Four judges will determine the winning recipes at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Sweet Potato Cooking Contest, Friday, Sept. 8.
The contest is part of UAPB’s Agriculture Field Day, which will be held at the UAPB Agriculture Research Station on Oliver Road, off University Drive. Registration for the field day begins at 7:30 a.m. with welcoming remarks at 8:30 a.m. Field tours begin at 9 a.m. with the last tour at 11 a.m.
The cook-off will begin at 9 a.m. Judges will start evaluating the recipes at 10 a.m. The judges are:
Pine Bluff Mayor Shirley M. Washington
Shirley Washington has served as mayor of Pine Bluff since January 2017. She has been a resident of Pine Bluff for more than 35 years and is a retired educator. She worked 16 years as a school administrator and 16 years as a classroom teacher for the Pine Bluff School District, six years as an Upward Bound instructor at UAPB and six years as a classroom teacher for the Wabbaseka School District. She retired as Pine Bluff district principal in 2010. Washington completed her undergraduate studies at UAPB (then Arkansas Agricultural, Mechanical and Normal College) and earned a master’s degree from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Eva Marie Pearson
Eva Marie Pearson worked at the Pine Bluff Commercial newspaper for 35 years, and spent much of that time as the editor of the Accent section. During her career in journalism, she received more than 300 awards. Her honors include being named a state “Friend of 4-H” and “Friend of Extension.” She also graduated from LeadAR, the Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service’s leadership development program. Since retiring in 2009, she has been involved in a variety of volunteer activities and has contributed to the publicity efforts of several non-profit organizations. Pearson is currently publicity chairwoman and blogger for the Arkansas Extension Homemakers Council and publicity chairwoman for the Salvation Army Auxiliary. She is also a communicant of Trinity Episcopal Church.
Theodis Bunch
Theodis Bunch served as the water resources outreach specialist at the National Water Management Center at Little Rock from 1998 until he retired in 2016. He provided support to the UAPB/Lonoke demonstration farm to conduct water-related technology transfer projects and implemented sustainable agricultural practices targeted toward small-scale and limited-resource farmers. An alumnus of UAPB, Bunch began as a biological aide for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at the National Fish Hatchery at Neosho, Missouri. In 1975, he became a soil conservationist with the Soil Conservation Service (now the Natural Resources Conservation Services.) As a soil conservationist for the South Central Water Management Center in Little Rock from 1995 to 1998, Bunch provided leadership in developing a partnership agreement for NRCS and UAPB to establish the 871-acre Lonoke Demonstration Farm.
Barbara Batiste
Barbara Batiste has served as compliance officer for the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Research and Extension since 2005. She is responsible for ensuring the division is in compliance with all employment and programmatic civil rights laws and regulations. She is an affirmative action officer, freedom of information coordinator and grievance officer, and conducts workplace training in regard to harassment and diversity matters. She earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville in 1993 and a Juris Doctor degree from the William H. Bowen School of Law in Little Rock in 1998. She is licensed to practice law in the state of Arkansas, the Eastern and Western Federal District Courts of Arkansas and the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals.
The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff offers all of its Extension and Research programs and services without discrimination.