Farmers Union Celebrates Another Successful Camp Season

Posted on: August 24, 2015 | Category: News Releases

August 24, 2015 – By #South Dakota Farmer Union

More than 1,729 rural youth, ages 6 to 18, learned about cooperatives, developed leadership skills and celebrated South Dakota’s agriculture industry together by attending a Farmers Union County, District or State camp this summer.

“Camps are a wonderful way for S.D. Farmers Union to fulfill our commitment to providing rural youth with leadership education, as well as exposure to farm safety information and a clear understanding of the role cooperatives play in South Dakota’s rural communities,” says Bonnie Geyer, S.D. Farmers Union Education Director.

Each year, Geyer, along with a team made up of interns and members of the Junior and Senior Advisory Council, develop camp programming which achieves the aforementioned goals through fun, age-appropriate activities. They then work with district and county education directors who volunteer their time to organize the 51 county camps (with 59 counties participating), three district camps (seven districts participating), one local camp and a State Leadership Camp.

“Camp season is a great example of how Farmers Union, as a grassroots organization led by its membership, can have a positive impact on rural communities,” said Doug Sombke, S.D. Farmers Union President.

The counties who hosted camps in 2015 include: Bon Homme, Charles Mix, Clay, Douglas, Hutchinson, Lincoln, Turner, Union, Yankton, Aurora, Brule, Davison, Hanson, Jerauld, Lake, McCook, Miner, Minnehaha, Moody, Sanborn, Brookings, Clark, Codington/Hamlin, Day, Deuel/Grant-Clear Lake, Grant-Milbank, Kingsbury, Marshall, Roberts, Gregory-Fairfax, Gregory-Gregory, Lyman, Tripp, Butte/Lawrence, Haakon/Jackson, Jones, Meade/Pennington, Corson, Dewey/Ziebach, Harding, Perkins, Beadle, Brown, Campbell/Walworth, Edmunds/McPherson, Faulk, Hand, Hughes/Sully/Stanley, Hyde, Potter, Spink and one local camp, St. John’s Local, Parkston.

What’s next?

Now that camp season is over, S.D. Farmers Union gets ready for their school-year youth programming which teaches high school and college age youth about policy and cooperatives and exposes them to the broader picture of American agriculture through tours to D.C., Midwestern cooperatives and the State and National Farmers Union Conventions.

Farmers Union also brings leadership programming to several rural school districts throughout South Dakota through its Jr. REAL (Junior Rural Economic and Leadership).

The Jr. REAL program begins this September by inviting the Peterson Farm Bros. to visit students from eight schools including: Wolsey-Wessington, Hitchcock-Tulare, Woonsocket, Wessington Springs, Sanborn Central, Lake Preston, DeSmet and Faulkton.

Made up of Greg (24), Nathan (21), Kendal (18), and honorary “bro” Laura

(14) Peterson, the siblings farm together with their parents near Assaria, Kans., and produce entertaining and educational videos on their YouTube channel (ThePetersonFarmBros) and post continuous farming and video updates to their social media pages (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram).

More details on Jr. REAL

Other Jr. REAL speakers include: Malcomm Chapman, who covers dynamic leadership through his personal experiences as a Marine and Rapid City Councilman; entrepreneur and muscian, Toby Kane, will bring a pay-it-forward/community service message; Survivor cast member, Holly Hoffman, will be the Keynote speaker at Highmore-Harrold, Harding County and Miller schools, where she will present her message to never give up.

“We’re excited about the leadership and personal development opportunities Jr. REAL provides to many South Dakota rural schools at no cost to the school,” says Erin Wilcox, S.D. Farmers Union Rural Development Coordinator.

To learn how you can contribute to S.D. Farmers Union youth programming, visit www.sdfu.org or contact Karla Hofhenke at [email protected] or call, 605-352-6761, ext. 114.

Last Modified: 08/24/2015 7:31:06 am MDT