Hicks Column: Restaurant Leftover Safety Tips and Healthy Texas Youth Ambassador
By Johanna Hicks, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, Family & Community Health Agent, Hopkins County Restaurant Leftover Safety Tips Meeting friends at a restaurant is common among many folks who enjoy socializing. My husband and I will often share an entrée, but every now and then we have more food than we can eat. Bringing home leftovers for lunch or dinner the next day is becoming ordinary again. Don’t invite bacteria to your...
Hicks: Preserving Your Harvest and Walk Across Texas in Coming Months
By Johanna Hicks, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, Family & Community Health Agent, Hopkins County Preserving Your Harvest Series With more people venturing into growing their own food after the 2020 pandemic, the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service is offering new home gardeners a three-part series of online classes in August on how to preserve their food beyond the harvest. According to my colleague in Castro County, last...
Hicks: Youth Skills Camp Rapidly Approaching and 2021 Arts & Crafts Show
By Johanna Hicks, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, Family & Community Health Agent, Hopkins County Youth Skills Camp Rapidly Approaching It’s baaaaack! After being cancelled last year due to the pandemic, the 2021 Youth Skills Camp is coming back face-to-face. We have a great line-up of activities for the youth. But first, a bit of explanation is due for those who are unfamiliar with Skills Camp. ...
Hicks: Walk Thru Texas History and 4-H Project Tour Day
By Johanna Hicks, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, Family & Community Health Agent, Hopkins County Walk Thru Texas History Three teams (24 individuals) recently participated in “Walk Through Texas History”, as part of Texas A&M AgriLife Extension’s healthy lifestyle initiative. Walk Through Texas History (WTTH) is a 4-week, 416-mile trek through historic places in Texas History, starting with Gonzales, and continuing with...
Hicks: A Fresh Start to a Healthier You Coming Virtually and 4-H Project Tour Day Approaching
A Fresh Start to a Healthier You Coming Virtually Even though most activities are back to full swing, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension is offering a free on-line course called, “A Fresh Start to a Healthier You.” This is a four-session series focusing on the importance of healthy nutrition with an emphasis on increasing fruit and vegetable intake, physical activity, food safety, and food resource management. Session 1 covers creating...
Hicks: Hopkins County 4-H Members Earn Hefty Scholarships
Tucked away at the end of my column las week was mention of two Hopkins County 4-H members who earned sizable scholarships from the Texas 4-H Foundation. I wanted to give them the recognition they deserve for their accomplishments. If you keep up with my column, you have read about these two young ladies, but previously, the amounts of their scholarships were unknown. As it turns out, they each received the highest amount awarded...
Outstanding 4-H, Miller Grove FFA Members, Extension Agent Recognized
Two outstanding 4- members, two Miller Grove FFA members and an Extension Agent received recognition during Monday’s Hopkins County Commissioners Court meeting. Janie Crump Scholarships Extension Agent Johanna Hicks presents a $500 Janie Crump Memorial Scholarship to Jorja Bessonett Hopkins County AgriLife Extension Agents Johanna Hicks and Mario Villarino awarded Jorja Bessonett, a member of Miller Grove 4-H Club, and Savannah...
Hicks: Purpose in the Pedal
Every 4-H’er has a story – an encouraging, empowering story, unique story. Here is a story of just one of our outstanding members, Penelope Deterding. Penelope has been buying chicken feed and chasing pigs around for ears, but running the pedal on a sewing machine isn’t as familiar. Penelope displays her basic 9-patch quilt. The Hopkins County 4-H Sewing Fun Day, held every year, provided an introduction to the 4-H Fashion &...
Hicks: Digital Detox/ Mindful Living
By Johanna Hicks, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, Family & Community Health Agent, Hopkins County Digital Detox/ Mindful Living Today’s world is complicated, unpredictable, and stressful. Use of technology changes the way we approach our work and daily activities. The average person checks their phone several times a day. Time spent on digital devices has replaced our time spent on exercise,...
Hicks: Make Every Bite Count
By Johanna Hicks, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, Family & Community Health Agent, Hopkins County Make Every Bite Count As an Extension educator, I try to take advantage of learning opportunities that come my way. Health/wellness, nutrition, and diabetes education are my main areas of focus. Recently, I sat in on a virtual seminar about the newly released Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The theme...