Clinton County • 2019

Active Learning is Fun

Building a More Active Community

Citizens in Clinton County suffer from alarmingly high rates of child and adult obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. Since 2015, Clinton County Extension has capitalized on resources and technical assistance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Funding from the CDC resulted in the installation of a 10 station fit trail at the local park as well as an outdoor water fountain, safety fencing, early childhood playground equipment, and enhancements to the baseball and softball fields. A connector path was developed to support the joint use agreement between the middle school and park. Disc golf, gaga ball pits, and climbing caves were installed throughout the school district. An outdoor playground was developed for children to provide additional youth physical activity options at the Twin Lakes Family Wellness Center while parents were working out and attending exercise programs. Educational programs have been offered to increases awareness of the new equipment and opportunities. Over $150,000 in additional federal and state funding was secured for additional work and planning related to improved health and community change.

For More Information, Please Contact us at: Clinton County Extension Office • (606) 387-5404 • https://clinton.ca.uky.edu

2601 Business Hwy 127 North, Albany, KY 42602

Farm Safety Day

The Clinton County Cooperative Extension

service partnered with the local Farm Bureau

Board of Directors and the FFA Chapter to

host a Farm Safety Day at Bluegrass

Stockyards of Albany. The Farm Safety Day

consisted of the roll-over tractor simulator

and grain bin rescue demonstration from the

Kentucky Department of Agriculture,

chainsaw safety demonstration from the

Kentucky Department of Forestry, Clinton

County 4-H ATV safety demonstration, Home

and Consumer Safety lesson from the UK

Nutrition Education Program , and a livestock

handling safety demonstration provided by

the Kentucky Beef Network.

273 fifth and sixth grade students had the opportunity to visit each station during the morning safety session. FFA students assisted at each station, presenting information on safe practices around livestock, tractors, ATV’s, and grain bins. The afternoon session was open to the public to visit each demonstration area. Participants surveyed said they valued the opportunity to see the demonstrations first hand. They felt more aware of safety measures well as knowing what to do in situations such as a grain bin entrapment.

Pumpkin Walk

Simple physical activity for families that doesn’t feel like strenuous exercise can be the starting place for the development of healthier lifestyle choices. The Clinton County Extension Office organized a Pumpkin Walk to create an awareness of physical activity opportunities available in the community and to encourage families to get outside and get moving. The event encouraged families to participate in activities at four adjacent community agencies while walking from one agency to another. Families were able to bounce on inflatables and access the new playground and swimming pool at the Wellness Center as they completed their loop.

Families participated in simple fun activities together as they visited community resource booths. 518 individuals including participated in the inaugural event. Parents appreciated the idea of walking and talking together and learning ways to incorporate physical activity at home. A parent commented “We need to do stuff like this. Getting out and walking and doing stuff together as a family. It’s good for us and the kids. I haven’t been to anything like this before and hope you all plan more”.

Tailgating Safety & Fun

The Clinton County 4-H Adventure Club provided a safe tail gating opportunity for Clinton County students before the Bulldogs home football games this season. The Adventure Club leader provided games like football throws, frisbee toss and corn hole bag toss. The club offered free food as well. 165 youth and adults to participated in these safe

Family Fun at the Pumpkin Walk

KDA Tractor Roll-over Simulation

alternative positive youth development opportunities.

By initiating this activity, members of the 4-H Adventure Club displayed school spirit, modeled leadership and responsibility, engaged the community, and recruited new members to the Adventure Club.

Beef Farm Field Day

The Clinton County Extension Service partnered with the Twin Lakes Cattle Association to hold a Beef Farm Field Day in July 2018. Clinton County is home to around 10,000 head of beef cattle making cow/calf production a vital part of the Ag economy. Beef producers rely on grazing multiple forages to supply nutrition to the cows and calves. Tall fescue is the predominant forage for beef cattle, however growth will slow and the grass will go dormant in the heat of the summer. Producers are continually searching for a forage to fill the summer slump of fescue, summer annual forages such as sudan-grass, sorghum/sudan or millet are generally used for this purpose. Recently some improved varieties of large crabgrass has shown some promise to fill the summer gap left by tall fescue. Large Crabgrass is a summer annual grass, but when allowed to go to seed in the fall can be managed as a perennial. A demonstration on two different large crabgrass varieties was conducted on the farm where the field day was held. Clinton County Extension Ag Agent Colby Guffey, summer intern Kayla Shelton and cooperating producer Steve Peddicord, sowed the two varieties of crabgrass in mid-May.

Samples were taken from each variety and analyzed for quality. The results were presented at the field day in July by Extension summer intern Kayla Shelton. Producers were also able to see the accumulated summer growth of the crabgrass compared to the dormant tall fescue. Other topics and demonstrations during the field day were, high tensile fence options and spring water pipe and tank installation for cattle water. About 75 cattle producers from the area attended the field day.

Community Baby Shower The Clinton County Cooperative Extension Service sponsored a Community Baby Shower for 63 pregnant women and parents of infants up to age three months in partnership with the Clinton County Community Early Childhood Council. The goal of the Community Baby Shower was to provide information to families on child health and developmental needs as well as connecting families to appropriate services. Participants visited resource booths and participated in educational sessions led by various community partners on topics such as Pediatric Abusive Head Trauma & Safe Sleep, Car Seat Safety, and Basic CPR.

Participants noted they intended to implement practices such as proper placement of car seat clip over chest; not putting anything in the crib/bassinet with their baby; and using identification tags to put on car seat. As parents become more aware of how they can help their children grow in every way “from the start”, a higher number of children will be school ready by age five.

Tailgating gets you moving!

Beef Farm Field Day Education Session

4-H Summer Camp

Many local parents would say that when it comes to providing your child with a life-changing experience, there’s nothing quite like 4-H Camp. Camp provides the complete 4-H experience coupled with the fun and wonder of camping. 4-H Camp is always an important part of summer for many children in Clinton County. Our county has a rich history at camp and summer 2018 was a record year with 112 youth and adults participating. That’s more than double the expectation for a county our size. To say we like to camp is an understatement!

Campers indicated that they enjoyed making new friends and trying things that they have never done before like canoeing and ziplining. The life skills, team work, friendships, and personal responsibility gained at camp are often hard to measure on a scale. Campers are excited to return home and share their experiences with others and as a result our numbers keep growing each year.

“I appreciate the opportunity to be a Teen Leader at Lake Cumberland 4-H

Camp. The responsibility was more than I could have ever imagined. The bond that I created with the campers

was awesome. I've grown so much as a leader and I appreciate the

opportunity to give back to my county. I love 4-H!

Molly, Teen Leader

211 Number of producers who incorporated using best practices recommended by Extension

209 Number of Extension empowered individuals engaged in existing coalitions or organizations to address a significant community issue

669 Number of youth who apply the skills learned in 4-H and in other activities at home, school, or in the community

97 Number of producers utilizing UK diagnostic service for weed ID and control

1041 Number of people who demonstrated spending time in physical activity

731 Number of individuals who reported eating more healthy foods

676 Number of youth who indicate they can take responsibility for their actions

3618 Number of people reporting improved lifestyles through a focus on proper nutrition, disease and injury reduction and comprehensive health maintenance

33 Number of producers adopting one or more best management practices for optimum forage establishment for pasture or hay

111 Number of youth who participated in summer residential camps

94 Number of those who gained knowledge related to financial management

Extension At a Glance

4-H Summer Camp