Boys & Girls Club Ag Day draws 250-plus youth
The Cliff Hagan Boys & Girls Club's Mike Horn Unit, 3415 Buckland Square, is never short of Owensboro youth.
But on Thursday, the number increased to more than 250 with its second annual Harvesting Dreams Ag Day project that exposed the youth to different aspects of farm life.
Ryan Bibb, the club's chief operating officer, said youth from the Ohio, Butler and Henderson county sites were also transported in to take part, upping the number of children for a typical day.
'Last year we planned for 200 but this year we planned for 250,' Bibb said. 'We've increased our capacity at all of our locations. We're averaging between 190 to 200 a day here at this location.'
The Ag Day program is an expansion of the club's emphasis on agriculture that was introduced in 2016.
Bibb said agriculture falls into the club's 'four priority outcomes,' which are academic success, good character in citizenship, healthy lifestyles and life and workforce readiness.
'So the ag program really encompassed all four of those because part of what we're trying to show them is that there are viable options out there in the agriculture industry — maybe not farming, but other things they can do in that industry,' he said. 'It takes patience; it takes perseverance and it takes some resiliency to see something all of the way to the end.'
Bibb added it was a three-year $88,000 grant from Cargill, the agricultural giant that bought Owensboro Grain at the end of 2022, that made it possible to expand.
'Ag Day kicks off the ag program and then along with that, we do a farm-to-table dinner in the summer,' he said. 'And that's the culmination of the kids going out to Cecil Farms and planting their own vegetables; we actually start them here in our greenhouse; we take them out, cultivate and harvest and then they use those vegetables for the farm-to-table dinner.'
For Thursday's Ag Day, students were treated to hands-on activities such as a petting zoo, a large John Deere tractor provided by Wright Implement and balloon animals by the Rizpah Shriners of Owensboro.
Jerry Maggard Sr., who's a longtime member of the Cliff Hagan Boys & Girls Club's board of trustees and a member of the Rizpah Shriners, was there as his alter ego 'Shabby the Clown.'
Maggard said the Cliff Hagan Boys & Girls Club provides hundreds of youth with a positive outlet while teaching them life lessons along the way.
'It's all about the kids,' Maggard said. '…Ag Day is great; it teaches kids about farming and different types of farming. And this is a safe haven for kids; they can interact with the other kids and make friends for life.'
Outside on the baseball field, Nick Goss of Equestrian Enterprises brought his farm animals consisting of alpacas, sheep, ducks, goats and a miniature donkey.
'It's the joy for one,' said Goss about being part of the AG Day project. 'There's no age limit to animals — so you'll get adults; you'll get kids. Everybody enjoys this. I enjoy the education part of it. Most of these kids are never going to see these animals because a lot of them live in town. …So where else are you going to see an alpaca up close?'
Next year will be the last for the Cargill grant but Bibb said the goal would be to continue Ag Day even when the funding ends.
Bibb added that Ag Day remains an ongoing effort to provide the youth with 'adequate opportunities' when they're at the Cliff Hagan Boys & Girls Club.
'It's really just exposing them to as many things as we can while we have them here,' Bibb said.
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The Cliff Hagan Boys & Girls Club's Mike Horn Unit, 3415 Buckland Square, is never short of Owensboro youth. But on Thursday, the number increased to more than 250 with its second annual Harvesting Dreams Ag Day project that exposed the youth to different aspects of farm life. Ryan Bibb, the club's chief operating officer, said youth from the Ohio, Butler and Henderson county sites were also transported in to take part, upping the number of children for a typical day. 'Last year we planned for 200 but this year we planned for 250,' Bibb said. 'We've increased our capacity at all of our locations. We're averaging between 190 to 200 a day here at this location.' The Ag Day program is an expansion of the club's emphasis on agriculture that was introduced in 2016. Bibb said agriculture falls into the club's 'four priority outcomes,' which are academic success, good character in citizenship, healthy lifestyles and life and workforce readiness. 'So the ag program really encompassed all four of those because part of what we're trying to show them is that there are viable options out there in the agriculture industry — maybe not farming, but other things they can do in that industry,' he said. 'It takes patience; it takes perseverance and it takes some resiliency to see something all of the way to the end.' Bibb added it was a three-year $88,000 grant from Cargill, the agricultural giant that bought Owensboro Grain at the end of 2022, that made it possible to expand. 'Ag Day kicks off the ag program and then along with that, we do a farm-to-table dinner in the summer,' he said. 'And that's the culmination of the kids going out to Cecil Farms and planting their own vegetables; we actually start them here in our greenhouse; we take them out, cultivate and harvest and then they use those vegetables for the farm-to-table dinner.' For Thursday's Ag Day, students were treated to hands-on activities such as a petting zoo, a large John Deere tractor provided by Wright Implement and balloon animals by the Rizpah Shriners of Owensboro. Jerry Maggard Sr., who's a longtime member of the Cliff Hagan Boys & Girls Club's board of trustees and a member of the Rizpah Shriners, was there as his alter ego 'Shabby the Clown.' Maggard said the Cliff Hagan Boys & Girls Club provides hundreds of youth with a positive outlet while teaching them life lessons along the way. 'It's all about the kids,' Maggard said. '…Ag Day is great; it teaches kids about farming and different types of farming. And this is a safe haven for kids; they can interact with the other kids and make friends for life.' Outside on the baseball field, Nick Goss of Equestrian Enterprises brought his farm animals consisting of alpacas, sheep, ducks, goats and a miniature donkey. 'It's the joy for one,' said Goss about being part of the AG Day project. 'There's no age limit to animals — so you'll get adults; you'll get kids. Everybody enjoys this. I enjoy the education part of it. Most of these kids are never going to see these animals because a lot of them live in town. …So where else are you going to see an alpaca up close?' Next year will be the last for the Cargill grant but Bibb said the goal would be to continue Ag Day even when the funding ends. Bibb added that Ag Day remains an ongoing effort to provide the youth with 'adequate opportunities' when they're at the Cliff Hagan Boys & Girls Club. 'It's really just exposing them to as many things as we can while we have them here,' Bibb said.
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