Pesticide Collection Day

 RAIN or SHINE – Any pesticides (insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, etc.) in original containers and are clearly labeled can be collected. Individuals with materials of unknown identity should contact North Carolina Cooperative Extension, Robeson County center, at 910-671-3276 for more details.

Mini-bulks, gas cylinders, and household materials such as paints, oils, gas, and explosives will NOT be accepted.

There is no charge to the public for this service. Preregister by April14. An estimated volume of products if containers are larger than 5 gallons.

Robeson County Fairgrounds – 3750 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive

Wednesday, April 24 ,2024

10:00 a.m. 2:00 p.m.

Exciting Extension News!

     

    With more than 1,000 experts and 101 local centers in every county and the Qualla Boundary, N.C. Cooperative Extension generates $2.1 billion in economic impact for North Carolina every year. In short, Extension grows our state. And now, as it turns out, Our State is growing awareness of Extension. 

    Our State, a popular award-winning monthly magazine, has recognized Extension’s indelible impact across the state in a series of features in its May 2023 issue. NC State Extension professionals worked closely with the Our State editorial team over a period of months to identify timely topics that both spanned the state and represented Extension’s vast array of local programming. From nurturing the next generation of leaders and promoting public green spaces to helping farmers blaze new trails and preserving the state’s foodways, Our State’s stories shine a spotlight on Extension’s efforts in communities across North Carolina.

    Stay tuned this week as we highlight those stories on our blog.

Dalton Dockery Named New SE District Director

So excited to welcome Dalton Dockery as our new SE District Director.  You may remember that he served as interim County Extension Director for Robeson County about 7 years ago.  Below is the press release from NCSU.

Dalton Dockery Selected as Southeast District Extension Director for NC State

Dalton Dockery, an NC State alumnus with 27 years experience in Extension, has been named as

the university’s new Southeast District Extension Director, effective June 30.

Dockery will provide leadership for NC State’s Extension directors, agents and specialists in the

Southeast District, which encompasses 19 counties, ranging from urban to rural to coastal.

“Dalton is extremely qualified for this important leadership position,” said Richard Bonanno, NC

State Extension director. “He has worked in this district for many years, and is well known and

respected by his colleagues. Dalton is a talented, effective and dedicated individual who never

loses sight of his desire to help the people of North Carolina.”

NC State organizes its 101 local Extension centers into five districts, each under the leadership of

a director.

Extension serves as a bridge between North Carolinians and our state’s land-grant universities,

NC State and N.C. A&T State. With a vast network of partnerships and university experts,

Extension puts science into action, delivering practical solutions to local issues across the state.

Related: Essentially CALS | Dalton Dockery

Dockery currently is director of Extension's Columbus County Center, a position he has held since

2009. He has also served as director in Bladen County and interim director in Brunswick and

Robeson counties. He was Extension horticulture specialist in Bladen, Sampson and Columbus

counties from 1995-2007.

He is looking forward to bringing his experience and talents to bear as the new Southeast District

Extension Director.

“I will utilize the leadership, management and communication skills that I have gained over the

past 27 years to continue advancing the mission of Extension through effective and organizational

leadership,” he said. “Building relationships is at the core of what we do. We want to identify and

solve local problems, and to do that we have to show our community that we care first.”

Dockery has been involved in agriculture all his life. He grew up in Nakina, North Carolina, in

Columbus County, where he worked on his grandfather’s 100-acre farm.

Dockery graduated with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural education from NC State in 1994, and

with a master’s in agricultural and extension education in 2000. He earned a Ph.D. in leadership

studies from N.C. A&T State University in 2015.

His honors include the Columbus County Commissioners Public Service Award & Recognition in

2021, NC State’s “I am CALS” Public Service Award in 2021, an Award of Excellence in Public

Service from NC State in 2020, the Dr. Billy & Mrs. Wilma Caldwell Extension Leadership Award

in 2018, and an Extension award for Superior Leadership in 2017.

N.C. Cooperative Extension is a strategic partnership of NC State University, N.C. A&T State

University, USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA), and local

governments statewide. Extension professionals in all 100 counties, and with the Eastern Band of

Cherokee Indians, connect millions of North Carolinians with research-based information and

technology from NC State and N.C. A&T.

Discover more at go.ncsu.edu/About-Extension. 

A New Chapter

 

This article was written by our own Christy Strickland for the Robesonian and is also published on the NC Cooperative Extension, Robeson County Center website.

