A household legacy crops family-friendly, enjoyable agricultural classes on the honest – BG Independent News

By JULIE CARLE

BG Independent News

Kerrigan and Mason Skowron pushed the pedals on miniature battery-operated tractors and took off to find the enjoyable and classes of Farm to Market on the Wood County Fair.

The instructional exercise, disguised as a enjoyable journey, teaches youngsters between the ages of three and eight about the place their meals comes from and the significance of agriculture in Wood County and Ohio.

The new exercise, created by Wood County Fair Board Director Deanne Corken and her household, was designed primarily based on the same exhibit she had seen at a good in Elkhart, Indiana.

Though a number of the stops alongside the trail are totally different from the Indiana honest, Corken stated, youngsters begin down the trail on a small tractor with a wagon. Their job is to choose produce, comparable to carrots, onions, potatoes, milk and apples, and place them in a basket.

Along the way in which, they drive by way of a small grain bin the place there are some agriculture details and crop seeds to determine. As they proceed, there are some hungry faux animals they feed.

Once the crops are all gathered, the little farmers promote the crops on the farmer’s market the place they obtain “farm bucks” for his or her items. The farm cash is used to purchase one in all 12 crop-based treats in a bit of retailer. Each deal with has a hand-written label explaining what crops have been used to make the meals.

The final cease is a visit by way of the tractor wash, a giggle-producing bubble machine, and infrequently one of many favourite recollections.

“Farm to Market is designed to show the whole process of farming, from raising products, whether it’s crops or animal products, to harvesting them, taking them to market, selling them to make a profit and then using the money for something that they need,” Corken stated.

Many youngsters aren’t round agriculture to know the way it works, although it’s the state’s primary trade.

“They see the end product, but they don’t know where it comes from, how it gets there and the work it takes to get the food to that point,” she stated.

A household’s labor of affection

When Corken noticed the concept on the Elkhart honest two years in the past, “It was so impressive, I knew we needed to do this at our fair,” she stated.

The planning course of was delayed two years when Corken was sidelined from an harm and have become more and more concerned in planning the honest’s 150^th celebration.

A second journey to Elkhart satisfied her, she wanted to deliver the idea to Wood County, however she didn’t know learn how to get the gargantuan process carried out.

“I didn’t want to ask the fair board to take on more things or put any more into it,” she stated. One day she was exterior swinging and considered creating Farm to Market as a household legacy.

The honest meant a lot to her dad and mom, Darrell and Ruth Ann Hentges, and grandparents, Lawrence and Helen Brinker, and O.C. and Lena Hentges.

Long-time farmers and sheep producers, they instilled of their youngsters and grandchildren the love of the honest, agriculture and elevating and displaying sheep. Now, there’s a fifth era to proceed the household’s farm and honest custom.

Corken, who has solely missed in the future on the honest throughout her lifetime, is an ideal instance of the household’s connection and dedication to the honest.

“This was like our vacation. We always showed sheep, and they did well, but it was never about winning,” she stated. “The fair was about friends and family.”

Both sides of the household confirmed sheep, so that they have been associated to everybody within the sheep barn. When she was very younger, her dad and mom put an indication on her that stated “If I was lost, send me to the sheep barn because someone would know me there,” Corken laughed.

The classes and experiences have been lovingly handed down from grandparents, dad and mom, their youngsters and now to a fifth era.

“What better way to honor them and their legacy than to create this?” she stated. When it involves the love of their grandparents, the household was all in.

“A lot of people at the fair still remember my parents and grandparents,” she stated, however the signage contains their names and footage to make sure the kids and households who don’t know them get a way of the household’s legacy on the farm. “That was important to me,” she added.

She knew it might take greater than household to create it

Community got here to the desk

The plan to have the exhibit prepared by the 2025 honest was bold, however Corken and her household have been decided. They didn’t need to begin small and construct on it. The concept was to deliver the wow issue within the first yr.

“Partly because it would have our name on it, I wanted it to be good the very first year,” she stated.  

Her household, particularly her sister Dawn Anderson and cousin Cheryl Miller, supported the undertaking 100%. What really made it occur this yr was “a ton of community support—sponsorships and people wanting to help.”

They mailed sponsorship requests to companies and other people they knew. Corken and Anderson took the present on the highway and talked to service golf equipment and different teams “just to let them know what was going on,” she stated. And Anderson was the resident grant author.

The response was overwhelmingly optimistic. Donors cherished the idea that’s instructional, family-friendly and free to households who attend the honest.

Service golf equipment, organizations, companies and people stepped as much as present  financial assist, materials donations and labor. And the honest upkeep crew supplied manpower when it got here to creating the paths and organising electrical energy for the bubble machine.

 In the couple of days for the reason that honest began, the response has been nice.

“Somebody mentioned that this is the best thing that’s happened at the Wood County Fair,” she stated. “Knowing that there has been a positive response, it seems to be successful so far. I think they can’t help but learn something going through it.”

Corken is completely happy that the youngsters have enjoyable, be taught a bit of about agriculture, and need to return. “Some will come every day just because it’s so much fun,” she stated.

In a survey after the youngsters are completed, many report they cherished driving the tractor and going by way of the bubble machines.

“I hope they learn something between Point A and Point B,” she stated. “The volunteer helpers are good about asking them what they learned when they were done or ‘Did you read that sign?’ That’s the education, and hopefully their parents caught some of that on the way too.”

Farm to Market, positioned simply north of the Weston Depot, is open midday to six p.m. all through the honest.

Posted by: Julie Carle on July 29, 2025.