The Circle Banner - Anyone can love the mountains, but it takes a soul to love the pairie

By Tandi Kassner & Marcie Brost

If you are new to McCone County Extension, Tandi Kassner has worked for the McCone County Extension Office for almost 14 years.She worked as an Administrative Assistant and applied for the Ag and 4-H Extension Agent position in October.She has a bachelor's in Ag Business, concentration in Farm and Ranch Management from the University of Tennessee @ Martin, and will be returning to college to obtain her master's degree (Ag Education) through MSU Bozeman in the spring.She has been married for 12 years to Brian Kassner and have 5 children. Adisyn Wahl, Tripp Wahl, Aybrie Kassner, Kruiz Kassner and Oaklie Kassner. She stays busy with extracurricular events such as Volleyball, Football, Basketball, Shooting Sports, 4-H, Baseball and Softball. Sports alone keep them busy but they wouldn't know any different and love to watch our local Wildcats! She lived in Circle all her life and has worked a few jobs throughout her time here. Tandi worked as a Certified Nurses Assistant at the McCone County Health Center for 7 years, at Wells Fargo Bank for 3 and the remainder has been spent within Extension (14 years). When the opportunity to apply for th Extension Agent position she knew it was the right direction. Tandi has worked very hard the last 4 years to earn a degree online on top of working in the office, household obligations, and chasing after kids, this was the perfect transition for her and her family. Tandi states "When you start a new position your mind swarms with ideas, plans, and small/big changes to make. Changes can be scary, and intimidating or you could be completely against change. No matter where your stance is, change happens. Embracing change and pivoting a different way or tweaking things that have worked for years is okay. Trying new things is a beautiful thing and opens up so many opportunities for success, growth, and learning. With that being said, I am so excited to bring new views to McCone County Extension. As an Ag and 4-H Agent, it is important to bring crucial topics about Agriculture, Family and Consumer Science, 4-H, and topics addressing the needs/interests of the community. We will start the new year with a few changes, and it will begin with a newsletter. The newsletter will be available at the Post Office, Extension Office, and online." " Each month the Extension office will put on about 2-3 classes and the topics will vary between Agriculture, FCS, 4-H etc. Some things will remain the same as they work well to get information out including the news column which will be posted in the Circle Banner and will have the new name of "The Extension Connection". The radio spot that takes place at the beginning of each month will still occur. This allows Extension to reach more of an audience and get essential topics out to listening ears. I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to the previous county agent and friend Ken Nelson. He was the McCone County Agent for 17 years, just shy of 40 years in Extension. He retired in July and moved back to his family home place in South Dakota. He was a dedicated agent for many years and was/is a wealth of knowledge. Ken knows just how to make people smile and always offered a helping hand where needed. " Tandi like apples and oranges equally.

What is Extension? What do they do? How can they be helpful?

MSU if you live in Montana, we live near you. There are 94 MSU Extension agents and 26 subject matter experts serving local needs in 56 counties and 7 reservations with one mission: to improve the lives of Montana citizens by providing unbiased, research-based education and information that integrates learning, discovery, and engagement to strengthen the social,

economic and environmental well-being of individuals, families, and communities . McCone County Extension works in collaboration with local partners, producers, families, and youth to identify emerging needs, then we plan and prioritize work to support those needs. We create and extend resources to serve the interests of individuals, families, and communities.