First Farm Friday educates community about agriculture industry
Gwendolyn Canady and Nora Canady enjoyed some Whit’s frozen custard at First Farm Friday on Aug. 2. Josie Sellers | Beacon
COSHOCTON – Gwendolyn Canady likes learning about new things and First Farm Friday was the perfect place for her to do that.
She and Nora Canady came to the Aug. 2 event with their grandparents Paul and Debbie Prater.
“They had such a good time last year that we wanted to make sure they didn’t miss it this year,” Debbie said.
Paul also enjoyed taking the girls to First Farm Friday, which was held on Main Street between Third and Fourth streets.
“This is really nice,” he said. “Coshocton really is a nice place to live.”
Nora said her favorite part of the event was seeing all the tractors. These key parts of any farm were joined by other types of farm machinery and several different animals straight from local farms that were on display on Main Street. There also was a kids’ pedal tractor course on Main Street and several vendors who were set up on the sides of the street. Kids received stamp cards to be signed by the vendors and once completed they received a free cup of Whit’s Frozen Custard.
“We had 21 vendors on the card plus there were several others who asked to be part of this,” said Deb Bigelow, district administrator of the Coshocton Soil and Water Conservation District. “That is a compliment that they wanted to do that.”
One of the groups that set up at the event was the Mohawk Valley 4-H Club, which 9-year-old Bella Crider belongs to. She brought two goats to share with attendees and was hoping to teach kids that not all goats are mean and that they have different uses.
Teresa Bradford helped Joe Lehman man the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service table, where children learned about the water cycle while making a bracelet.
“I just love to see children have the chance to be around farm machinery and animals,” Bradford said. “Some kids never get the chance to be out on a farm.”
Bigelow was grateful for all the volunteers who helped at First Farm Friday.
“We do this to bring the community together and help them learn about agriculture,” she said. “We couldn’t do this without all the volunteers who all come with their own ideas.”
Bigelow also was thankful for Whit’s, which donated a number of the custard cups and the Farm Bureau, which paid for the rest.
“The kids really enjoy that and they are learning something at every station,” she said.
Category: Arts & Entertainment, Multimedia, Photo Galleries
