Lexington County Farm-City Programs

A Brief History
 

1995-2004

We began in 1995 with Raymond Boozer, Stan Hilton, Frances Price, and Charles Wingard being appointed by Lexington County Farm Bureau President Jim Young to propose some type of celebration for Farm-City Week. We met and discussed several ideas. We went back to LCFB and shared our ideas. Several other people offered to help us at that time. However, we are the only members who have continued on this committee since its beginning.
 

This committee, along with several other volunteers, decided on a Kick-Off Banquet for Farm-City Week. And to have one representative from the farm and one representative from the city to exchange jobs for a day. Those people would be the speakers at the banquet. The first job exchange participants were R. W. McCormick, Vice President of Business at BB&T (who had just recently acquired Lexington State Bank) and Mike Keisler, owner and operator of James R. Sease Farms. We began seeking financial support and found seven sponsors. Those sponsors have continued their support for the past ten years. They are as follows: Lexington Soil & Water Conservation District, MCEC, BB&T, SCE&G, Havird Oil, Ben Satcher Ford, and Kneece Farms. Our First Kick-off Banquet was held November 16, 1995.
 

In 1996, we added the Lexington County Farm-City Showcase and it has been a great success. It attracts several thousand people annually. Our number of sponsors increased from seven to twelve. We also began a partnership with the Gilbert, Lexington Technology Center, and Pelion FFA Chapters. The Advisors from each chapter became a part of our committee.
 

In 1997, we continued with the Showcase, Job Exchange, and Kick-Off Banquet. Our number of sponsors dropped from twelve to ten.
 

1998 was a wonderful year. At the American Farm Bureau Convention in January, we won a County Program Idea Exchange and had a booth to exhibit our activities. Our number of sponsors increased to thirteen, each paying $300 annually. We applied for and received both state and federal tax exemption status as a non-profit organization whose general purpose is public education.
 

Everything continued the same in 1999.
 

The year 2000 brought about changes. We had fifteen sponsors and partnered with Leadership Lexington to plan one day of the Leadership Lexington Tour, which is a week-long event for local youth. We took the youth on a tour of two farm and two city businesses. We co-sponsored the meal for their graduation at the end of the week. Also in 2000, Batesburg-Leesville High School began an Ag Program and we had a new Chapter Advisor to add to our committee.
 

With more financial support and the FFA students assisting us with the Showcase and the Kick-Off Banquet, we felt it would be appropriate to host an FFA Appreciation Night. We began this in 2001. We provide a meal and a college advisors talks with them about being prepared for two or four years of continued education. This has been a very good activity and a great way to show appreciation for our young people.

In 2002, our sponsorship increased to eighteen, and we continued with all of our five programs and activities.

2003 brought another sponsor. We decided to offer a $250 scholarship to one FFA student at each of the four high schools with FFA programs.

We’ve continued with the six programs/activities in 2004 and have completed our 10 th year of Farm-City celebrations. Our programs/activities are as follows: FFA Appreciation Night; FFA Scholarships; Youth Leadership Lexington Tour; Lexington County Farm-City Showcase; Farm-City Job Exchange; and the Farm-City Week Kick-Off Banquet.

We thank all who have supported us financially, by attendance, or in other ways as we continue to work to help educated the public about the farm and city, and our interdependence on each other. We truly are “partners in progress.”