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Show i I Green Thu rubers Give Outline of Program ( , ', Three officials of the Green Thumb program met April 6 with Green Thumb workers from Tropic and Escalante at the Scout House in Tropic. The three, David Hartwlg, regional western director; Yvonne Wheaton, Utah state director; and Mont Robbins, area supervisor included Green Thumb workers in Garfield County on their statewide tour during which they visited with workers all over Utah. The program, designed to be useful and meaningful to be useful and meaning ful employment to senior citizens, has been in operation in Garfield county where seniors have been employed in a variety of jobs. Attending the morning meeting were Royal Alvey and Sherman Baugh, Tropic, who last year worked on Tropic's new park, planting approximately 100 trees and planting grass as well as performing other tasks associated with the park, roads, and spring development. From Escalante, Twila Mclnelly and LaRetta Spencer explained their activities as Green Thumb employees. The two are employed with the senior nutrition program and as library aids at the Escalante High School. Director Hartwig who oversees the program in 12 western states, said that he is generally optimistic about the future of the program despite the approximately four percent cutback in funds for this year's program. He said the program has good support in Congress. Green Thumb is sponsored by the National Farmers Union and operates principally in rural areas: During their Utah tour, Hartwig, Wheaton and Robison visited with Green Thumb workers in Nephi, Ephraim, Mayfield, Castledale, Huntington, East Carbon, Moab, and Blanding. They also stopped in Loa, Richfield, Junction and Panguitch, where they met with workers in the western part of Garfield County. After leaving Tropic, the group planned to meet with Green Thumpers in Kanab, Hurricane, St. George and the Iron County area before returning to Utah's Salt Lake City Green Thumb headquarters. Green Thumb ad- ministrators are proud of their record which shows that administrative costs for the program run consistently between 10 and 12 percent, far less than most. The number of Green Thumb workers in the 12 western states under Hartwig's jurisdiction varies between 17,000 and 22.000. It is the only Title Five program which applies more specifically to rural areas with emphasis on seniors serving all ages, not just each other. One of the bigest problems, Hartwig says, is that even when the program is functioning efficiently and well in rural areas, many people are unaware of its activities because credit often goes to the schools, county or city governments or other entites for whom the employee is working rather than to the Green Thumb program which is actually paying the workers. Recent television commercials, donated by the stations, have served to alert the public to Green Thumb's activities as well as local newspaper coverage which has let people know that workers in nutrition programs, conservation, libraries, information centers, teacher's aides, dispatching and many other capacities in their area may be Green Thumb employees working under one of the most productive and unique programs in the nation. |