Seventeen years ago, Everett Davis introduced me as the newest Extension agent in the County;  I was beginning my role as a Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) Agent with North Carolina Cooperative Extension, Robeson County Center. On July 1, 2015, I began a new role as County Extension Director (CED) for Robeson County. At that time, I wrote an article to introduce myself and shared a little about my family. Not much has changed since writing that introduction, except for the number of people in my family. I now have four wonderful grandchildren. This little change is important to note as you continue reading.

Today, I share with you the beginning of a new chapter in my journey! On August 31, 2021, I will become the latest retired County Extension Director of N.C. Cooperative Extension, Robeson County Center. As I begin this new journey into retirement, I can’t help but reflect on the years I have worked with Extension. I have had some of the best coworkers anyone could ask for in a career – compassionate, caring, capable, dedicated, and even challenging are all words I would use to describe them over the years. My current team of staff and those I have worked with since becoming CED can only be described as incredible! They have survived me as their boss, two devastating floods, and now a pandemic. Even through all of that, they always rise to the occasion to further Extension’s mission throughout the county and make me proud to call them my staff. But they are not just my staff; I am honored to call them friends and think of them as family.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the leadership that has guided and supported me on this journey:  the Extension leadership team, led by Dr. Rich Bonanno and my District Director, Keith Walters, along with County Manager Kellie Blue and her team, who have given me support and encouragement all along the way. The collaboration between the county and the land grant universities (North Carolina State University and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University) is unique and an incredible resource in this county.

The past 17 years have been some of the most meaningful of my 30-plus years of work. It has been my honor to follow a long line of CED’s and Extension professionals who have carried the mission of the land grant universities and Extension throughout this county. I hope in some small way I have done my part to make them proud!

Although I am stepping down, I am pleased to share with you I am leaving you in very capable hands. Duncan “Mac” Malloy, who currently serves as the Field Crops Agent in the county, will serve as the Interim CED beginning September 1, 2021. Mac has worked with Extension since 2011 and is well known throughout the agricultural community, both personally and professionally. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Agronomy from NC State University and a Master’s degree in Agricultural Education from N.C. A&T State University. I know you will join me in welcoming and supporting Mac as he does his part during the Interim to lead this incredible team.

As I close this chapter and begin the next part of my journey,  I look forward to a new chapter that includes more time with those four grandchildren I mentioned earlier, along with gardening, crafting, and much, much more. Although I am looking forward to all of these things, I will dearly miss my staff, and the work of N.C. Cooperative Extension. I will always be a supporter of Extension and the great work being done. Somewhere along the way I wrote an article entitled “What I love about Extension.”  I described many of the great things we do as Extension professionals and how I loved everything about my job. The great thing is, I still feel that way. I love Extension! Thank you for a great chapter!

And It's Open!

  Today was the official opening of the Robeson County Farmers Market.  You might ask what this has to do with 4-H?  Actually more than you might think.  Each year, for the last nine years, NC Cooperative Extension has partnered with the farmers at the market for their official opening.  How we do that is by partnering with other agencies such as the hospital, demonstrating what we do best, and offering samples of what you can create with the farmers market.
  This year our Expanded Foods and Nutrition Education Program staff members had the blender bike on hand.  Participants had the opportunity to get on the bike and ride.  So while you were getting exercise you were also powering a blender which was making an icy cold healthy fruit smoothy for you to enjoy when you were done.
   In another tent Christy Strickland and Janice Fields were having oodles of fun making zoodles.  Zoodles are noodles made from zucchini or squash.  They showed how to make it, sautéed the zoodles with a little tomato sauce and offered samples.  The zoodles were the talk of the market.
   At the far end our staff and volunteers were offering samples of blueberry salsa, corn with cilantro lime butter, beef sliders, and blueberry cobbler.   Patrons could also pick up the recipes of everything that was offered and pick up the fresh fruits and vegetables at the market.  Many of the farmers said it was a great day in terms of traffic and sales.
  So how does 4-H fit into this?  The market is really an example of the things we teach our 4-H members.  Think about all the things offered at the market today.  We want our youth to make healthy food choices, increase their physical activity, and eat fresh fruits and vegetables.  Also with entrepreneurial careers on the rise it is important for youth to understand small businesses that make their own products, think outside the box to market the product, and can convey why folks need the product, and sell that product at a reasonable price.  Our farmers at the market a truly an example of the entrepreneurial spirit that we try to instill in our 4-H members.  Plus the Robeson County Farmers Market is a great place for youth and adults to find out where their food comes from, actually meet the people who grow it and have a more personal relationship with their food.  That's hard to do in bigger populations, but here in Robeson County, it is one of the benefits.