County officials and local farmers will soon get the chance to walk in each others? shoes. Howard County Executive Jim Robey will trade his desk for a tractor, while horse farmer Bob Mancuso will get a taste of running the county next Tuesday.
“We might have to give him a pitchfork,” Mancuso said of Robey. “He might have the opportunity to muck a stall,” a term for cleaning up after horses.
Meanwhile, Mancuso, owner of Chanceland Farms, joked he might try to lower taxes or cancel parking tickets.
The two will trade jobs as part of the third annual Farm-City Celebration, a 15-day event aimed at linking city folks with farm life in the county.
“It?s a celebration of the oldest industry in the county,” said Ginger Myers, agriculture marketing specialist at the Howard County Economic Development Authority. “We are aiming to raise the consciousness level that agriculture is alive and well.”
The celebration opens Saturday at the Living Heritage Farm Museum in West Friendship, with demonstrations, crafts and live entertainment.
The celebration also includes farmer?s markets, pumpkin growing contests, storytime and crafts. The events are spread over three weekends at six county farms and several libraries.
