Cheep, Hop, POP!
Balloons, baby chickens and an Easter egg hunt are great ways for children from the Ramer/Grady community to learn about Jesus Christ, and what it takes to be a poultry farmer.
Students listen and learn from “The Balloon Man” at Brown Farms.
On April 2, nearly seventy elementary students, from South Montgomery County Academy, ventured to Brown Farms on an all-day field trip. Brown Farms is located in Ramer, Alabama, which is also my hometown. The farm is owned and operated, by Jeremy and Lindsey Brown along with their two children, Ansley (6) and Lydia Grace (3). I am extremely proud to claim them as part of my family. Together, they have six chicken houses and trucking company that transports chicken litter to area farmers and land owners.
The day started off with a welcome from Lindsey and her friend, Carlos the Puppet. The Easter Bunny also had enough time to make an appearance. After the introduction, Greg Taunton, also known as “The Balloon Man,” gave an inspirational balloon show about Jesus Christ and how He saved us all from sin while using his balloon to tell the story. He pumped a giant balloon full of air, worked his way inside and then knelt down making the balloon pop, displaying how Jesus can take our sins away. Once his show was over he fulfilled the request of every child that was in attendance by making them all a “one of a kind” balloon of their choice.
Greg Taunton shown here climbing into a giant balloon.
Later that day, students received a tour of the chicken houses, given by Jeremy. They were not only amazed at how large the houses were, but also the amount of chickens each house contains, which is around 28,000. They were also able to see a few tractors and trucks, here and there.
Brown Farms owner, Jeremy Brown, speaking to a group of students about poultry farming.
Then it was time for the egg hunt. Many of the students scrambled to find as many eggs as they could get their hands on. I feel quite sure that there was not a single egg left in the yard.
All of the kids received bags filled with gifts from the Alabama Farmers Federation, which included a coloring book, crayons made from soybeans and interesting AG facts on bookmarks. It was a truly great day for this event. The weather was perfect, and as many would say, “You could not have paid for a better day.”
Until next time…
Hay Talk 