March 04, 2009
National Farm Conference Honors Missouri Pumpkin Patch
(JEFFERSON CITY, MO) – Carolyn’s Country Cousins Pumpkin Patch, Liberty, MO, recently was honored with two awards at the 2009 National Association for Direct Farm Marketing and Agritourism Conference (NAFDMA) in Savannah, Ga. The first award was in the category of Excellent School Tour Program, which highlighted the patch’s agricultural education tours. The second award was in the Excellent Promotional Innovation category for their Teacher’s Resource CD. The awards were voted on by their peers from across the U.S. and Canada at the February meeting of NAFDMA.
“Missouri agritourism not only teaches the next generation about agriculture, it also adds value and profit to farm operations,” said Dr. Jon Hagler, director of the Missouri Department of Agriculture. “We commend operations like Carolyn’s Country Cousins for finding a connection with young folks in Missouri and educating them on the important role that agriculture plays for our state.”
Carolyn’s Country Cousins has been hosting educators and children since 1991. Currently they offer four educational venues: Carolyn’s Country Cousins Harvest Tour, Carolyn’s Country Cousins New Life on the Farm Tour, Liberty Corn Maze and Uncle Earl’s Mining Tour.
Carolyn’s Country Cousins adapt their tours and materials to meet the needs of teachers and educators across the state. Teacher packets are available and sent home with teachers so they can continue educating students on agriculture after they have left the farm. Recently, teachers requested the packet be made “greener” and available on CD. In addition, teachers asked that the coloring book be translated in to different languages for multi–lingual students. In the fall of 2008, with the help of seven gifted translators, the coloring books were offered in Spanish, German, French, Italian, Russian, Chinese and Japanese.
Buddy and Carolyn Raasch are co–owners of Carolyn’s Country Cousins and are actively involved in the Missouri Agritourism Council and AgriMissouri – a program of the Department of Agriculture that provides marketing assistance and opportunities to Missouri food manufactures, farmers, producers, agritourism businesses and farmers’ markets.
Carolyn’s Country Cousins is open the third weekend of September until October 31 each year. For more information about Carolyn’s Country Cousins Pumpkin Patch, visit www.carolynscountrycousins.com. To learn about other farms offering educational experiences or to visit a pumpkin farm, dairy, u–pick berry patch or orchard, winery, corn maze, Christmas tree farm, visit www.agrimissouri.com.