The Cooperative Extension Service of Mercer County continually seeks to expose new audiences to the resources available to all Kentuckians.

The Mercer County Extension Agents for Horticulture and Family Consumer Sciences with the 4-H Youth Development Program Assistant teamed up to elaborate on existing programs to reach new clientele.  

Family pumpkin fun day, an event offered in the fall, taught families about how pumpkins are grown, the varieties available, and how to use them in preparing foods. This program was modified to include pumpkin carving, sampling of recipes, and other fall activities. Participants were educated on how pumpkins and other types of winter squash were grown along with how to prepare them for consumption. Participants received their own pumpkin with supplies to carve it, along with tips and tricks to make them last longer. From these modifications, there was an observable increase in multigenerational participants along with minorities from the Hispanic community, a group that has been identified as underserved in Mercer County.

The success of the pumpkin day program led the three program areas to team up again, this time for Pictures with Santa. This event was added to the Day of Holiday Fun, where majority of the participants are traditional extension users (Homemakers, Master Gardeners, etc.). Pictures with Santa brought in over 125 participants for this single event. Many were non typical extension users and it was their first time coming to the Extension Office. As participants waited their turn for pictures, the three program areas worked together to manage different activities until a families name was called for their pictures – giving families a quiet and non-public Santa Experience.  The Santa was fluent in sign language and with the Kentucky School for the Deaf in a neighboring county Extension was able to reach hearing impaired audiences.

The number of participants for these two modified events was unexpected. The three program areas plan to repeat these activities again, in hopes to continue to expose more members of the community to resources of the Mercer County Cooperative Extension Service.