In celebration of “Extension Month” in Tennessee, staff from the Carter County Extension Office hosted the first of a series of community meet and greet sessions on Tuesday.

The Carter County Extension Office has adopted the theme “Where in the World is UT Extension Carter County” for their events. The Extension Office staff has several “stops” planned as they tour Carter County to promote the office’s programs and services.

On Tuesday, the staff of the Carter Extension Office set up shop at J’s Corner in Elizabethton to provide residents with information about the wide variety of programs and services available through their office.

The tour will continue on Friday, March 9, when the Extension office visits Smokehouse BBQ, located at 1941 Milligan Hwy., Elizabethton, from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m.

The third stop on the tour will be Friday, March 16, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Highlander BBQ, located at 8315 Highway 19E, in Roan Mountain.

The final week of the tour will wind up with two stops — one on March 22 and the second on March 23.

On Thursday, March 22, the Extension Office staff will set up at Big Dan’s BBQ, located at 256 Highway 91, Elizabethton, from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m.

The following afternoon, on Friday, March 23, the staff will be at Shirley’s Home Cooking, located at 3266 Highway 321, in Hampton.

“That way, we’ve hit every area in Carter County,” said Melissa Shelton, who serves as the 4-H Program Assistant for the Carter County Extension Office.

Extension is a national educational program supported by USDA through the nation’s land-grant universities and administered with funding from state and local governments in Tennessee through offices in each of the state’s 95 counties.

While many people think of Extension as a strictly agriculture program, that idea is far from the truth. The Extension Office provides a variety of family and community programs. Below is a partial listing of the different types of programs available at the Carter County Extension Office.

Agricultural

Programs:

• Tennessee Master Beef

• Beef Profitability

• Tennessee Agriculture Enhancement Program (TAEP)

• Crop and Forage Production

• Soil and Forage Testing

• Weed Management

• Tennessee Master Nursery Producer Program

• Tennessee Master Horse Program

• Bees and Beekeeping

• Gardening

Family & Consumer Sciences Programs:

• Food, Nutrition, and Health

• Human Development

• Family Economics

• Family and Community Education (FCE) Clubs

• Environmental Health & Safety

• First Time Homebuyers Education

• Divorcing Parents Education — Parenting Apart: Effective Co-Parenting

• Child Care Provider Training

• Cooking and Food Preservation Classes

4-H Youth

Development:

• Community Club

• Chick Chain

• Citizenship & Learning

• Careers & Economics

• Animal Science

• Natural Resources Projects

• Leadership & Communication

• Food, Health, and Nutrition

• Project Judging Teams

• “On My Own” Personal Finance

• Camps

• Career Exploration

TNCEP Program

• TNCEP is a nutrition education program for individuals and families who participate in or are eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). UT Extension provides SNAP-Ed through TNCEP. The goal of TNCEP is to help participants learn to choose and prepare healthy foods and feel empowered toward self-sufficiency.

For more information on programs available contact the Carter County Extension Office at 423-542-1818.