Explore More To Host Farm To City Day
June 21, 2018
SPOTLIGHT
By JUSTIN McILWEE
Daily News-Record 6/21/18
HARRISONBURG — If you’ve ever wanted to teach your children how to make cheese or looked at a piece of tractor equipment and wondered what it did, the Explore More Discovery Museum has you covered.
On June 30, Explore More will host its third Farm to City-Explore More with Dairy event from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
“We’ve been doing dairy days at the museum for seven or eight years,” said Melanie Veith, the program manager at the museum. “Three years ago, we decided to expand it and just call the whole thing Farm to City.”
Outside of the museum, Newman Avenue will be closed to traffic from Federal Street to Main Street. The Newman Avenue parking lot will also be closed. In those areas, guests can spend time outdoors exploring farm equipment, including a harvesting combine, and touring the ins and outs of various sizes of tractors. There will also be a cow and calf, as well as goats, for guests to pet and feed. The Shenandoah Valley Beekeepers Association will have a live beehive for people to see. Inside the museum, which is free and open to the public from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., exhibits will focus more on dairy, as guests can learn how to milk a cow, make butter and cheese, and paint using milk products. Access to the museum’s regular exhibits will also be free to the public.
The Farm to City Day has grown from one exhibit on dairy to what it is today.
“About four years ago, [local farmer] Gordon Driver approached us with the idea to include all local farming,” Veith said. “Really, it just took off from there. The first year we had the combine, a tractor and a few activities. Last year, it grew into this really big event.”
Veith said one of the best aspects of the event, which drew 700 visitors in 2017, is that local farmers are on hand throughout the day.
“People are able to ask some questions and get the answers directly from the people who do this for a living,” she said. “It’s been interesting to see parents and all the questions they have.”
Having a Farm to City Day at Explore More is important, Veith said, because it gives families opportunities they might not usually have.
“In a community like this, which we think of as a fairly rural community, kids who don’t actually live on farms or get involved with 4-H and FFA still don’t understand where their food comes from,” she said. “This gives them a chance to see, up close and personal, where food production comes from and why it’s important. And maybe it will give them a greater appreciation for what the farmers in our area do to help feed the whole country.”
Explore more is located at 150 S. Main St.
People are able to ask some questions and get the answers directly.
Katie Showalter of Harrisonburg feeds hay to a goat at an Explore More
Children check out a harvester during an Explore More Discovery Museum event.
Daiquan Bynum (left) and Xzavier Bynum of Harrisonburg play with farm toys in a tub full of corn during an Explore More Discovery Museum event.
By JUSTIN McILWEE
Daily News-Record 6/21/18
HARRISONBURG — If you’ve ever wanted to teach your children how to make cheese or looked at a piece of tractor equipment and wondered what it did, the Explore More Discovery Museum has you covered.
On June 30, Explore More will host its third Farm to City-Explore More with Dairy event from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
“We’ve been doing dairy days at the museum for seven or eight years,” said Melanie Veith, the program manager at the museum. “Three years ago, we decided to expand it and just call the whole thing Farm to City.”
Outside of the museum, Newman Avenue will be closed to traffic from Federal Street to Main Street. The Newman Avenue parking lot will also be closed. In those areas, guests can spend time outdoors exploring farm equipment, including a harvesting combine, and touring the ins and outs of various sizes of tractors. There will also be a cow and calf, as well as goats, for guests to pet and feed. The Shenandoah Valley Beekeepers Association will have a live beehive for people to see. Inside the museum, which is free and open to the public from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., exhibits will focus more on dairy, as guests can learn how to milk a cow, make butter and cheese, and paint using milk products. Access to the museum’s regular exhibits will also be free to the public.
The Farm to City Day has grown from one exhibit on dairy to what it is today.
“About four years ago, [local farmer] Gordon Driver approached us with the idea to include all local farming,” Veith said. “Really, it just took off from there. The first year we had the combine, a tractor and a few activities. Last year, it grew into this really big event.”
Veith said one of the best aspects of the event, which drew 700 visitors in 2017, is that local farmers are on hand throughout the day.
“People are able to ask some questions and get the answers directly from the people who do this for a living,” she said. “It’s been interesting to see parents and all the questions they have.”
Having a Farm to City Day at Explore More is important, Veith said, because it gives families opportunities they might not usually have.
“In a community like this, which we think of as a fairly rural community, kids who don’t actually live on farms or get involved with 4-H and FFA still don’t understand where their food comes from,” she said. “This gives them a chance to see, up close and personal, where food production comes from and why it’s important. And maybe it will give them a greater appreciation for what the farmers in our area do to help feed the whole country.”
Explore more is located at 150 S. Main St.
People are able to ask some questions and get the answers directly.
- Melanie Veith, Explore More
Katie Showalter of Harrisonburg feeds hay to a goat at an Explore More
Children check out a harvester during an Explore More Discovery Museum event.
Daiquan Bynum (left) and Xzavier Bynum of Harrisonburg play with farm toys in a tub full of corn during an Explore More Discovery Museum event.
