Horses, and cows, and pigs-oh, my!

These are just some of the things K-5 students from all four county schools got to enjoy up close and personal during today’s annual Kindergarten Farm Tour held at the Tom Harbin Ag Center.

The Kindergarten Tour is sponsored by the Luverne Kiwanis Club.

Students were able to pet horses, cows, hold baby chicks, and even enjoy a visit with Heidi, the pot-bellied pig.

“We enjoy doing this each year for the kids,” Perry Catrett, manager of Luverne Co-Op, said. “This is a real learning experience for many of them because they’ve never been this close to a farm animal.”

Catrett’s daughters, Cameron and Cassidy, are members of the Crenshaw County Junior Cattlemen’s Club; they show their cows each year at the Farm Tour.

The kindergarteners also visited with Smoky the Bear, and Ruby Raindrop, who teaches how to keep the water clean for generations to come.

Sharon Kilcrease was also on hand this year with her pot-bellied pig, Heidi, a donkey that pulls a cart, and “Whoopi Goldberg”, a huge red rooster.

“This is always so much fun, and it’s a lot of fun to see the looks and smiles on the kids’ faces,” she said.

After the Farm Tour, the children were fed lunch inside the Ag Center before heading back to school.