As I clean out my office in preparation for the next Cottonwood Team member, I have found some treasures. Lists of program participants remind me of the many wonderful people in our communities that I have enjoyed meeting. While no two days as an Extension Educator are exactly alike, I hope that you know how important building relationships within the Cottonwood District has been to me. Today I’m going to share a couple of memories from my career that tested my quick thinking and positive attitude.

I found the attendance sheet for an “Interiors Update” program I organized several years ago. I had lined up several vendors and a main speaker and reserved the meeting room at the Great Bend Recreation Center. Excitement was in the air when the 70 participants arrived to learn about trends in home  decorating. A few minutes before the program was set to begin, the main speaker had not arrived. A phone call confirmed that the speaker had the wrong date on their calendar and was not coming. Yikes! What was I going to do? 

I had a quick huddle with the three ladies who had brought samples of their work to show and asked if each of them could share 10-15 minutes about their businesses related to interior decorating. Debbie Deutsch, Debbie Stevens, and Lisa Libeer, stepped up and did a wonderful job in the spur of the moment. In fact, as everyone was leaving, they commented that it was one of the best presentations they had ever been to. Whew! Everything worked out.

Another memory from 1999 that had a happy ending was related to the 4-H Chicken Barbecue at the Barton County Fair. The barbecue committee had really stepped up that year because we had a brand new 4-H Agent who was learning the ropes. The day of the barbecue, I was assisting with preparations, and I asked which refrigerator the coleslaw was in? We found out that the detail of ordering the coleslaw had not happened. 

The next hour or so, I made phone calls to all the places in Great Bend that had coleslaw on their menu to see how much of it we could purchase for our barbecue. The next step was to bring the Extension van to town to pick up the 2,500 servings of coleslaw I had tracked down. I don’t think anyone who enjoyed the traditional chicken barbecue later that day had any idea of the stress we had experienced related to the coleslaw. In fact, the next morning the first phone call at the office was from a lady wanting to know where we had gotten the coleslaw, because it was soooo good. I had to be honest and tell her I wasn’t sure which coleslaw she had gotten, because we had gotten it from four places! Again, everything worked out.

Now, as I begin the next chapter of my life, called retirement, I am excited to see what the future holds for K-State Research and Extension and the Cottonwood Extension District. I am happy to announce that Jay Harris has been named as the new Cottonwood District Director/Community Vitality Agent. 

Jay brings some knowledge about Extension to the table and is excited to begin his duties in early March. His primary office will be in Hays but he looks forward to building relationships within the Barton County communities as well. By mid-February a position announcement will open for a Family and Community Wellness agent in the Great Bend office. I trust that you will show Jay and the rest of the Cottonwood team the same support and active participation that you have shown me during my career. 

Thanks for the memories!

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.