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. The Mercer County Extension Agent for Family & Consumer Sciences (FCS) prepared recipes for sampling including a savory pumpkin cheese risotto, four differently seasoned roasted pumpkin seeds, and Plate it Up Kentucky Proud Pumpkin Apple Muffins.  Participants received their own pumpkin with supplies to carve it, along with tips and tricks to make them last longer, as well as a variety of Plate It Up Kentucky Proud recipes.  From these modifications, there was an observable increase in multi-generational participants along with minorities from the Hispanic community, a group identified as under-served 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 was added to the Day of Holiday Fun event where majority of the participants are traditional extension users (Homemakers, Master Gardeners, etc.).  The Day of Holiday Fun is an annual event facilitated by the FCS Agent who coordinates a variety of community members to teach classes of holiday special interest.

Pictures with Santa brought in over 125 participants alone. 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 plan and manage different activities until families were called for their own time with Santa – giving families a quiet and non-public Santa Experience.  Considering the existence of the Kentucky School for the Deaf in a neighboring county, the FCS Agent worked to book a professional Santa with proper background check and who was also fluent in sign language Extension; this enabled Mercer County Extension to reach hearing impaired families in the area as well.

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.