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Symposium Speakers Will Address 'Trauma Through the Eyes of Youth'
Annual Farm Safety Event is Friday in Elizabethtown
FRANKFORT (March 7, 2018) — A series of speakers will relate how tragedy and crisis in their youth affected their lives in the 25th annual Louis Crosier Farm Safety Symposium on Friday at Elizabethtown Community and Technical College (ECTC).
“A serious accident on the farm, in the home, or on the road can leave physical and psychological scars that can last a lifetime,” Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles said. “As we enter spring planting season, I hope farmers, their families, and their employees will take extra care to protect themselves and others. And I encourage motorists to be patient with farmers moving machinery on the roads.”
Entitled “Trauma Through the Eyes of Youth,” the program was developed by FFA members from Hardin and LaRue counties with the help of Dale Dobson, the Kentucky Department of Agriculture’s (KDA) Farm and Home Safety Program administrator.
Speakers include Anna Ellis, a nurse in Paducah; Julia Shipp, 16, of Elizabethtown, who was seriously injured in a traffic accident involving a drunk driver in October; Rhonda Young of Jefferson County; Adam Butler, who farms in Spencer and Jefferson counties; and state Rep. Brandon Reed of LaRue County.
The winners of the symposium essay contest will be named. The winner will receive a $1,000 scholarship funded by the Dixie Firefighters Association. Participants wrote essays on “How Volunteering Helped Me and My Community.”
The symposium is scheduled for 7-9 p.m. EST Friday at ECTC, 600 College Street Road.
The Farm Safety Symposium kicks off the Dixie Fire School, a three-day event that provides continuing education for emergency responders and youth.
The KDA’s Farm & Home Safety Program travels to schools, civic groups, and major events such as the National Farm Machinery Show and the Kentucky State Fair. Program staff use a rollover tractor simulator, a miniature grain bin and wagon, grain rescue tubes, a power takeoff (PTO), an anhydrous ammonia tank, and all-terrain vehicles (ATV) to demonstrate some of the hazards of farming and rural life. The program reaches about 1.5 million people a year.