The cute, cuddly and always entertaining 'Food Groupies' have been visiting area classrooms to get children excited about healthy food choices as part of recent lessons provided as part of the Food and Nutrition Program.

These teaching tools, used in kindergarten, aid in understanding the food groups as students learn aboutbalanced nutrition and become acquainted with the differences between fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy, and meats/proteins.

Children in first through fifth grades expand upon this base knowledge and build an understanding of proper dietary and exercise guidelines using My Pyramid.

Creating strong foundations for healthy choices now will lead to smart food choices in the future.

It is a topic that few wish to think about, yet is a necessary part of life. Proper planning for your assets to be left to loved ones can ease some of the burden on family during a difficult time. Approximately twenty area residents increased their awareness of the steps needed to transition an estate during a workshop presented by Jim Endress, Certified Financial Planner and U of I Extension Educator, Farm Business Management and Marketing.

The concepts of estate planning can be difficult to understand, yet the consequences of not planning can be devastating. As participants were guided through estate planning terminology, property ownership forms, the relevance of how property is titled, probate facts, and long term care options, the necessity of family communication and goal setting in developing an estate plan was realized.

Minimizing the estate tax burden and meeting estate settlement costs will allow heirs to retain the maximum estate value allowing them to worry less about finances and think more about treasured memories.

Twenty-five Pike County 4-H members are active in the 2007-2008 Pike County 4-H Federation program. Federation is a group of teens that help plan and facilitate 4-H programming in the county. The Federation has representatives from all county high schools and the group enjoys monthly meetings in which they gain leadership and team skills through team building activities, program planning, and community service while socializing with teens from across the county. The members also gain leadership skills at the club level as Junior Leaders who assist their club leaders and younger members.

The Federation team building activities help members learn cooperation and teamwork which is vital as they work together on county program planning. As members grow with the program, they begin to take more initiative in the planning and implementation of activities such as the Cloverbud Party for member ages five through seven, New Member Orientation, and Project Workshops. Pike County 4-H Federation is a significant educational component of the youth development program.

Child care providers always seek innovative ways to creatively interact with children in their care. Hands-on activities foster the creative spirit in children while enhancing dexterity and coordination. The holidays offer extra opportunities for hands-on fun!

Children enjoy making gifts for others, building their giving spirit for years to come. In order to nurture both creativity and selflessness, University of Illinois Extension, Pike County provided a working session for child care providers including ideas for gifts that children can make with the assistance of adult supervision as part of the child care continuing education series.

Providers enjoyed making sample gifts ranging from a variety of easy cookies and treats to various mixes in jars. Fun ideas to tie in many basic educational components such as measuring, mixing, and cutting skills helped make these activities adaptable to a wide age range of children.

The series of workshops allowing child care providers to earn continuing education contact hours will also be offered in 2008 with all new topics including Food Safety, Managing Stress, What to Eat and Why, Developmental Milestones, and Read, Dance, Scribble, Paste (Literature, Music, & Art Activities).

It is the law that to purchase restricted-use pesticides for use on a farm, producers must have a Private Pesticide Applicator's License. While most pesticides are not on the restricted-use list, not having a license could substantially limit farmer's options for dealing with some pests such as the western corn rootworm.

Most farmers still rely heavily on chemicals to control problem, yield-robbing pests. For all the good that pesticides do for farmers and consumes in assisting in the production of high-quality commodities, we must also realize that there are risks to us, our families, our environment, and to our consumers. It is critically important for producers to be responsible users of these chemicals. Licensed applicators do their part to be aware and to minimize these risks.

Applicators complete a three hour workshop, including an update on current pesticide issues and a reminder of relevant safety information prior to taking the examination. This year, twenty-four Pike County applicators completed the training and testing held in December to renew or obtain a three-year license.

The Illinois State Food Service code requires that all food service establishments employ a full-time certified manager within three months of opening or within three months of personnel turnover. Additionally, all Level I Restaurants must have certified personnel present when food is prepared and/or served.

To help area food service establishments meet this requirement, University of Illinois Extension, Pike County offered the four session Illinois State Food Service Manager Class in November. Participants learn proper food handling and cleanliness procedures.

Twenty-three food service personnel from the Western Illinois area completed the training and certification program.

This training is also available through University of Illinois Extension via an online course.

The Illinois State Food Service code requires that all food service establishments employ a full-time certified manager within three months of opening or within three months of personnel turnover. Additionally, all Level I Restaurants must have certified personnel present when food is prepared and/or served.

To help area food service establishments meet this requirement, University of Illinois Extension, Pike County offered the four session Illinois State Food Service Manager Class in November. Participants learn proper food handling and cleanliness procedures.

Twenty-three food service personnel from the Western Illinois area completed the training and certification program.

This training is also available through University of Illinois Extension via an online course.

High commodity prices have many farmers smiling, but high input costs and concerns with the economy as a whole will weigh heavily on the minds of agricultural producers as plans are made for the approaching planting season.

To aid in making these critical decisions, farmers and certified crop advisors gathered in Hull in December to discuss a variety of topics relevant for the 2008 crop season. University of Illinois Extension Crop Systems Educator Mike Roegge presented detailed information on wheat management, corn and soybean nematodes, corn rootworm, waterhemp resistance, fungicide use in corn and soybeans, Bt products, and specialty crop production in Western Illinois.

The program was part of a series offered throughout three counties and provided continuing education credit for certified crop advisors.

Water quality and quantity continues to be an uphill battle for many communities in Pike County. Whether a community is looking to make improvements or additions to their current system, both come with a fairly hefty price tag. Although there are other options such as connecting with a rural water district, most communities tend to appreciate the ability to control their own water system. Unfortunately as time goes on, many communities are going to be faced with determining how to pay the immense price for maintaining their systems while still trying to keep water bills at a reasonable rate for area residents. One Pike County community has been working on this issue for some time and was able to benefit by using a program offered by the state.

The City of Griggsville will soon have better quality of water thanks in part to an Emergency Public Facilities Grant from the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. The Emergency Grant, which is funded through DCEO's Community Development Assistance Program, provided $100,000 to assist Craigsville's efforts to remove high levels of iron from their water system. The grant was initially awarded in late 2006; however, the community ran into several challenges along the way, including increased construction costs, which caused the construction to be delayed. Finally after overcoming numerous obstacles, construction began in the fall of 2007 and is currently nearing completion.

Griggsville is only one of the communities in Pike County that has received technical assistance from University of Illinois Extension in enhancing the local infrastructure and improving residential quality of life.

Does chocolate milk come from chocolate cows? Hamburger must be made from ham...and come from a pig? No, it comes from the grocery store...right? These are only a few of the questions many children have about their food–and where it comes from. The Agricultural Literacy Program is very beneficial, because it teaches area students where the foods they eat each day, as well as the materials used for their clothing and other items actually come from while helping to dispel the myths.

Even though West-Central Illinois is a rural area, most residents are not involved in traditional agriculture, like raising livestock, or growing crops as a means to earn a living. While many people have a couple of horses, or a good size flower or vegetable garden to spend some time working in, these activities are a hobby, not full time employment.

Locally, a variety of agricultural education lessons including 'Pigs and Pizza,' 'Beautiful Bovine,' and 'Edible Soil and Corn' are presented to approximately 1700 students in over 80 pre-kindergarten through fifth grade classes in area school districts.