The Grinnell Lions Ag Appreciation Day is slated for Thursday, Aug. 26 from 3 – 7 p.m., in and around Central Park in Grinnell. Postponed in 2020 due to Covid-19, Ag Day will again offer food, fun, exhibits, activities for kids, hay rack rides, a guest speaker, music, tractors on display and a tractor parade, and just good fun. A farm family will be awarded the Jim Urfer Spirit of Farming Award and an agribusiness will also be recognized. And new this year, the Grinnell Lions have partnered with the Grinnell Rotary Club to prepare and serve their famous BBQ chicken dinners. The Rotary Club will be serving Ag Day attendees as well as drive up customers. All registered tractor owners will be given a free chicken dinner ticket. “It’s two Grinnell service organizations working together to help make Ag Day a better event and sell more chickens,” said Allan Maly, a spokesperson for the Grinnell Lions. The Dari Barn food truck will also be on site serving Ag Day attendees. Route 66 will provide the tunes and this year’s guest speaker is Liz Kolbe, Education and Engagement Director at Practical Farmers of Iowa. Bill Menner is the Ag Day emcee. The event will end with the popular tractor parade, which starts rolling at 6:30 p.m. “Please encourage any and all tractor owners to bring them to Ag Day,” noted Maly. “New, old, show quality or right from the field. The bigger the tractor parade, the better.” Schedule • 12 – 3 p.m. – tractor registration • 3 – 6 p.m. - exhibitor displays open Old and antique tractors on display, Grinnell Historical Society, Farm Bureau – Free Water. Pow Mutual Insurance – free popcorn, Conservation Station Marsh Madness trailer, Iowa Corn trailer, Theisen’s – free popcorn, Cub Scouts, Poweshiek County SIDCD/NRCS, Poweshiek County Extension/4-H, Poweshiek County Public Health offering free Covid vaccinations, UnityPoint Health, diabetes awareness and free screening, Iowa Lions Eye Bank, DuraCrop Scouting services, Bayer Crop Science, Grinnell Fire Department, Alliant Energy – energy demonstration, Poweshiek County Naturalist – Archery Trailer, Hayrack rides – southwest corner of Central Park • 4 – 6 p.m. Pedal Tractor Pull southwest of playground - (BGM FFA), Petting Zoo (Grinnell-Newburg FFA), Music by Route 66, Food - Grinnell Rotary Club BBQ Chicken Dinner and Dari Barn Food Trailer • 5:55 - 6:15 p.m. – Featured speaker – Liz Kolbe, Practical Farmers of Iowa • 6:15 - 6:25 p.m. – Spirit of Farming and Ag Business Awards – Lyle Roudabush, President of Grinnell Lions will preside • 6:30 – Tractor parade announced • 6:35 – Tractor parade starts lead by Merle Doty and the 2021 featured tractor, a 1954 Farmall Super MTA. The parade starts on 4th Avenue west to Broad Street, north on Broad Street, west on 5th Avenue, south on Main Street, east on 4th Avenue, south on Broad Street, finish at 1st Street. Education and Engagement Director Liz Kolb Liz Kolbe joined Practical Farmers of Iowa staff in the summer of 2013. Liz oversees strategy and operations for PFI’s educational events, outreach, and community and farmer engagement A native of Grinnell, Liz received her B.A. in Environmental Science at Colorado College in Colorado Springs. Following graduation, she worked as the program coordinator for the State of the Rockies Project, eventually shifting her academic focus to agriculture and landscape. Liz earned her M.S. in Environmental Science with a specialization in Agroecosystem Science at Ohio State University. While at OSU and based in Wooster, Ohio, Liz worked with the Agroecosystems Management Program and was a “super-volunteer” at Local Roots Market. Prior to her current position, Liz managed the horticulture and habitat programs at PFI. Liz enjoys playing sports, scouring garage sales, building and fixing, reading on the front porch, and exploring plains, mountain and desert landscapes. She also serves on the board of directors for Wheatsfield Co-op in Ames. For more info, contact Practical Farmers of Iowa at 515-232-5661 or [email protected]. Featured tractor – a 1954 Farmall Super MTA owned by Merle Doty Merle Doty’s tractor was purchased new in 1954 from Richerson Implement Store in Brooklyn by his father, Melvin Doty. The Super MTA was the main tractor on the Doty farm for about 25 years before being sold to a neighbor. Merle purchased it from the neighbor some years later and restored it with the help of Eldon VanWyk. Merle has ridden on the Super MTA on several tractor rides and in several parades. Plans are to pass the tractor on to Merle’s son, Mark, and his family when the the time comes. Free Diabetes Screening Clinic The Grinnell Lions Club, in partnership with Unity Point Health-Grinnell, and the Montezuma, Kellogg, and Victor Lions Clubs, will offer a free diabetes screening clinic at the annual Ag Day Celebration on Aug. 26.
Screenings will be funded by a grant from the Lions Club International Foundation, as well as follow-up care for those identified as pre-diabetic or diabetic. The project is designed to increase awareness of prediabetes by identifying higher risk individuals, increasing the availability of, and enrollment in, a diabetes prevention program and developing a referral process to a comprehensive follow-up care program for those identified as prediabetic or diabetic. Look for U.P.H. close to the Gazebo in Central Park on Aug. 26 from 3 to 6 p.m.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |