Five years ago this month our Barton and Ellis County Extension boards took the first steps to create the Cottonwood Extension District. By June of 2017 we received official word that our operational agreement had been approved by the Attorney General’s office. Today more than half of the counties in Kansas are part of an Extension District. The district concept provides an opportunity for team members to specialize in certain subject matter areas and streamline some of the operations.
Today I want to share the most recent election results, which will bring some new faces to our eight-member Executive Board beginning in 2022. Newly elected to a four-year term in Ellis County are Donna Maskus and Kelsey Stremel. Receiving the most votes in Barton County were Lori Waters and Lexi Straub. These four individuals will be joining Kathie Rondeau, Dick Dougherty, Tatum Kimzey and Allen Roth as we look to provide relevant and impactful Extension programming in the year ahead.
I want to publicly thank the outgoing board members who really helped lay the groundwork as the Cottonwood District formed. There were extra committee meetings related to office policies and budget considerations. After all, we were taking two counties’ Extension programs and fine tuning them to create an Extension District that would meet the needs of you, the taxpayer. Deanna Essmiller and Natalie Fullerton, in Barton County and Nathan Leiker and Ramie Wasinger, from Ellis County, completed their 4-year terms. Each one of them had served additional years on their county boards before the Cottonwood District formed.
I am not sure of the combined number of years of volunteer service the four outgoing board members have, but it would be impressive. And that is what I appreciate so much about the Extension Education system in Kansas. We are known as a grassroots organization that places oversight of our Extension programming in the hands of those closest to us.
If you are reading this and would like to get involved with the Extension programming in the Cottonwood Extension District, please give me a call or send an e-mail. Shortly after the first of the year we will be adding members to our Program Development Committees in the four areas that Extension is involved with: Agriculture and Natural Resources, Family and Consumer Science, 4-H and Youth Development, and Community Development.
Don’t be shy. I look forward to your call!
Donna Krug is the Family & Consumer Science Agent with K-State Research and Extension – Cottonwood District. Contact her at 620-793-1910 or dkrug@ksu.edu.
