“How many of you like to be outside?” shouted Eugene Thalmann, a Liberty grower of vegetables, greens, herbs and flowers.

“YAY!” yelled the crowd of second graders at Sullivan West Elementary School, who, in fact happened to be outdoors on a beautiful sunny autumn day.

“If you were a farmer, you'd get to be outside all the time!” declared Thalmann.

“Yay!” the kids cheered.

The happy, noisy event was Sullivan County Cornell Cooperative Extension's (CCE) Farm to School Day recently held in the elementary school parking lot.

“It's about encouraging students to think about local food, about growing, farming and supporting local growers,” said SueAnn Boyd, CCE's Healthy Schools Coordinator.

Booths were manned by Kaitlyn Conklin, a 4-H educator for Sullivan CCE, along with 4-H student Lanie Herbert; and Rianne Erlwein from Earl Myers Century Farm in Jeffersonville, who gave samples of her flavored milks fresh from her dairy cows.

Students crowded around a pen of animals from Stonewall Farms in Jeffersonville. Owner Barbara Moran brought along an angora goat; a Delaware rooster named Foghorn; and a LaMancha goat, which is a type noted for its apparent lack of external ears.

Moran's cross-breed calf – whose mother is a dairy cow and whose father is a beefer – was another hit of the event, with children petting the brown calf. Moran, a New York State certified animal science teacher, is the 4-H Animal Science coordinator for CCE.

Burns Farms in Ferndale supplied some winter squash samples of Delicata squash, a recent popular variety. From Sullivan Renaissance, a dressed-up human “rooster” named Rennie also made its presence known.
Sullivan West Food Service Director Dara Smith organized the event on the part of the school district with some 600 elementary school students enjoying the whole thing.

“Kale, collards, lettuce, broccoli will keep you healthy!” said farmer Thalmann, who then went on to assuage one child who expressed a fear of getting stung by a bee.

“Bees,” said Thalmann in a calm voice, “are really very nice.”