WESTON RANCH - There was Mattie, the Boer goat. And there were Jessie, the black Labrador, and his canine partner Dozer, the amiable three-year-old pit bull mix from the San Joaquin Sheriff’s Department K-9 unit. Lavi, a three-year-old pet rabbit, made a special appearance too that was made possible by eighth grader Kerynne Powell.

They were all part of the campus-wide extravaganza Friday which gave Great Valley School students a taste of a day at the farm. The event was the 10th annual Ag Day, but it was unlike prior ones that the school had seen before.

“Each year, it’s gotten bigger and better,” said Jeanne Pacheco who was coordinator of this year’s Ag Day.

And each annual celebration features a different theme, she explained.

“This year, the focus is on strawberry,” she said.

To emphasize that theme, each Great Valley student was given a small potted strawberry to plant home courtesy of the Strawberry Council which gave a grant for this year’s Ag Day. Everyone also had a taste of fresh strawberries, and the teachers made strawberry jam for dessert, Pacheco said.

The other big sponsor which makes this farm day a perenially big success every year, she said, is the Parent Teacher Club which not only gives the Ag Day program “a large amount of money” but also supports the educational undertaking in the form of volunteer time and treasure, added Pacheco who teaches fourth grade at Great Valley.

Among the many parents who stepped up to help at the event Friday was Michelle Aranton who has been volunteering every year “since my kids were in kindergarten.” In fact, her oldest kid, Cecilia, who is now a student at Delta College, was also there helping her mother and head custodian Mitch DeSpain barbecue the hot dogs that were served at lunch for the Ag Day presenters. Michelle still has three children at Great Valley - Jonathan in sixth grade, Adrianna in fifth grade, and Daniel in third grade.

Other volunteers who came to help were Weston Ranch High and Lathrop High students in leadership programs. FFA students from these two campuses also were among the more than two-dozen booths and attractions that help made Ag Day memorable and educational for the Great Valley students.

Among the presenters was Ron Howe of the Manteca Historical Society and Museum who brought along Grandpa’s Trunk. It’s Grandma’s Trunk if the presenter is a female member of the historical society.

“I talked about tools on the farm and what grandma used in the kitchen,” Howe said of the gist of his presentation.

Author Loretta Ichord of Hickman, an annual figure at the Ag Day event for the last several years, shares with the students historical stuff that her books are made of - the early pioneers, the gold miners, the early cowboys and the Oregon Trail. To spice up her presentation, she comes to the event dressed up like one of the early pioneers. Ichord is the author of five books of this genre to date.

Ag Day at Great Valley is so popular among the students, parents and teachers that preparations even now are being made for the one next year. In fact, small flyers were already being distributed on Friday to mark the date for the 11th annual Ag Day - May 3, 2013.