Come to the Mohawk Valley Farm Market on Saturday, November 20, 9 a.m.-1 p.m., Fraternal Order of Eages Hall, 12 South William Street, Johnstown. It's just off Main Street in downtown Johnstown. It's all indoors and free admission.

The Mohawk Valley Markets connect producers to consumers. These off-season farmers' markets provide easy access for consumers to buy directly from local producers in a one-stop shopping experience. Many of the producers have stores, shops and stands at their farms, but the market brings them all together for you to explore, taste, shop and buy the products while talking with the farmer who grew or produced the products: meats, cheeses, maple products, eggs, organic products, flowers & bedding plants, breads, honey, and so much more!

Mohawk Valley Farm Markets are sponsored jointly by the Montgomery County Agriculture Economic Development Project and Cornell Cooperative Extension in Fulton & Montgomery Counties.

Questions? Call Missy Potter at 518-762-3909 x 108. www.nymontgomeryfarms.com

The Fulton County 2011 Tentative Budget was released on November 8, 2010.  That budget proposes total elimination of funding for Cornell Cooperative Extension in Fulton and Montgomery Counties. 

If the budget is adopted as currently proposed, without funding from Fulton County, it will be impossible for CCEFM to remain in Fulton County providing programming as currently constituted for Fulton County residents.  If that is the case, effective January 3, 2011, the office will no longer be able to provide any services to Fulton County residents.

Please express your concern about the loss of Cooperative Extension programs in Fulton County by calling and/or writing to your county supervisor.  Ask him/her to reinstate funding at the current level. Contact information can be found on this page's right-hand column.

Doug Hill, Board President, on behalf of the Board of Directors, Cornell Cooperative Extension in Fulton and Montgomery Counties

The recent elimination of funding for Cornell Coopeartive Extension in Fulton and Montgomery Counties from both counties' budgets has resulted in a flurry of quesitons from local residents and program partners regarding the process and facts surrounding the operations and programming of CCEFM. An FAQ sheet has been prepared to help answer those questions. Click on the FAQs in the right-hand column of this homepage.

As the days and nights become cooler, thoughts turn to preparations for the winter season.  There are several chores typically carried out during this time of year.  Those may include storing lawn mowers and gas grills, changing or adding antifreeze to our cars, hanging holiday lights, and putting up storm windows or plastic for insulation from the wind.  Each of these activities is important in their own right, but require thought and concern for the safety of family and pets.

November 17th, 6:30 p.m., Holiday Inn, 308 North Comrie Avenue, Johnstown

A healthy life includes a bit of humor. Take a walk on the humorous side of life and work with internationally-syndicated cartoonist and illustrator John McPherson, the featured guest at Cornell Cooperative Extension's annual gathering on November 17th.

McPherson's Close to Home appears in more than 700 newspapers from The Washington Post, The LosAngeles Times, The Tokyo Times, to The Hanoi Daily News.

John is part of The HUMOR Project and has been an active speaker for organizations, schools, associations, hospitals, and human service agencies around the country.

$15 per person includes light dinner fare and program. Reservations are required by November 10th. Call 518-762-3909 x 101 or download the reservation form and send or bring it to the Cooperative Extension office.

A brief annual meeting including Elections of Directors-at-Large & Issue Committee Members, a review of program year 2009-2010, and recognitions precede the program. 

As you may know, supervisors in both Fulton and Montgomery Counties are considering complete elimination of Cornell Cooperative Extension from the respective county budgets.

The loss of county funds places all other funding at significant risk.

New York State Law requires a Cooperative Extension association to receive a county appropriation in order for the association to be eligible for state funding. That means withdrawal of county dollars will result in the loss of state dollars.

County Law State of New York Section 224 states, “The entitlement of each (county or regional extension) association to state moneys annually appropriated under this chapter is subject to the furnishing of equivalent sums from county appropriations.”

The current funding formula allows, “fifty cents for each dollar up to the first $100,000 appropriated by such county, and five cents for each dollar in excess of $100,000, subject to annual appropriation by the (state) legislature.”

