2014 Annual Report
Making a Difference
For more than 90 years, University of Maine Cooperative Extension has worked with Maine volunteers to offer community-driven, research-based educational programs in every county. Our annual report features highlights of recent accomplishments and the difference we make in the lives of Maine citizens and their communities.
The University of Maine Cooperative Extension helps support, sustain and grow the food-based economy across the entire state of Maine. It is the only entity in our state that touches every aspect of the Maine Food System, where policy, research, production, processing, commerce, nutrition and food security and safety are integral and UMaine interrelated. UMaine Extension also conducts the state’s most successful out-of-school youth education program through 4-H, empowering young people to reach their full potential.
Our volunteers help expand the reach of our programs by donating their time, energy, enthusiasm as well as the use of their farms, homes, businesses and supplies for our activities. This adds an estimated value of $65,500 to our programming efforts.
University of Maine Cooperative Extension’s successful educational programs result from a federal, state and county government partnership. Since 1919, when the Maine Legislature passed the County Extension Act*, the University of Maine has been in all Maine communities with a county office whose operations are funded by county government. Our educational programs anticipate and respond to localand state needs and issues. We also communicate those issues and opportunities to UMaine faculty to influence their research and development plans.
Piscataquis County Office Staff
Extension Educators
- Donna Coffin
- Barbara Baker
Program Associates
- Ana Bonstedt
- Sheila Norman
- Brenda Mowdy
- Sonja Birthisel
Administrative Specialist
- Amanda Miles
- Lynn Bosworth
Piscataquis County Extension Association
Our County Extension Association is the vital link between the county, our communities and UMaine. The Association’s Executive Committee is comprised of local volunteers who represent community interests by advising UMaine Extension staff on educational programs, advocate for and secure funding from county government to support the county office, oversee the office budget and facilities, and guide UMaine Extension staff in identifying their programming goals.
Executive Committee
- President – Walter Boomsma, Abbot
- Secretary – Karen Dolley, Charleston
- Treasurer – Janet Yelch-Weatherbee, Dover-Foxcroft
- Members
- Tish Dutson, Willimantic
- George McKay, Dover-Foxcroft
- Thelma Regan, Wellington
- Wally Sinclair, Brownville
- Natasha Colbry, Dover-Foxcroft
Executive Committee President’s Message
Friends and neighbors,
As you may know, the very name “Extension” is meant to identify our mission of extending the vast and varied resources of the University of Maine system into our local communities. It is my honor and pleasure to offer some observations regarding that challenge in this annual report to the citizens of Piscataquis County.
A unique aspect of UMaine Extension is that an Executive Committee of volunteers is charged with the responsibility for securing and managing county funds and support. This same committee, in collaboration with paid extension staff, serves as both a resource and a monitor to ensure programming is relevant to local needs and opportunities. In simple terms, our challenge is to “make sure our citizens get the most bang for their buck.”
During the past year, your Executive Committee and Extension Staff have worked hard to meet the needs and opportunities of our County. According to the 2012 Census of Agriculture Piscataquis County experienced a 600% increase in the number of farms with sales over $500,000 and a 160% increase in farms with $50,000 to $99,999 in sales and questions and requests to staff certainly reflect this growth.
Of course Extension is about much more than farming. Our closely related gardening resources are being fully utilized and we are more than pleased with the impact of our pilot “One Tomato” Program. We also continue to meet our obligation and opportunity to develop the tremendous resource we have in our children and youth. We are forming new clubs, including the Super Science 4-H Club in the Greenville area. With our Food Corps program we have been able to foster a fantastic school garden at SeDoMoCha Elementary School. Additional details about all our activities and accomplishments are found throughout this highlights report.
Another unique aspect of Extension is our reliance on the involvement of volunteers ranging from Master Gardeners to 4-H Leaders. While University resources extend into our communities, it is the combining of resources and energy that makes us effective—whether we are talking about funding, programs, or people. Individually we are drops; together we form an ocean.
These are some of the reasons why we are able to provide a good return on the investment we receive from Piscataquis County Taxpayers. We appreciate the building we occupy in the county complex and the county’s contribution to our operating and support costs. I would note that while we have little ability to control the costs associated with the building, our budget request for 2015 is responsible and our operating fund request still remains at a level significantly below 2009. Not too many organizations can boast of actually increasing services and accomplishments while operating at budget levels less than five years ago.
You are certainly part of everything we do. This brief report is really only an introduction and I’d encourage you to stop by the office, contact a staff or executive committee member and learn about the depth of our resources. Better yet, ask how you can help! There’s a place for everyone at UMaine Extension.
Walter Boomsma, President
*The County Extension Act
The County Extension Act explains the role of county government in funding local Extension offices:
Cooperative extension work shall consist of the giving of practical demonstrations in agriculture and natural resources, youth development, and home economics and community life and imparting information on those subjects through field demonstrations, publications and otherwise. For the purpose of carrying out this chapter, there may be created in each county or combination of two counties within the State an organization known as a “county extension association,” and its services available to all residents of a county. The county extension is viewed as a unique and important educational program of county government. The executive committee of each county extension association shall prepare an annual budget as requested, showing in detail its estimate of the amount of money to be expended under this chapter within the county of counties for the fiscal year. The executive committee shall submit to the board of county commissioners on a date requested by the county commissioners, and the county commissioners may, if they deem it justifiable, adopt an appropriate budget for the county extension program and levy a tax therefore. The amount thus raised by direct taxation within any county or combination of counties for the purposes of this chapter shall be used for the salaries of clerks, provision of office space, supplies, equipment, postage, telephone, a contribution toward the salaries of county educators and such other expenses as necessary to maintain an effective county extension program.1
1Excerpted from Title 7, Chapter 7 of the Maine Revised Statutes, §191–§195.
Photo Credits: Edwin Remsburg, Donna Coffin, Walter Boomsma, Janice Boomsma, Natasha Colbry, Sheila Norman, Barb Baker and Amanda Miles.