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Chirps and Children’s laughter filled Frank Lorino Park as it hosted this year’s Hamblen County Farm Day.

Students with FFA, 4H, the men and women from the Farm Bureau and several agriculture families welcomed students from Hamblen County Schools to give them a glimpse of farm life.

“Our goal is to emulate what it would look like on a day at the farm,” said Jennifer Overbay, Morristown Hamblen East High School Agriculture Teacher. “Our goal is to help those who are disconnected from farming, learn what it’s like every day on a farm.

“They may not know anything about farming and get their information from social media or television and this is our one day to make a positive impact on them regarding farming.”

How they create a day in the life of a farmer is with more thane 40 interactive booths around the park with activities that farmers have to do on a daily basis such as milking a cow.

“Each booth is manned by a student or a professional and they will explain the animal or explain the task that we have to do every day like shaving a sheep or wrangling a cow,” Overbay said.

Farm Day isn’t new to the county; it’s been happening for the past 40 years and it’s all thanks to one man, Rusty Rouse.

Originally Rouse invited kids to his personal farm to share with them the life of farming, and over the years it has grown to allow kids from the entire district to learn about agriculture.

“Rusty is a great advocate for agriculture,” Overbay said. “It started with him inviting kids to his house to teach them about farming because he wanted to educate the youth on this industry that greatly affects our daily life.

“We owe it all to him, because of his love of farming Farm Day is now a Hamblen County sanctioned field day.”

Although this event is aimed at impacting younger kids, many of Overbay’s students leave learning something as well.

“Most of my students are engaged with social media and this opportunity forces them to speak with others and gives them a chance to work on their communication skills,” she said. “This event helps them with public speaking as they explain their booths with the kids and their parents.”

“It’s also amazing to hear their stories after it’s all over. They’ll tell me how they are so tired and worn out, but how one kid thanked them or gave them a hug and it made it all worth it in the end.”

With over 700 kindergartners receiving a firsthand experience on farm life, Overbay hopes this experience sticks with them.

“We really hope that they leave more knowledge about farming,” she said. “We hope that one day someone will say a misconception about farming and they will be able to step in and say ‘hey that’s not right this is actually what is right.’”