In FY 2009-2010, Cornell Cooperative Extension in Fulton and Montgomery Counties received $47,203 in CL224 funding for Fulton County, and $48,696 in CL224 funding for Montgomery County.

Without the county appropriation, the whole formula collapses. The county must fund Cooperative Extension to access these state funds.

Once county and state funds are secured, they are used as matching funds to access other sources of revenue such as contracts, federal and private grants, foundation gifts, fundraising, etc.

County dollars are only 12% (Fulton) and 15% (Montgomery) of the total Cornell Cooperative Extension in Fulton and Montgomery Counties annual budget.  Yet without these core funds, all other funds are being placed at significant risk.

If you are concerned about the loss of state dollars and the loss of Cooperative Extension programs in your community, please contact your county supervisor and ask them to reinstate the funding. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to contact me, Marilyn Smith, at the Cooperative Extension office or via e-mail at mjs225@cornell.edu.

Check out the details of the upcoming class, Cooking for Diabetes, geared for people with Diabetes, living with a person with Diabetes or cooking for a person with Diabetes. Click on Programs above and go to the Nutrition & Health Program page on this website.

Have you ever heard anyone say: “It’s best to keep your thermostat at the same temperature all the time in the winter rather than turning it up and down.”

Or how about: “The best way to lower your energy costs is to buy new windows for your home.”

These are just two of the energy myths we’ll discuss next week during the energy saving workshop Save Energy, Save Dollars at the Inman Senior Center in Amsterdam.

The truth is lowering the thermostat when the house is empty or when people are asleep can really save on heating costs. And when it comes to windows, adding insulation, reducing drafts and improving appliance efficiency are typically far more cost-effective strategies for reducing energy costs.

Next week's workshop is free and each participating household receives a free energy saving tool kit containing many do-it-yourself items that can help save money on your utility bill.

The workshop begins at 10:00 a.m. It’s best to call 762-3909 x. 104 to pre-register so that we can be sure to have enough materials and free tool kits for everyone.

Cornell Cooperative Extension in Fulton & Montgomery Counties extends many thanks for supporting the 2010 Real Men Can Cook event on Friday, October 15th.

Many thanks to our sponsors for recognizing Cornell Cooperative Extension as a valuable resource in the two-county region by stepping up with your company dollars to support community nutrition programs, which reduce the risk of disease due to poor diets, inactivity, and unsafe food handling.

A big thank you to all of the 'real men" who cooked and served at the event. The dishes were delectable, your service was enjoyable, and you made the event fun. Thanks for volunteering. Thanks for providing such wonderful recipes for our Real Men Can Cook cookbook, too. Your dedication to our mission is much appreciated.

Thanks to all of the volunteers and staff who worked so hard to put the event together and worked at the event, too.

Kudos to all of the CCE Board, staff, businesses and community members who put together and donated the great raffle baskets! They were wonderful. Lucky winners took home 29 fantasic prizes!

Thanks to the Cancer Services Program of Fulton and Montgomery Counties for allowing our event to help advance awareness of the need for breast cancer screening. Thanks to the program reps for staffing a table at the event, too!

And, always, thanks to all of the ticketholders who attended the event. Whether it was your first time or your 8th time in attendance, we hope you had a great time. We thank each and every one of you. The event would not have been the same without you!

Some cookbooks are still available in our office. $5 each. If you would like one, please come to the office soon while the supply lasts.

That's right - the Real Men Can Cook event is tomorrow, Friday, October 15th. Tickets are sold out for the 6:00 and 6:30 time slots. There are only a few left for the 5:30 p.m. seating with more available for the 7:00 p.m. seating. Lots of good food prepared and served by about 60 men from our area. Lots of fun to help raise funds for CCEFM's community nutrition education.

The guys serving you will all be wearing PINK t-shirts as Real Men Can Cook participates in the cancer screening awareness campaign with the Cancer Services Program of Fulton and Montgomery Counties.

Call 518-762-3909 x 101 for tickets until noon tomorrow. After that, remaining tickets will be sold at the door.  Don't miss out on this unique fundraising event. See you then!