Lynn Figone, State CWA President and Karen Musson, Gar Tootelian, Inc.

The first Ag Day at Chaffee Zoo which was held on Saturday, May 17, 2014 from 9-6, was a great success thanks to the efforts of Karen Musson of Gar Tootelian, Inc.’s vision to collaborate with the Zoo as well as other businesses, organizations and volunteers in the agricultural community to share and provide informative demonstrations, talks and displays around the Valley Farm Exhibit to help promote agriculture awareness in the valley. The event was FREE with regular Zoo admission and the attendance was phenomenal!

There were opportunities to watch sheep shearing and cooking demonstrations, sample Champion raisins, American pistachios, Producer’s chocolate milk, produce and visit farm-related vendor booths and listen to crop talks. Children experienced guessing which materials were used to create different products. Courtney and Britney Hitchcock created a fascinating display board on the life cycle of the butterfly and distributed butterflies cutouts to children at our CWA booth. Julie Pedraza also brought her captivating collection of insects and butterflies which intrigued the children and explained how some insects can be beneficial and which can be pests in the garden. It was amazing how many children were able to correctly identify six different types of seeds and match them with the respective plants and herb which were also on display at our booth.

Fresno Equipment Company displayed several John Deere tractors for perfect photo opportunities for the children. Valley PBS shared opportunities about their organization and helped promote Ag in the Classroom. Bennett and Bennett, installers of the irrigation system for the Valley Farm, shared valuable information about irrigation systems. There were opportunities to earn tickets to the Fresno Grizzlies games by playing a gameboard and giving the correct information on specific questions. Gar Tootelian, Inc, Ag Ventures, International Agri-Center, Wawona, Tulare and Fresno County Farm Bureaus were wonderful supporters and also provided valuable information for the event.

A big thank you to our State CWA President, Lynn Figone and her children, Baillie and Brady, as well as Courtney Hitchcock, Britney Hitchcock, Julie Pedraza, Lisa Rinehart, Katie Asai, Holly Deniston-sheet, Elizabeth Diaz, Mala To, Sarah Parry, Vanessa Jimenez, Emily Suryadi, Elizabeth Steele, Octavio Garcia, John Ramirez, 4-Hers Lucile and Carson King and Teresa and Jennifer Bejarano, and Washington Union FFA girls who volunteered to help us with our CWA Booth and Kenny, Kimberly Bedrosian and the National Raisin Company for providing the raisins.  We would also like to thank Karen Musson, the Chaffee Zoo staff, all the vendors, numerous volunteers and the community who came out to support this outstanding event. ~ Janie and Marlene