Horsin' Around

Joy Richey and Martha Speir were spotted recently in Oklahoma City, OK at the American Quarter Horse Association World Championship Show and in Fort Worth, TX at the American Paint Horse Association World Championship Show.

You'll have to ask them what they have been up to.

Member Update

Marjorie LaFont has done lots of traveling. She has been to Branson, Philadelphia and Washington D.C., and Montana in recent months.

She also tutors at school and helps with Rocket Math. You'll have to tell us more about that Marjorie!

She is also involved in church work, and serves on the board of the Midwest Food Bank and the Anti-Hunger Coalition. Still helping those same audiences she worked with so well in Extension!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and that you were able to spend the day as you wished.

Here is some food for thought from H. U. Westermayer:

"The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving."

Hopefully we can all find some things to be thankful for.

Don't forget that you can participate in the IEAFCS Fall Membership meeting via telenet on December 10th at 2:00 p.m. You should have received information about this from President, Brenda Derrick.

Member Update

Pat Hildebrand helped her husband work through a knee replacement in recent months. That is a tough time, but he is better now.

She belongs to several organizations--one is Daughters of the American Revolution. She is also a member of the Administrative Board of her Church.

Pat is trying to get ready to do some quilting--if she can find the time.

Notes from Board Meeting

The state board met via telenet on October 30th.

Several from Illinois were able to attend NEAFCS in Columbus, Ohio. Congratulations to Robin Bagwell on receiving the Distinguished Service Award!

It looks like the fall annual meeting will be held by teleconference this year. The date is not yet set, but watch for the notice because important changes to the Constitution will need to be voted on. In addition there will be a social gathering for IEAFCS members at the home of Kathy Sweedler the evening of Nov. 28th at 7:30 p.m. Watch for further details. This is the evening of a two-day statewide conference for Extension.

As was outlined in the last issue of For Your Information, the organizational structure for Extension will be re-vamped somewhat. There will be three Associate Directors. One will be for Finance, and that is John Horton. Another will be Field Operations, and that is Marilyn Brengle. A third will be programming. This person will provide oversight to the Program Leaders. A national search will be held for this position. Each Associate Director position will also have an assistant.

It seems that there is an expectation of an announcement at the upcoming state meeting about the way Extension will operate at the University of Illinois as well. It will still be tied to ACES, but may be more campus-wide in some ways. More to come on this.

There is some movement to employ a few more Family and Consumer Science staff members. A Nutrition & Wellness educator will begin work in the Decatur group of counties very soon. This is a replacement for Lynette Mensah who retired  June 30. There are at least a half dozen other nutrition & wellness, family life, and consumer positions with individuals already in place or in the process of being filled Good news!  However, there is not much activity in southern Illinois yet, and there are gaps in other areas as well.