—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.