Attendees at the Farmers’ Luncheon.
Photo by Catherine Shelley
ROCKINGHAM — “Farm” and “city” are not two words that usually find themselves in the same sentence. However, during Farm City Week, which occurs every year at this time, they merge together to recognize the farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners who grow the food, fiber, and lumber and the urban industries and businesses that create and supply the products that are essential to our lives.
#FarmCityWeek was created by a Joint Resolution by Congress on August 31, 1957 calling for a presidential proclamation declaring National Farm-City Week. President Dwight D. Eisenhower declared the observance to recognize the contributions farms make to both rural and urban communities.
This year, as in years prior, Richmond County kicked off the celebratory week with a parade honoring our local farmers. The 25th Annual Farmers’ Day Parade was held on Saturday, November 20th at 11:00 a.m. in downtown Ellerbe. Families, friends and visitors from across the region lined Main Street as tractors, horses, floats, the marching band, and representatives of organizations such as Farm Bureau, the Lions Club, N.C. Cooperative Extension, among others, brought a festive holiday air to downtown. Commercial, craft, and food vendors were set up behind Ellerbe Town Hall added to the excitement that filled the streets of Ellerbe Saturday morning.
On Monday, the annual Farmers’ Appreciation luncheon was held, this year at Millstone 4-H Camp, honoring our local growers, producers, businesses and industries. Earl Graves and his crew prepared a delicious meal of BBQ, chicken, baked beans, potatoes, hush puppies, and coleslaw. Desserts were prepared by the local Farm Bureau Young Farmers Ranchers Group and First Health-Richmond’s cafeteria provided cobblers and cornbread.
The Dining Hall at Millstone was adorned with beautiful fall decorations and adorable placemats created by students at Minerals Springs Elementary and Ellerbe Middle School. The art on the placemats was based on this year’s Farm City Week’s theme “Thank You, Farmer”, and were creative and heartfelt expressions by the children who participated. It takes a lot of committee meetings and people power to host this event and I am grateful for a community that comes together to make events like this happen.
Keith Russell, director at Millstone 4-H camp, was the Luncheon’s keynote speaker. Russell shared the history of the camp with attendees, and the impact the camp has had on our community since it was established in the 1930s. Before becoming a camp, the area was a site where millstones were cut and made, then installed in grist mills across the region to grind corn and wheat.
The flow of a local creek on site supplied the energy to run grist mills at different times during its history. The site became a 4-H camp in 1939 and has been operating as such ever since with the exception of the period during WWII when the camp was used by our military. All of the cabins and original buildings at the camp were made with lumber harvested on site.
Millstone 4-H camp is also home to the historic Ellis House, also called “the House that Peanuts Built”, as the young Carl Ellis built the house during the Depression by making and selling roasted peanuts as part of a 4-H club peanut project. Nestled in over 320 acres of N.C. Wildlife Commission land, this camp incorporates the best of traditional and modern programs.
While we consider where the food on our table comes from this Thanksgiving, think about the impact of farms on your life and remember to thank a farmer for their hard work and dedication to improving farm methods and providing safe and healthful products. For more information regarding Farm City Week, call N. C. Cooperative Extension, Richmond County Center at 910-997-8255.
Catherine Shelley is the 4-H Agent for the Richmond County Cooperative Extension.Reach