacked everywhere can slowly
absorb into our farm ground and not flood our state, as
has happened many times in our state’s history.
AG IN WEST VIRGINIA POSTER CONTEST
UPDATE : With all this winter, our kids and
grandkids have missed a lot of school, so it was
decided to extend the deadline for the Ag in West
Virginia poster contest from April 1st to May 1st.
Some of the schools were asking for this extension so
children have time to complete their posters. If you
are a county who has already collected your posters,
go ahead and judge and send your winning poster to
the state office; but for those who would have been
collecting and judging in late March to get the poster
to the state office by April 1st, please let your schools
know about the extension. You might see more posters
turned in with this extra time.
FOOD CHECK-OUT WEEK CHANGE: I know
by the time you are reading this edition, the February
shopping dates for the three Ronald McDonald Houses
18 West Virginia Farm Bureau News
will have passed, but we have another change and I
hope those affected were contacted of the change. The
Charleston shop date was moved from Friday, February
21 to Friday, April 11. Because of the weather and lack
of volunteers, coordinators felt the date needed changed.
I hope to have much to tell you next month about how
much we raised and delivered to both the Huntington
and Morgantown Houses.
Next year, a significant change will take place from
celebrating Food Check-Out during one week of the
year to year-round programs through Our Food Link.
The WV Women’s Leadership Committee will be
discussing this and changing when we shop and collect
for the RM Houses. With that said, it will be necessary
to communicate with the RM Houses about their
needs. They have been accustomed to our deliveries
of perishable and non-perishable food in February now
for over ten years and in most cases, their pantries and
freezers are really getting bare by the time we visit them,
so I think any change in our shop date will probably be
in March or early April. I will keep you updated on this
event in the future.
PHOTO CONTEST NEWS: The committee
was so pleased with the number of photos submitted
in the contest at the Annual Meeting in November
and we want to share these pictures with others who
don’t attend the annual meeting. The Women’s
Leadership Committee is asking you to have all your
photos not only matted, but to also have them put on
a CD wherever you get them developed. In fact, Joan
Harman, WVFB Director of Public Relations, may
want to use your “Rural Scene” photos for the front
of the WVFB News magazine. New for this year’s
contest, we will be asking that any photos include a
signed media release as well as include your WVFB
membership number. The reason behind asking for
your membership number is to be sure photos that
are submitted and perhaps chosen as a winner a from
a member in good standing. Contest rules and the
media release will be sent out to each of you very
soon and will also be available on our website in the
coming months.