Strafford County Programs
Cooperative Extension staff in Strafford County make an important difference in specific ways, among them:
Along the 34-mile length of the river, Cocheco River Watershed Coalition volunteers have been monitoring water quality for the past several years. From June through September, they fan out with buckets and meters to test at 10 sites every two weeks. In partnership with NH Dept. of Environmental Services Volunteer River Assessment Program, they produce a body of data used by their community officials to plan and manage the resources of their communities. Strafford County UNH Cooperative Extension provides educational programs and support to the group.
Master Gardener volunteers developed a gardening curriculum and worked with children at Dover Housing Authority on a gardening project. Master Gardeners also worked with students at Mastway School in Lee and at Oyster River Middle School.
Three Strafford County garden centers, working in collaboration with UNH Cooperative Extension, provided marketing sites for the Winter Rose Poinsettia variety for production as a cut flower. Results were positive and Prof. Fisher unveiled the new variety at UNH this past winter.
Families facing major challenges over custody issues and court involvement took part in a six-session parenting series, increasing their skills in handling difficult behavior, the availability of community resources and learning positive strategies to manage stress.
Middleton and Farmington residents, looking for help in prioritizing needs and developing a vision for their communities’ youth, looked to UNH Cooperative Extension for help. A Community Youth Forum helped prioritize needs, looked at initial and long-term goals, and developed action steps to accomplish them.
Direct teaching and application of science-based silvicultural practices, used to sustain economic timber production and maintain a healthy working landscape, helped 20 landowners with 1,350 acres combined directly last year, and another 2,023 acres for 18 landowners through referrals to professional forestry consultants. This direct approach proves effective, evidenced by more thoughtful harvesting, improved residual stand quality and water quality, and proper regeneration cuttings on those sites.
The Nutrition Connections program graduated 97 limited-resource adults from group and in-home class series. Participants learned how to eat healthier and exercise more for better weight control and disease prevention, plan and prepare quick and easy meals, save money at the supermarket, and avoid food-borne illness.
About 540 Head Start and elementary school children learned how to eat better during sessions offered in classrooms, after-school settings and summer programs. Some 2,240 Food Stamp households in the county received three issues of Nutrition Connections’ Smart Choices newsletter as part of a social marketing initiative to promote fruit and vegetable consumption, shopping skills, weight control and fitness.
Some 130 employees at the Strafford County office complex participated in an eight-week, pedometer-assisted walking program calledSmart Steps, jointly sponsored by UNH Cooperative Extension and the Strafford County commissioners. Most participants have gone on to make increased physical activity a permanent part of their lifestyle.
