The first week of September Extension Faculty members from Nassau County traveled to Orlando for our annual Extension Professionals Association of Florida (EPAF) http://epaf.ifas.ufl.edu/ meeting. We participated in trainings, award celebrations, abstract presentations, and general sessions. Of course we had a little fun while we were there, but one thing is certain - the annual conference always makes us proud of the work we do, and proud to be faculty members of the University of Florida Cooperative Extension Service. Our work here in Nassau County is multiplied and mirrored in every county in the state and across the nation through the system of Land-Grant Universities and national partners.

I then took a nice personal vacation up the east coast of Maine and into Nova Scotia, and even there I saw evidence of the Land-Grant success. One little town in Maine claimed to be the birthplace of the 4-H program, fall fairs and agriculture expositions were being advertised, and a little gallery in Belfast, Maine, featured the "art of agriculture." The Canadian Extension System was also visible at a few points on my trip.

Now back to work, as the 4-H club season gets underway with preparations for National Youth Science Day, https://www.4-h.org/NYSD/index.php, the Northeast Florida Fair, http://www.neflfair.org/, and we anxiously await the birth of our newest 4-H member - I'll proudly post when 4-H agent Amanda Thien has her baby, expected next week!