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Highlands Today

Ag-Venture Honored By Farm Bureau

File photo, Kathy Waters/Highlands Today

Volunteer Earl Peters helps third-grader Michael Helms plant a strawberry at Ag Venture 2007.

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By Gary Pinnell | Highlands Today

Published: June 14, 2008

LAKE PLACID — Ag-Venture won a statewide award Friday as the outstanding volunteer program from Florida Agriculture in the Classroom, a division of Florida Farm Bureau.

Highlands County Ag-Venture Inc. started 10 years ago to teach third graders about agriculture, said one of its founders, Darlene Phypers of Lake Placid. She and her daughter, Danielle Daum, accepted the award at a conference near Stuart. The program was nominated by Andy Neuhofer, a field representative for Farm Bureau.

"We saw the program on a huge scale in Hillsborough County, and we came home and adopted it," said Phypers. "We decided that our kids need to know about agriculture. If they don't, we may lose it. And we can't afford to lose it."

The volunteer program, which takes a day to set up and three days to run, is financed by donations and manned by 125 volunteers a day, said Phypers. "No tax dollars."

Every third-grader in the county goes to the Highlands County Fairgrounds every year, Phypers said. "We pay for the bussing. Each kid gets to be there one day."

There are 14 hands-on knowledge stations, and every child goes to seven, Phypers said. "At the dairy station, they make butter, and they eat it on a cracker. They milk an artificial cow, and they eat ice cream. They see poultry and eggs, and they taste an omelet. They see citrus, and they squeeze an orange and drink the juice."

"We just accepted the award," Phypers said, "but all the volunteers earned it. They're bankers and lawyers and our mayors and chamber people and retirees and all kinds of people, and they give up their work days for it. But it's a real honor to receive it."

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