Things have been gearing up here at the Chamber and we are excited for what the rest of the year has in store for us. This week has definitely been nothing short of busy for us.

On Tuesday, I attended the Adult Leadership Agriculture Day. This was the first official day of the leadership year. Eileen Coite, Executive Director of Sampson Counties Cooperative Extension has a fun and very informative day planned for us. We kicked off our day with a presentation From David Herring with Hog Slat about Sampson Counties Agriculture and how is affects not only us but all of North Carolina.

We followed that by a tour of the Extension Office. After that we headed off to Prestages Moltonville feed plant. We learned all about how the feed was made and how they operate on a day to day basis. Following the plant we headed to Newton Grove to Warren Farms and enjoyed a delicious lunch and learned all about their 7,000 acre farm operation and a lot about their sweet potatoes.

We headed over to the Sampson Cotton Gin next and they were in their first full day ginning cotton. If this is not something you have witnessed before then the Adult Leadership Class could be for you. It is something not a lot of people get to see in their lifetime and there is a lot to learn about it. We ended our day at the Smithfield Plant here in Clinton with Kenny Cabral giving us a first class tour of the plant operations. We are very grateful for all of our businesses who take the time out of their day to show us what makes Sampson County a great place to live and a better place to work.

There are several things coming up that I would like to remind the community to get involved in. We have our Coat Closet Drive starting next week and going through mid November. Be sure to check out the newspaper for those drop off locations. In November we have Shop Small Saturday on Nov. 25. Show your support to our local business and shop for those perfect Christmas gifts. Last but not least, it is time to sign up for the Clinton Christmas Parade. We have applications at our office so if you are interested in showing your Sampson County pride at the annual parade then stop by or give us a call.

For more information about the events of the Chamber or how to get involved give us a call at 920-592-6177 or email us at [email protected].

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By Kaitlin Adkins

Contributing columnist

Kaitlin Adkins is the executive director at the Clinton-Sampson Chamber of Commerce.