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By Carey Reeder | Managing Editor

Chilton County celebrated its Farm-City Week from Nov. 13-17, and it culminated with a banquet on Nov. 16 at Petals From the Past. Chilton Farm-City promotes a better understanding between farm and city residents, and how both work together to make both areas flourish. This year’s banquet celebrated farming in Chilton County, and next year will focus on the cities in the county.

Chilton Farm-City records date back to 1968 when the banquet was held inside the Chilton County High School lunchroom at 6:30 p.m. with 187 in attendance, according to Chilton County Extension Coordinator Lucy Edwards.

Each year, a theme is chosen by the National Farm-City Committee, and this year it was Agritourism: Connecting Alabama Farms and Communities. Students across America, and the state of Alabama, developed Farm-City themed posters and essays to enter into their respective contests. Numerous schools in Chilton County this year participated in the contests, and first, second and third place winners were chosen from the entries across the county. Posters were judged on creativity, originality, neatness, overall appearance and relevance to the theme. The divisions for the poster contests were kindergarten to third grade, and fourth grade to sixth grade.

“I was really pleasantly surprised by the support from the businesses, those coming to attend the banquet and the sponsors were a blessing since we were starting from zero,” Edwards said. “Having the sponsorships allowed us to have the (student) contests … We did have plenty of poster entries, and I was really impressed with them. It was amazing to see the talent of our youth, and their creativity with the theme.”

Edwards said she was unsure of what the turnout for the banquet would be, but the crowd that attended outgrew the space provided at Petals From the Past. While there was not an official attendance number, there were 160 tickets sold to attend the banquet.

The essay contest was judged on content, mechanics and organization, and the divisions were seventh grade to ninth grade, and 10th grade to 12th grade.

The first-place winner in all four divisions were submitted to the statewide Farm-City poster and essay competitions.

 

2023 Chilton Farm-City Week Student Poster Contest Winners:

Kindergarten-3rd grade

1st place: Carter Knight, 1st grade, Maplesville Elementary School

2nd place: Everlie Harrison, 1st grade, Clanton Elementary School

3rd place: Livy Collins, 3rd grade, Isabella Elementary School

 

4th grade-6th grade

1st place: Danielle Hayes, 6th grade, Verbena Elementary School

2nd place: Cade McHugh, 6th grade, Maplesville Elementary School

3rd place: Kylie Horsley, 6th grade, Verbena Elementary School

 

2023 Chilton Farm-City Week Student Essay Contest Winners:

7th grade-9th grade

1st place: Susan Atchison, 9th grade, Chilton Christian Academy

2nd place: Michaela Lund, 9th grade, Chiton Christian Academy

3rd place: Luke Smitherman, 7th grade, Evangel Christian School

 

10th grade-12th grade

1st place: Marynn Vaith, 11th grade, Chilton County High School

2nd place: Mason Littleton, 11th grade, Isabella High School

3rd place: Angelita Sullivan, 11th grade, Chilton Christian Academy