2014 LOGAN COUNTY FARM OUTLOOK MAGAZINE LINCOLN DAILY NEWS.com MARCH 27, 2014 47
Home economics was added a few years
later with the first “home adviser.” Focuses
were on running a household and home
food preservation.
Logan County added an aggressive com-
munity resource development program in
the late 1970s. This program was respon-
sible for many of the community-wide
surveys done in the early 1980s, and those
surveys even led to removal of the city
parking meters around the square and in
municipal parking lots in Lincoln.
Extension continues to evolve as needs of
residents change. Horticulture program-
ming became more prevalent in the 1980s;
nontraditional youth programs such as
school enrichment and special interest
clubs began in the 1980s; and the family
nutrition program started in the 1990s.
The first Master Gardener training class in
Logan County was conducted in the fall of
2000. Web pages began to be a communi-
cation medium in 2003, and today there is
an average of about 30,000 hits per month
on the unit’s Web pages.
The Extension organization continues to
change. Recently, the organization under-
went a major reorganization brought on by
state fiscal difficulties. The major impacts
of the reorganization were on the organi-
zational structure and the resulting local
educators. Logan County is now part of
the Logan, Menard and Sangamon Unit,
which is also known as Unit 16. There
are 27 units in the state, with most having
three to five counties in each unit. There
are educators and support staff employed
locally now, instead of educators being
centrally housed and funded as prior to
the reorganization. Unit 16 has five educa-
tors — for youth; metro Springfield youth;
small farms; horticulture; and nutrition and
wellness, and budgeting for low-income
families. Twelve support staff members
provide assistance in these program areas
and also provide programming in agricul-
tural literacy in all counties.
As Extension celebrates 100 years, we cel-
ebrate and salute the involvement of great
volunteers through our history. Volunteer-
ism is the lifeblood of Extension, whether
the roles are as a 4-H leader, a Master
Gardener, a Master Naturalist, a commit-
tee member, a program host or presenter,
or an Extension council member. There
are currently over 500 active volunteers
in the unit in these roles. Funding itself is
volunteer-driven, with volunteers working
to pass tax referendums in all three of the
counties.
We celebrate our past, present and future
together because Extension belongs to the
people. Extension extends knowledge from
the University of Illinois and helps change
lives of the citizens of Illinois.
John Fulton is the U of I Extension
director for Logan, Menard and Sangamon
Counties.
