Maine AgrAbility

AgrAbility News for November 2019

Anne Devin exhibited Maine AgrAbility program information at the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA) Farmer to Farmer conference on November 3 and 4 in Rockland with over 100 farmers and service providers in attendance. Lani Carlson exhibited project information at the 2019 Maine State Occupational Therapy fall conference in Orono on November 9, 2019. This one-day conference is designed to provide education and resources to OT/COTA professionals and students.

Richard Brzozowski made an AgrAbility presentation at the Maine Farm Bureau Annual Meeting, held Saturday, November 9, in Portland. Richard also shared Maine AgrAbility and the successful E2C symposium information with AGCOM on Tuesday, October 29, in Augusta. AGCOM is a collaboration of agricultural groups that provide leadership and advocacy on agricultural issues that affect all sectors of Maine agriculture.

The University of Maine Cooperative Extension hosted its two-day biennial conference on November 12 and 13 in Orono. AgrAbility was a featured program and shared success stories on video throughout the event.

Ketra Crosson, OT from Alpha One, conducted several driver evaluations this fall, during which she asked about horseback riding and motorized vehicle experience, including UTVs and tractors, and shared AgrAbility information. ME AgrAbility is excited to share that Waldo County Extension Executive Association is going to host a farm dinner theater on Feb 29 using the University of Kentucky farm theater toolkit!

Anne Devin, AgrAbility veteran outreach coordinator and co-owner of Chase Stream Farm was joined by Richard Brzozowski, food system program administrator with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, as guests on WERU Community Radio‘s “Public Affairs” series. The show “Common Ground” focused on veterans and farming in Maine.

Designed to replace partial or total loss of one’s fingers, these custom-designed and fabricated Prosthetic Fingers are powered by the remainder of each finger. Three different devices are available: the PIPDriver (for amputees who still have their middle joint), the MCPDriver (for amputees with finger loss closer to the knuckle joint), and the ThumbDriver (for amputees with loss of the thumb).