Kalamazoo County
Kalamazoo County Extension
3299 Gull Road
Kalamazoo MI 49048 /

P: 269-383-8830 F: 269-384-8035

/ E-mail:

Web: msue.msu.edu/Kalamazoo

March 2006

Rockwell print contributes to 4-H benefit auction success
The 12th Annual 4-H Benefit Auction was held in February at the Scotts Community Center. The auction was a great success, with more than 100 buyers spending $12,000 to support Kalamazoo County 4-H programs. .
One of the auction highlights was the sale of a Norman Rockwell print titled, "The County Agent.” Sharon Lea Steed-Smith and her sister are the only children still alive of the those who posed for the 1948 Rockwell painting. Steed-Smith, who is the little girl holding the sewing project in the painting, signed the print and was present at the auction and spoke about the value of 4-H and what it was like meeting Norman Rockwell and posing for the painting. The print sold for $775.00, and the buyer received a standing ovation!
Kalamazoo has more than 500 4-H families, and everyone gets involved in asking local businesses and individuals to donate items and services to the auction. The generous community support for the 4-H program is overwhelming.
Auction proceeds fund award trips for outstanding 4-H, leadership training and scholarships.
Contact: Kelley Hiemstra, 269-383-8648 or / New Hispanic women’s health program introduced in Kalamazoo County
Breast and cervical cancer are two of the most commonly diagnosed cancers and leading causes of cancer deaths among Hispanic women in the US.
To help increase awareness about the need for breast and cervical cancer screening and increase the number of Hispanic/Latina women who are screened for these cancers, Kalamazoo County MSU Extension, in partnership with the Borgess Foundation, introduced the Healthy Hispanic Project (HHP) in January of 2006.
Through HHP, Medicaid-enrolled Hispanic/Latina women can obtain an initial screening and receive information about follow-up services. Those who have no medical coverage are enrolled in the Medicaid program.
HHP educators also work to identify challenges for Hispanic/Latina women within healthcare systems and develop and implement strategies for decreasing health disparities.
Local efforts to promote the program will include hiring a bilingual and bi-cultural community coordinator and teaching with culturally-sensitive educational materials.
Contact: Alma Sifuentes, 269-384-6446 or
/ Michigan State University Extension helps people improve their lives through an educational process that applies knowledge to critical issues, needs and opportunities. Offices in counties across the state link the research of the land-grant university, MSU, to challenges facingcommunities. Citizens serving on county Extension councils regularly help select focus areas for programming. MSU Extension is funded jointly by county boards of commissioners,the state through Michigan State University and federally through the US Department of Agriculture.
MSU exploring energy alternatives for the greenhouse industry
The greenhouse industry contributes more than $350 million to Michigan's economy and more than $4 billion to the U.S. Economy annually.
In Kalamazoo County alone, more than $90 million wholesale value bedding plants are produced and shipped throughout the states east of the Mississippi River annually. With nearly 50 greenhouses, Kalamazoo County is the largest bedding plant producer in the United States.
Increasing fuel prices have hit the greenhouse industry hard. Growers are not only paying more to grow their plants, but they are paying more for supplies to produce the bedding plants.
"The cost to heat a greenhouse has nearly doubled in the last three years,” says Jeanne Himmelein, MSU Extension educator for Southwest Michigan. “But, due to increases in production costs, there has been no increase in profit from sales."
In an effort to remain profitable, growers are looking for ways to reduce their dependency on costly energy sources like natural gas. They are becoming interested in more efficient ways to heat their greenhouses.
The push to research and use alternative energy sources and different growing strategies for the greenhouse industry is becoming a necessity. Fossil fuel-free energy sources such as wind, corn-burners, wood-burners and manure digesters are being researched for their effectiveness.
In addition, experts are examining more efficient growing strategies, including growing crops in cooler temperatures, using high-pressure sodium light to provide a long-day situation to increase plant quality, and in most cases reduce production time, and using more efficient materials for greenhouse construction. / MSU's Project GREEEN (Generating Research and Extension to meet Economic and Environmental Needs) provides funding for research projects that benefit Michigan’s plant-based agricultural industry in response to critical research and education priorities identified by the state’s plant industry groups.
The Michigan Floriculture Growers Council has identified the issue of improving "the energy efficiency of greenhouse production in Michigan and other temperate climates" which may include:
·  Strategies to produce crops with reduced energy inputs,
·  Identification and implementation of cost-effective, alternative energy sources, such as wind and biofuels,
·  Outreach activities to educate growers about energy-efficient greenhouse production, alternative biofuels, efficient cropping strategies, etc.
·  Conducting a feasibility study that could serve as a resource for industry grant-seeking activities.
Contact: Jeanne Himmelein, 269-384-8010 or
Reminders and volunteers raise Project FRESH redemption rates
Women Infants and Children (WIC) staff members, Master Gardener volunteers and MSU Extension Nutrition staff members implemented new strategies to raise Project FRESH redemption rates in 2005 by 5 percent compared to 2004 rates.
Reminder calls, transportation solutions and increased nutrition and market location information enhanced the amount of fruits and vegetables purchased and advanced vendor profit.
Contact: Ann Nieuwenhuis, 269-384-8057 or
MSU is an affirmative-action, equal opportunity institution, Michigan State University Extension programs and materials are open to all without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, marital status, or family status. Issued in furtherance of MSU Extension work, acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Thomas G. Coon, Extension Director, Michigan State University, E. Lansing, MI 48824