By Dann Stuart, NE & Mid-Atlantic Regions Public Affairs Specialist

It may not have been as big as the real thing in Beijing but 75 area youth recently competed at the 1st Annual FSA Farm Olympics during the 2008 Delaware State Fair.

The event was organized and hosted by employees at the Delaware Farm Service Agency

"We had three age groups of children competing in events that were not only farm related to but also a healthy alternative activity," said Delaware's State Executive Director Richard Bergold. "Each age group had one hour to compete in the five events."

According to Bergold, they started the day by giving each participant a colored bandana and a rodeo number. At that time we put together 5 teams of 5 kids each and started our first event, "The Farm Animal Marathon."

The teams had hats that looked like various farm animals and they had to race to the finish line enacting the animal on their head.

"We not only awarded the team that finished the fastest, we also gave prizes to the Best Cow, Pig, Horse and Duck," said Bergold.

The second event was the "Watermelon Seed Spitting Contest". The team gathered around a tarp with a blue FSA bucket in the middle. Each participant was given a piece of seeded watermelon and they had three minutes to spit as many seeds as possible in the bucket.

The next event was "Scoop the Poop".

Carrie Stracher, a Program Technician in Kent County, and her husband Joe built miniature stalls for clean-out. The teams had to use plastic pitch forks and shovels to remove the "poop" (actually very realistic-looking painted foam) from the straw and transport it with a plastic wheelbarrow to a bucket in the other stall. They were not permitted to use their hands, and the winner of the event was the fastest team to clean the stall.

Bergold says he really enjoyed helping the kids dig through the straw to make sure they scooped all of the poop.

The final event was a "Potato Sack Relay."

"It was unbelievable to see the agility the kids had hopping in potato sacks," said Bergold. "While their team member was hopping up and back the relay course, the rest of the team members and captains were cheering on their team mates."

After each age group we had a ceremony issuing awards to the teams that won each event. Every participant was presented a trophy for participation and the event winners received FSA sling packs and FSA hats.

"There was nothing better then seeing 75 kids walking around the fair promoting Farm Service Agency," Bergold said.

Bergold praised the hard work of the Olympic Committee preparing for the event and the 20 employees who volunteered on the day of the Olympics to help keep things running smoothly.

"The staff provided a great outreach event," said Bergold. "We had a lot of great reviews from our event, and many kids would like to return next year."

Delaware's Secretary of Agriculture, Michael Scuse, stated that "this was a terrific idea." When he walked by the event it looked like all the kids, along with the FSA staff, were having a great time.

Animal Marathon with New Castle County PT Janet Hildebrand judging the children during the race

Watermelon seed spitting contest with Sussex County Pt's Carrie and Harry Hudson.

"Scoop the Poop" contest with State Executive Director Richard Bergold and Colleen Reed, a PT from Sussex County.