WELCOME NEW EXTENSION AGENT

By Alicia Tyler, KC Master Gardener 1998

The long wait is over. He’s here! The West Virginia University Extension Service, in conjunction with the Kanawha County Commission, has named Dave Cooke the new Extension Agent for Kanawha County. 

On August 10, 2004, Master Gardeners gathered to welcome Dave, who briefly talked about his background in the Extension Service and energized the group with his enthusiasm for gardening and vision for “growing” community groups.

Dave has quickly acclimated to the work of an extension agent in a busy urban county, meeting with extension staff, identifying key community resources, answering questions from the public, and being interviewed by the media.  Clearly, this is the work he loves – community development.

Dave comes to Kanawha County with a wealth of experience and know-how. He has 12 years of experience as an extension agent in southern West Virginia, most recently in Boone County. Although he was originally hired to do community and economic development, he quickly got involved in horticulture. He learned through a research project of the best mulch for ginseng in Boone, Lincoln, and Logan Counties. After trying materials such as hay, straw, and newspaper, he says with a smile, they found that natural leaf litter in the woods works best. 

And so began Dave’s fascination with growing ginseng, which culminated in his master’s thesis: The Tiger in the Hollow: American Ginseng and the Law.  (As his son kidded, the heavy tome would make a good doorstop.) Dave believes that cultivating ginseng can be an engine for economic development, and he has spread the word via training videos and workshops in West Virginia and other states. Can ginseng be grown in a wooded urban garden?  “Yes,” he says, “and city gardeners can grow other medicinal plants such as goldenseal and black cohosh, which has become a popular ornamental.”

Dave is no stranger to our Master Gardener program.  Ten years ago, he was a student in the first Master Gardener training program in Kanawha County. Today, he is enthusiastic about opportunities for growth. One example is training Master Gardeners to work with Junior Master Gardeners, working cooperatively with the youth gardening program at West Virginia State University and in other counties. There are different options in youth gardening, he explains, from one class to a full-blown certification program. Another example of growth is that 34 students will begin a MG training program in September.  

Dave’s experience in extension has involved a variety of community programs.  He helped develop programs for training medical and other health professions students in community settings. He worked with a program to help disadvantaged students prepare for college and entry into the health professions. He has provided training in health promotion programs such as diabetes education. He has written grants. One project he is especially proud of is development of a wellness trail in Boone County, which involved construction of a walking bridge over the Coal River, uniting both parts of the county.

What is the most important thing he has learned about working with community volunteers?  He says without hesitation, “The true test of success is that the program continues when I leave.” Dave credits training in community development and leadership at the Brushy Fork Institute at Berea College with helping him develop the skills he has honed as an extension agent. Berea College is where he received his bachelor’s degree in industrial arts education.

Simply put, a good leader pulls together volunteers with like interests and dissimilar skills to work effectively. First, the group needs to answer the question, “What is the vision?”  And how do you get from the vision to results on the ground? “It’s like eating an elephant,” he explains, “you do it one bite at a time.”

Dave Cooke was born in Williamson, in the heart of the coalfields, and he grew up in Huntington. His wife, Kathy Shrider, is an adjunct professor at the University of Charleston, where she is finishing her MBA. She is also the tech prep coordinator for the counties of Kanawha, Putnam, Clay, and Fayette.  Dave and Kathy have two children:  Sam, age 9, and Mary Grace, age 2.

We give Dave and his family a warm welcome!