(Talk of the Town photos by Jennifer Zartman Romano) Whitley County Extension board members present for the annual meeting Tuesday night included, from left, in row one, David Schilling, John Saggars, Marge Frazier, Meredith Hoffman and Virginia Faulkner. Row two, from left, included Marlin Gaff, John Johnson, Tony Reust and Steve Cormany. Faulkner, Johnson, Reust and Cormany were re-elected to fill four board vacancies during the meeting, all of which having many years volunteer experience on the board. Below, at top, a vote is cast. Beneath, Marlin Gaff and Pauline Scott tally the votes following the election.
By Jennifer Zartman Romano
It was the sincere hope of the staff and board of the Whitley County Extension that guests would leave Tuesday evening’s annual meeting with a greater understanding of the many programs of the organization and a bit of information that might enrich their lives. 
“You’re going to go home with one new idea or one new tip,” said Cindy Barnett, Whitley County extension educator, as she addressed the large gathering in attendance for the dinner and meeting. And leaving without something new to ponder would have been difficult.
Held at the Whitley County 4-H Center Building, the event was sponsored by Ag Plus, Whitley County Farm Bureau, Northeastern REMC and STAR Financial Bank and the meal was prepared by Doug and Darlene Wright of Columbia City.
After filling their bellies, those in attendance had the opportunity to fill their minds with some helpful information during three rotational, 15-minute courses on family resource management. A course on identity theft was lead by St. Joseph County extension educator Edie Sutton and provided a detailed checklist of areas that might make you more prone to being an unfortunate victim of this fraud. Nearby, Cindy Barnett, Whitley County extension educator, provided a detailed overview of personal affairs that might need a legal check-up occasionally – from knowing the whereabouts of key financial information, wills, deeds, etc., to making sure your name is updated correctly on documents. She also advised doing regular inventories of your property to be sure you would be adequately prepared and reimbursed in the event of a disaster. 
Finally, in hopes of avoiding awkwardness or the degradation of family relationships upon the death of a loved one, Elkhart County extension educator spoke about the need for finding an organized, conflict-proof way of making sure personal artifacts and estate items are passed on to the next generation. She said far too many family ties are ruined by seemingly simple, tangible items after someone dies.
In addition to the educational component of the evening, there were some important business items to be discussed as well including program overviews, the status of PCARET and an official vote for four board members for the Whitley County Extension board of directors.
Whitley County Extension board president Meredith Hoffman and Purdue Council for Agricultural Research, Extension and Teaching (PCARET) representative spoke of the organization’s lobbying efforts at the local, state and federal level to promote the interests of agricultural issues.
“Every year, we have to go to the county council to ask for money,” Hoffman said. “Over the years, they have given a tremendous amount of support to us,” she added, thanking both the Whitley County Council and Purdue University for their support.
“We need funding for research,” Hoffman said as she explained the role of PCARET. She said that a current issue is that Congress, of late, has been less supportive of continuing their funding for land grant colleges, such as Purdue University, impacting the amount of research conducted. “PCARET has lobbied to keep this vital funding,” she said. “It is critical funding that Purdue needs.”
“We appreciate the great volunteer base of Whitley County and we hope you support PCARET,” Hoffman said in conclusion.
A basket was passed around the room, collecting token funds from those in attendance to continue supporting PCARETs local efforts. Local PCARET volunteer lobbyists include Hoffman, Kenny Bills, Marlin Gaff and Sheila Schilling.
Val Slack of the Whitley County Extension gave an informative review of the various programs and activities of the local extension office over the past year. Slack has been on the staff of the extension office for the past 31 years and celebrated the staff’s combined estimated 70 years experience.
“Often times we’re asked, ‘what do you do,” Slack said as she held up a booklet created for the evening, highlighting success stories in the many areas the county extension office addresses. Those programs include the Northeast Indiana/Polish 4-H exchange, 4-H leadership, Extension Homemakers, Pork Producers, Master Gardeners, Junior Achievement, NEPAC Field Day and Diagnostic Training, Private Applicator Recertification Program, 4-H Career Development, Whitley County Learning Services in addition to numerous education, training and development-oriented initiatives aimed at making Whitley County a better community at a variety of levels.
Slack also spoke of the newly constructed Webber Suite at the local extension office on Line Street and how that has become a vital link to providing local technology education, housing the many opportunities offered by Whitley County Learning Services. The new classroom area was completed in the summer of 2007.
Coordinated by long-time educator Bill Webber, Learning Services offers a plethora of training and technology courses, as well as video conferencing, in a quiet learning atmosphere.
Since the program began, over 90 companies and organizations have utilized training from Learning Services. More than 2,400 students have participated in classes and 21 local graduate-level students have earned 1,304 graduate student course hours via live classes or through video conferencing to university classes right here in Whitley County.
“We feel really good about that program,” Slack said. “Bill Webber is the heartbeat of that program. We really appreciate what he has done to make that program grow.”
Slack also recognized other extension staff, including Cindy Barnett, Dave Addison, Janet Hindbaugh, Kay Walter, Cami Leininger and Cari Sherbahn.
“We really have a wonderful working relationship in our county,” she said of the staff. “We have a lot of laughter and we do a lot of work.”
Additionally, Slack recognized the Whitley County Extension board of directors for their work. At the beginning of the evening, guests were provided with the brief biographies of local volunteers slated for four open positions on the board of directors.
Votes were collected and tallied by Marlin Gaff and Pauline Scott. At the end of the night, Steve Cormany, Virginia Faulkner, John Johnson and Tony Reust were named as winners of the election. The four, having each served many years on that same board, were honored with certificates for their years of volunteer service.
Whitley County Extension board members include Meredith Hoffman, Steve Cormany, Marge Frazier, Virginia Faulkner, Jann Johnson, Kent Reese, John Saggars, David Schilling, Marlin Gaff, John Johnson, Tony Reust and LeRoy Waugh.
