With the holiday season upon us, it’s important to remember to reduce holiday stress and the after-holiday bills by developing a budget for gift giving, food and entertainment expenses.

The Pendleton County Extension Office and Three Rivers Health Department will be conducting a “Waist Management” program starting the week of January 7 and will last eleven weeks.

Perks of the program will include weekly:

• Weigh-ins

• Challenges

• Prizes

• Incentives to encourage weight control

• Fact sheets on health and nutrition

Weigh-in locations will include:

1. Pendleton County Extension Office every Wednesday from noon – 6 p.m.

2. If there are at least ten participants at any school, church or place of business and an individual willing to conduct the weigh-in, we are willing to make that an official weigh-in location as well.  We want this to be easy!

Benefits and cost to program:

• Cost will be $20.00 per participant.  All money will be given back to participants at the conclusion of the program in prizes and awards

• Awards will be given to the individuals that lose the most weight by percentage and to the participants that receives the most points. (Award amounts will be determined after registration)

• Points will be given for attending planned physical activity or nutrition sessions, for completing weekly challenges and going to the weekly weigh-in

• Blood work and other free health screenings will be given to all participants

If you are interested, the steps to participate are easy:

1. Show up at the Pendleton County Extension Office on Monday, January 7 between noon and 1 p.m. or between 6:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. for the initial weigh-in, measuring and screenings.  Remember to bring your $20.00 registration fee.

2. Recruit individuals in your school, church or business to participate so that location can be used as a weigh-in location.  (Minimum of ten is needed)

3. Start making healthier lifestyle choices to better your quality of life

If you want more information on the program, please feel free to call 654-3395 and ask for Kenna Knight.

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As you know, internet safety is a huge issue because one in five youth today are sexually solicited online, and two-thirds of those solicitations are going to teen girls.  Millions of teenagers go online every day, and most are safe. The way to stay safer is to understand the dangers and follow some simple rules to help you steer clear of trouble. By following these rules you’ll minimize the risks and have more fun.

Ovarian cancer is often considered a silent killer, because many times, women do not know they have it until it is too late. Ovarian cancer accounts for three percent of all cancers diagnosed in women and is the deadliest gynecological cancer. This year, The American Cancer Society estimates that doctors will diagnose more than 22,000 cases of ovarian cancer in the United State and 15,500 American women will die of the disease.

Lindie Huffman, Agriculture and Natural Resources

We often hear a lot about managing storm water in urban settings, but we may not think about how it impacts farms. During a rain event, clean rainwater can mix with mud, manure and other contaminants and become wastewater.

To manage storm water on your farm you have to divert rainwater from production areas to keep it clean and to reduce the volume of wastewater. To stay in compliance with the Clean Water Act, agricultural operations must manage wastewater in a way that creates no discharge to surface water resources.

USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) State Executive Director John W. McCauley, announced that funds are now available for Guaranteed Conservation Loans. Conservation loans allow farmers and ranchers to implement conservation practices on their land that will help protect natural resources.

"Guaranteed Conservation Loans are a useful alternative to help operators implement any Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) approved conservation practice including, but not limited to, waste management systems, conservation structures or water conservation measures," said McCauley.

Unlike other FSA guaranteed loan programs, Conservation Loans are not limited to family size farms. Operators who may not normally qualify for an FSA guaranteed farm operating or ownership loan could be eligible for a Guaranteed Conservation Loan.

According to McCauley, the Guaranteed Conservation Loan limit is $1,302,000 and interest rates and terms will vary. The maximum guarantee FSA can issue is 75 percent.

A streamlined application process is available for applicants with a strong financial position. The streamlined process reduces paperwork requirements and eliminates the requirement to provide a cash flow statement and supplementary documentation.

Interested applicants who do not already have a conservation plan approved by NRCS should work with their local NRCS staff to develop a conservation plan. As with other guarantees, lenders can reduce risk, increase liquidity and offer lower rates by selling the guaranteed portion in the secondary market.

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Pendleton County Champions Coalition Thoughts on 24/7 Smoke-free Campuses:

Why smoke-Free campuses?

Tobacco use remains the leading preventable cause of death in this country and secondhand smoke is known to be a cancer-causing agent. Devastating cancers are caused by chewing tobacco products. The Pendleton Champions Coalition seeks to create a healthy atmosphere and to protect the health of all students, visitors and employees of our school system.

Lindie Huffman, Agriculture and Natural Resources

With old man winter just around the corner, it’s important to closely follow local weather forecasts and warnings and be familiar with seasonal weather terminology.  This knowledge could save lives.

Listening to a Specific Area Message Encoding (SAME) Weather Radio is one of the best ways to monitor severe winter weather notices.  These radios only receive weather alerts for your specific county or the surrounding area.  SAME Weather Radios provide an alerting tone when the weather-watching tone occurs for your particular county or designated area.

The holiday season is a time for giving thanks and giving back.  Now is the perfect time of year to teach children the importance of community service and nurture the spirit of giving.

Start by choosing a charity in your own community.  Then talk to youth about the kinds of charities they would like to support.

If an organization is looking for food donations, give your children the money you want to spend on donations and let them choose the food items at the grocery stores. Thoughtful selections give them a chance to think about what some who are less fortunate might need.

The holidays are fast approaching and while you probably haven’t hit your maximum stress level yet, it will surely hit soon enough.  With last minute shopping, problems with turkey baking, finding all your stuffed-away decorations and dealing with relatives right around the corner, it’s expected that everyone will have stressful moments.