2013 was a year of change for the Parke County SWCD. Jaci Witty who had served as Administrative Assistant for 33 years retired and Debbie Barnett came on board as the new employee. Much training was pursued and will continue!
January and February were months of preparation for the Annual Meeting and also for Roundtable meetings with producers. 2013 was the first year Parke and Vermillion Counties participated jointly in the On Farm Network program. Together we had 20 Producers and 73 fields. It was a very successful program and will be continued in the future. Of course with this many fields we were very busy in September and October pulling stalk samples! Larry Timm had the opportunity to work with many producers through our Clean Water Indiana Grant. He was available to provide technical assistance to any producers in our four county grant area of Fountain, Montgomery, Parke, and Vermillion. This Grant was so successful that we have been awarded a new grant for 2014-2015 and have expanded our area to include Warren and Boone Counties.
The spring was full of educational activities. In April there was tree planting with Rockville Elementary 4th Graders, Wildlife Plot Seed distribution, 4th Grade “Where Does Your Watershed?” Poster contest and 5th Grade Conservation Day at Rockville Lake. It was great to get outside, enjoy the spring weather and teach children about Conservation!
The Parke County 4-H Fair came in July and the SWCD display included information on rain barrels and composters, and the benefits of using them. At the end of the Fair 2 winners were drawn to receive a rain barrel and a composter. Almost as soon as our fair was complete the Indiana State Fair began and we made the trip to work the Pathway to Water Quality display. August also brought our annual Summer Tour arranged by our Board member and Tour Director Marvin Rode. 2013 was the 17th Summer Tour and we visited AgriDyne, Homeway Homes, Syngenta Research Farm, and Caterpillar in Central Illinois. All 54 participants enjoyed the two days and are looking forward to the next one.
September brought OFN Stalk Sampling, many days in the field pulling stalk samples. Then came the annual IDEA conference in Michigan City, where we got the chance to network with other District Employees from across the State. October was an interesting month as most of us were shut out of our offices and working in temporary locations due to the Government Shutdown. Parke County closed out 2013 with a visit with Governor Pence on November 23 which took place at Wimmer Farms Building with about 100 Farmers and members of local government. 2013 was a very productive year for Parke County Soil & Water Conservation District!