Sarah Gale/Contributing writer
Jefferson Christian is home at last, returning from their West Coast Tour. The school attended the Adventist Agriculture Association’s conference. This annual event was designed to bring together farmers, small businesses, and home gardeners from across the country.
JCA’s agriculture department attended classes, networking programs, and visited exhibits. A popular lecture among the students was about the technique of soil blocking and how it establishes better roots. Favorite demonstrations included Becoming A Flower Farmer and Farming with Mules. After attending the classes several students now have plans to start their gardens, although they may have to wait on getting mules.
” I can build my garden now. All I need is…” Alex Gale, a second-year agricultural student, proceeded to rattle off a never-ending list of farming equipment.
The conference had a wide variety of exhibits where small businesses showcased their products. JCA’s booth featured comfrey and oregano salves and was manned by their AG department. Other booths featured blueberry-based ice cream and the curious creation known as a carrot corn dog. It’s almost like the mainstream corn dog in every way, except that inside is a fried carrot.
While some people were horrified that such a thing existed, few argued that with enough condiments you wouldn’t even be able to tell the difference.
Students that were not a part of the school’s agriculture program were put in charge of the conference’s children program. This was a two-hour program every day for ages five to fourteen. Initially, it was thought that some parents wouldn’t want to be separated from their children, therefore the number of kids coming would be lower than the number of kids registered. It was quite a surprise when a total of sixty- five kids showed up the first morning. However, the slightly overwhelmed program leaders kept all the children entertained with a mix of bible stories, crafts, and games.
Junior, Siunipa Telefoni was in charge of twenty-six kids whose ages were supposed to be five through eight. However there turned out to be a couple of three-year-olds in attendance. Most of the smaller children refused to leave her side for even a moment. They decorated plant holders, played hot potato, and unfortunately scribbled on furniture with permanent markers. Over the next few days some phrases”Put the scissors down,” and “Don’t touch the hot glue gun,” were repeated constantly.
Despite being exhausted, after the program Siunipa smiled saying,” That was awesome…and so crazy.”