Friday, Feb. 3, was a special day for a special lady. Long-time Barton County Extension home economist Mae Weaver celebrated her 90th birthday. Thousands of county residents have been touched by this lady at some point in their lives. As an advisor to the Homemaker Units, Mae brought a wide variety of educational programs to help families improve their quality of life. Mae especially liked researching topics related to history or cultural arts and then putting a slide set together to share with audiences across the county. When Mae retired in 1984 there were 36 EHU units with a membership of nearly 600 people. If you were a member of one of those units, Mae probably affectionately called you “kid” no matter what age you were.
Mae has persevered through health issues and the effects of macular degeneration. Her positive and upbeat attitude is contagious. A nice group of Mae’s friends from the many clubs she still belongs to were on hand Friday to wish her well. If you were unable to attend the festivities I’m sure she would still enjoy hearing from you. Mae and her husband, Bob, reside at Riverbend Assisted Living facility, 3820 Broadway, in Great Bend.
I still open up a file cabinet drawer to find information related to clothing or housing that include notes in Mae’s handwriting. While many of the materials have moved from the active files to the historical ones, I know that Mae enjoyed gathering and sharing information with her friends. Happy Birthday Mae!
Dates to mark
I want to share the start date for an upcoming program. The Kansans Optimizing Health Program (KOHP) is a six week class set to begin Thursday, March 1.  This workshop targets anyone who may be dealing with or providing care for someone with a chronic condition.  Feel free to give me a call if you have questions about this worthwhile program I will share more information about it in my column next week.
Donna Krug is the family and consumer science agent with K-State Research and Extension – Barton County. You may reach her at 620-793-1910 or dkrug@ksu.edu.