—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, August 31, 1974 34 County 4-H Queens Begin Reign by; Sally Bair Farm Feature Writer Two attractive, fresh-faced teenagers are representing the more than 3000 4-H’ers in Lancaster County as their queens. The 1974 queens agree that meeting people, having fun and learning responsibility are three of the biggest advantages of being a 4-H member. Senior queen is Susan Harrold, 15, who represented the Garden Spot Home Economics club in the contest. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Don A. Harrold, 208 West Conestoga Street, New Holland, and is a junior at Garden Spot High School. Thirteen-year-old Alice Kay Stauffer is the new junior 4- H queen. She was selected by the Lancaster County 4-H Holstein Club, and is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Stauffer, Ephrata, RDI. Susan has taken sewing for a project each of her seven years as a 4-H’er. She has graduated to more difficult projects, and this year made a jacket dress out of pet dog Wooly. polyester. The trick was that she selected a plaid fabric, and she matched it all perfectly. Last year she was a semi-finalist at district competition with a red gingham checked polyester dress. Susan has been a teen leader for three years, and also served her club as treasurer and song leader. Her biggest job this year was being coordinator for the club’s annual fashion show, a community event which this year drew 250 people to see the girls’ fashions. There are 56 girls in the club, so coordinating was no small matter. Her mother attested to the fact that she spent many hours daily on the phone checking on details. The fashion show theme was “4-H takes a nostalgic look at fashion”, and they selected old music and appropriate decorations. After all her experience in her local club, Susan also helped read the script for the junior dress revue at the county level. Susan said she became mterested in jommg 4-Hthrough her mother who herself is an accomplished seamstress, and who was anxious for Susan to leam to sew. A member of 4-H County Council, Susan has par ticipated in other 4-H activities as well. She attended 4-H Club Congress at Penn State last year and this year at tended the Teen Leadership conference at Dublin Gap m Cumberland County. Last summer Susan hosted a girl from Michigan, and this year she shared in hosting a 4- H’er from Maine. As a teen leader, Susan says she helps with the organization of the club, and iso helps teach others sewing practices. She says she has “enjoyed every minute” of being a 4-H’er. One of the most important things about 4-H, according to Susan, is that “every year is a learning experience. I’ve leally learned responsibility and leadership.” She adds, “I’ve met a lot of people and had a lot of fun through 4-H.” Susan is far from idle when she’s not doing things >n 4-H. She is working at the Amish Country Motel as a liteguaru this summer. Susan began taking swimming lessons when she was four, and for the past two years she has helped teach swimming at the community pool. About her lifeguard job she says, “It’s interesting. I meet a lot of nice people. Everyone is really intrigued with the Amish, and they always ask me if I am Amish.” Susan is an avid tennis player and participated in a three-week tennis camp at Racquet Club West this summer. She plays varsity tennis at Garden Spot. She also played hockey one year and is on the yearbook staff. As a member of the color guard, Susan has been practicing with the band every night since August 12 in order to be ready for the football season. Her goal for this winter is to begin volunteer work at Ephrata Community Hospital to help her determine if she would like to pursue nursing as a career. Susan is a member of Trinity Lutheran Church in New Holland and belongs to its youth group. Her hobbies include playing tennis, obviously. She also enjoys riding a bicycle and reading and she says, “I would like to get into knitting and crocheting. I like to work with my hands and I think it would be relaxing after being in school all day.” Susan is proud of her sewing accomplishments, and after taking a course in sewing in school last year she says, “I’m surprised at the things I do automatically. I have really learned tremendously in 4-H.” She said her 4- H experience helps her when she’s pressing her clothes and when she’s buying ready-made clothes, although she’s making “more and more” of her own clothes. She said she’s much more critical in clothing stores and noted, “I notice flaws, and see that plaids are not matched properly. You can really tell when things are store bought and home made because plaids always match in home sewn garments.” She says, “It’s very disappointing sometimes.” About the queen contest, Susan says, “I was very surprised when they said my name -1 didn’t think I had it. I am especially looking forward to the year as queen. It will be very nice to ride in parades instead of walking! ” Alice Kay Stauffer is a little more reticent than Susan, but she certainly possesses a broad knowledge of 4-H because of her many projects. She has been a 4-H’er for five years, and presently owns four head of Holsteins as a member of the Lancaster County Holstein 4-H Club. One of her animals, which she bred herself, was bought by the Lancaster County Holstein Club and presented to its youth winner on Field Day. In addition to the dairy club, Alice Kay is a member of Feeding calves is one of the chores Alice Kay per forms regularly at Sunny Craft Farms. A lovely plaid jacket dress was Susan’s free lance project this summer. the B-Clay Cooking Club, and this year is learning “cooking over coals”. In past years she has taken projects in baking, packing a meal, tasty snacks and tricks for treats. Her mother says she makes the best cookies in the house, so she must be learning something from those cooking projects! Alice Kay is president of the cooking club this year and is game leader for the Holstein Club. Entering the ninth grade at Ephrata High School this fall, Alice Kay is a member of the hockey team and hopes to be a member of the basketball team. As a member of the hockey team she is already practicing nearly four hours a day. She is also a member of the Hopeland United Methodist Church and will become a member of its youth group this fall. One of Alice Kay’s questions in the queen contest was concerned with what she does to help others. She related it to her home life and explained some of the chores she has around the farm. She helps care for the chickens, feeds the calves and sometimes helps to milk. She also cares for her horse, Mister, which she got as a Christmas present two years ago, and helps around the house. It is her job nightly to empty the water fountains and “carry out the dead chickens” - with 33,000 broilers, there’s bound to be some necessity for that! Being the youngest of five children - one brother and three sisters - Alice Kay just naturally had to follow their footsteps and become a 4-H’er. She is also following something of a family tradition • her sister Rhoda was a 4- H queen, too. Her father and brother farm about 75 acres at Sunny Craft farm, just outside of Ephrata, and they are milking about 32 Holsteins. When asked how she liked living on the farm and all the hard work that goes with it, Alice Kay said philosophically, “I was talking it over with my sister Nan and we agreed that it helps you when you grow older.” She added, ‘ ‘l’d much rather live on a farm than in a city somewhere.” In her spare time Alice Kay likes to swim at the Ephrata pool and ride her horse. About 4-H, Alice Kay said, “You learn a lot - it’s fun. I recommend that others join.” In the written part of the forms for the queen contest, Alice Kay answered the question “what 4-H means to me” by saying in part, “It means having fun, meeting people and learning responsibility.” Both Alice Kay and Susan participated in preliminary competition before the contest during the Achievement Day program where there were five finalists in each division. As queens, the girls will primarily be representing 4-H at various county fairs and parades and at several 4-H banquets in the fall. Their first joint appearance was on WGAL television this week. Both girls are well-spoken and informed about 4-H, and are willing to speak out about the advantages they feel they have gained from being 4-H members. They were chosen to represent all 4-H’ers, so why not put them to work and invite them to discuss 4-H with an organization to which you belong. You just might succeed in in troducing someone to the wide, wide world of 4-H and its unlimited horizons.
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