The Atlantic Chamber Ambassadors met with staff from the Cass County Extension office on Thursday, July 7th, 2022, to meet new staff and learn more about the services Extension provides.

Kate Olson, Director of Cass Extension, shared they have welcomed two interns for the summer as well as a new Youth Coordinator. Caroline Pellett has been interning since May and is helping with all youth programming in the county. Courtney Hering has also been interning since May and has been involved with Cass County Fair preparations and office work.

Katie Bateman, Youth Coordinator, is from Atlantic and has been involved with 4-H her entire life. Bateman attended UNI and worked in Story and Linn County before moving back to Atlantic. Bateman has been involved with Cass County 4-H programs as a participant and volunteer and has always enjoyed all the opportunities 4-H provides youth. Bateman is excited to continue her passion for 4-H in her hometown county.

Olson shared some upcoming programs Extension has coming up in the next few weeks. They will be hosting a Beef Forage and Grazing Field Day, in partnership with the Wallace Foundation, at the Armstrong Research Farm, located on the edge of Lewis. A Food Preservation 101 Workshop will be hosted next week. Pre-fair judging will also begin next week including King & Queen Contest interviews, Clothing Selection/Fashion Review and Table Setting. Olson mentioned one thing she loves about Extension being a statewide coalition, is you don’t have to leave home to have access to programs.

Olson shared outside of 4-H and youth programming, Extension also provides research-based information and programming to communities they serve related to: Economic & Community Development, Ag & Natural Resources, Horticulture and Human Sciences. One of their major Horticulture programs is Master Gardeners. Olson is excited to share they will be hosting a Master Gardeners course in the fall with the popular hybrid model making its return. Participants will take their courses online with four to six hands on sessions available in Cass County. Participants must also complete 40 hours of community service before becoming fully certified as a Master Gardener.

Olson thanked her staff, which is made up of three full-time employees and two part-time employees, for all they do to keep their programs organized, but heightened the importance of their large volunteer base that helps keep all their programming manageable.

For more information on Extension programming or Cass County Fair updates, visit their website at http://www.extension.iastate.edu/cass or Facebook https://www.facebook.com/CassCoIAExt.

The Cass County Extension office is located at 805 W. 10th St., Atlantic and is open Monday – Friday, 8 AM – 4:30 PM.