JAMES BELL
Hays Post
Agent Bernie Unruh recently said goodbye after three decades with K-State Research and Extension.
While she had only been with the Cottonwood Extension District in Hays for the last few years, she had been a longtime agent for the K-State-based organization, including a previous stint in Hays.
"I definitely thought I was going to stay for five years and help make a difference," Unruh said. "And you know, lots of the programs are things that we're working on. But sometimes things do just come up, and the time seemed right."
She is leaving the district to pursue an opportunity with the Farm Service Agency in Barton County but said her appreciation for the Extension remains.
"Definitely have Extension in my heart," Unruh said. "And I just have this desire not only to learn myself, but to help others learn. Not everybody has an opportunity to go to college. My parents didn't go to college. So, I was kind of the first one out of the house to head to K-State and get my home economics education degree."
After college, Unruh said she went to work at the Extension district in Effingham.
"Effingham actually has the FSA office, and it also has the Extension office, then the courthouse houses the rest of the county offices," Unruh said. "So, we worked both in Atchison and Effingham, but it was a great place to start. And I learned a lot from the ag agent at that time. ... He'd only been there 18 months, and so we really did boost the 4-H program and learn new things."
She would then move to Ellis County for her first stint with the extension district in Hays. And those connections made in the '80s live on.
"I've really enjoyed it. … Some of the young people who were just graduating out of 4-H are in the workforce doing great things and so I love to see them," she said. "I've kept up with those young people and seeing the wonderful things that 4-H did for them."
While the connections have remained, she said the work of the Extension districts has shifted with the times.
"One of my first projects that people will probably laugh at now, but I had Elwin Holmes from K-State come out to Effingham," Unruh said. "And we had a sewing machine workshop. And so, our older mechanical sewing machines, we took them apart, he brought cleaning fluids and oil and grease, and we put some machines back together. And he made sure that they were running before the end of the day."
To this day, she said some in Effingham remember those lessons.
"But that's not something we do anymore," Unruh said. "We don't have as many diverse specialists at K-State, and so you know, even in the family consumer science or at that time, it was home-ec, we have fewer and fewer people who are able to come out and do programs out in our community."
As times as focus has changed in the district, the desire to foster learning and engagement grew.
"We started writing our programs, and then as time went on, there were things that we definitely are focusing on health and wellness of almost solely now," Unruh said. "We still are definitely wanting to work with child development, family development, parenting classes, things like that."
And the scope of wellness, she said, takes a variety of forms.
"It's not only just putting good food on our plate and exercising. We need good mental health and good family relationships, good community relationships," Unruh said.
Key to that effort is learning.
"From my viewpoint, I just totally, really love to see people taking the opportunity to learn — no matter what age you are," Unruh said. "So, all ages, keep learning, find a book, get online. You know, you can take lots of classes totally free. And you get to decide what you want to learn."