Music on Main celebrates agriculture

Music on Main celebrated agriculture last Friday evening with music by local band, The Boys, a tractor show and a pedal-pull tractor competition for kids. At the event, presenting sponsor Henry County Farm Bureau, a nonprofit, donated $13,000 to Mt. Pleasant High School's newly reinstated Future Farms of America program.

John Sandbothe, the regional manager for Henry County Farm Bureau, said the nonprofit has sponsored the event for the last five years.

'Agriculture plays a big role in Henry County's economy and the event is just a great way to thank farmers and celebrate agriculture,” Sandbothe said.

Steven Yaley, the president of the organization, also noted that the event helps 'promote agriculture” and allows for an opportunity for people to discuss agriculture issues.

'We really want to support education of agriculture in schools and advocate for farmers,” Yaley said about their donation to the local FFA program.

'This came out of a good partnership with the chamber,” Yaley said.

Matthew Jones, the new agriculture teacher at Mt. Pleasant High School said the support from the community in reviving the program has been wonderful. The FFA program was originally discontinued at Mt. Pleasant High School about 30 years ago, but was brought back this past school year thanks to the support of the community and a specific Ag Task Force that helped raise the funds to support the program for the next three years. As of right now, the task force has raised about $270,000 of their $300,000 goal.

'I'm really so thankful for the support and that we get to learn together through this new experience,” Jones said.

Jones also noted that the program is really great for students to gain new experiences in agriculture.

'About half the students in my class have no connection to farming so we all get to start from the very basics together,” Jones said.

The event, hosted by the Main Street Mt. Pleasant, was originally slated for June 21 but got pushed back to September due to monsoons and flooding.

'It was supposed to celebrate the beginning of planting,” Lisa Oetken, director of Main Street, said. Music on Main, which generally occurs twice each summer, was started by the Mt. Pleasant Chamber about 15 years ago, but was taken on by Main Street just last year. Oetken noted that several hundred people usually attend in June because the event is a convenient time to hold class reunions. The director anticipated slightly lower numbers due to the rescheduling.

But even with the two month delay, local residents showed up to enjoy the food and music.

Brian and Darla Morris said that they're usually too busy helping with the event to enjoy it but that this year, with additional volunteers from the FFA chapter, the couple could sit back and listen to the music.

'We're volunteers with the chamber and usually we're helping with the pork producers … we finally get a night off to enjoy,” Brian said.

'I like the music and seeing people enjoy the park. It's a great place to gather,” Brian continued.

The Morris' sat with a sizable crowd as The Boys performed throughout the evening. Local farmers and town residents mingled throughout the event.

Mt. Pleasant's local tractor club brought out ten tractors for display.

Jerry Mabeus, a corn, beans, cattle and hog farmer, brought his thirteen-foot tall combine harvester into town to display.

'It's good for city people to see farming products … I usually bring about two pieces of equipment each year,” Mabeus said.

When asked what he enjoyed most about the event he said, 'It's all good. We get to see people and meet people. There's good music and it's relaxing.”