By Meladi Brewer

DailyAdvocate.com

DARKE COUNTY — Great leaders don’t set out to be a leader. They set out to make a difference.

For the OSU Extension, three new leaders have set out with their own goals to help fill the shoes of those who came before them. Caden Buschur, Mercedes McFarland, and Tina McGillvary have taken on various rolls within Darke County and look forward to helping the community grow agriculturally. Despite the Extension being in a new wave, Buschur says Darke County does not have anything to worry about.

“The community can expect OSU Extension to continue providing service as it always has, but with new ideas for programs and events throughout the county,” Buschur said.

Buschur is a long term resident who has lived in the northern part of the county his whole life. Agriculture and natural resources have always been a passion of his.

“I also have a desire to serve people. Both of those interests fit very well with the mission of the OSU Extension,” Buschur said.

He became the Educator, Agriculture, and Natural Resources liaison for the Extension, and he said his choice to work for the extension came from being active in the Versailles FFA Chapter. Growing up on a dairy farm and being active in FFA gave him the chance to meet Sam Custer and Taylor Dill while they were in the Darke County office.

“They both inspired me and helped me see the great things OSU Extension does,” Buschur said. “After graduating from Wright State University, I pursued a career in Extension, and I’ve been enjoying my time here since.”

McGillvary is just as excited to join the team as Buschur, as she not only gets to partake in the betterment in the county, but she gets to be closer to family.

“I love anything to do with local foods, so I am hoping to tie into local foods and local farmers around the area,” McGillvary said. “I really like to teach food safety around preservation.”

She has a passion for fermentation, jams, jellies, etc. It is a passion project of McGillvary that she has had the pleasure of learning about, and she hopes to have a few classes in the future.

“I am looking forward to working with and learning more about Darke County,” McGillvary said. “I’ve already hopped around a little bit, and I love the local food scene around the area and local shops.”

She is looking forward to learning more about the local business, working with them, and really highlighting them. Looking forward to working with individuals across the county, McGillvary would like to highlight information on healthy food, healthy finances, and being a healthy person all together.

“I am looking forward to working with the youth and people of Darke County and working with such an agriculturally rich community,”McFarland said. “I hope I can make a positive impression on youth through 4-H, just as my educator growing up did for me.”

McFarland is grateful to the community for welcoming her and her colleagues with open arms. She has a big agricultural and 4-H background, but McFarland missed the education side of the industry and decided to make the move back to extension.

McFarland said they have a great group of people to work with in the Darke County office. While they are all fairly new to the positions, they agreed it can be a little crazy trying to figure things out, but they are enjoying being able to learn together. The group would like to do some cross programming with each other in order to positively impact all demographics within the community.

“My colleagues and I are always happy to help the people in our area,” Buschur said. “Extension is a great network with many brilliant minds, and part of my job as an educator is to connect community members with specialists who are experts in specific topics.”

All three are excited for the projects they have planned and look forward to working for and with the community.

To learn more about the OSU Extension or to reach out to the educators, visit extension.osu.edu/darke-county-office.

To contact Daily Advocate Reporter Meladi Brewer, email [email protected].