64 —Lancaster Farming, Saturday, Dec. 11, 1976 Farm women treated by Harvesiore Cheryl Tevis By JOANNE SPAHR STRASBURG, Pa. - Over 350 women from Lancaster, Berks, Chester, Lebanon, and Lehigh Counties plus several representing South Central New Jersey and parts of Maryland, assembled at Historic Strasburg Restaurant, here, last Wednesday, to be wined, dined, and entertained by Penn Jersey Harvestore of New Holland. This annual luncheon is in its ninth year now, and has grown nearly ten times since the first gathering back in 1968 when 35 to 40 owners’ wives were guests. According to Robert McLean, sales manager for the company, the purpose of the get-together was to provide the ladies with a pleasant afternoon com prised of good company and light entertainment. And, from the din of over 350 women happily chatting “I’ll show you how to make better feed than you expected for a lot less money and hassle than you expected”. TAM AGRi CORP. Maybe you’re still struggling with a PTO mixer Or buying complete feed Either way, I can show you how to cut feed costs, save a lot of time and deliver a superb feed Our systems are flexible so no set-up is too big or too small Just give us a call mxmn SOLD AND SERVICED BY: PHONE (717) 432-3376 RD. 1, MOUNTAIN RD„ DILLSBURG, PA. 17019 and socializing, it appeared that the goal was ac complished. The first item on the agenda was a movie discussing the Harvestore product, and farm wives’ reactions to it. Foiling this, Mrs. Dottie Pettit, national winner in Harvestore’s essay contest, spoke on her feelings about Harvestores and her experiences as the national essay winner. The Pettits are New Jersey dairy farmers who now own five of ■ the big blue silos. Later on in the program, Cheyl Tevis, associate editor of Farm Wife News, a national magazine written specifically for farm women, spoke on the farm wife’s role in agriculture. - Saying that farming has always been open to women, Miss Tevis went on to name dates and accomplishments of women in agriculture. Starting bat* in pioneer days, she noted that when New York State was first settled by the Dutch, there are records of women taking care of the farms while the men went on hunting ex cursions. Then, in 1864, a USDA bulletin reported that three out of four farm women worked harder than any other woman at that time. And, moving up to the Civil War, it is a well-known fact that when their husbands were off fighting, farm wives were left to take care of the farms and plantations on their own. ■MMnI Elaine Benner Women have also been key figures in the silk industry, and were, in fact many of the founders of the indigo in dustry in the South. ' As the years in the chronology progressed and the dates came closer to the 20th century, women became more and more influential, until at present, many have formed their own organizations such as American Agri-Women, the Kansas Wheathearts, and many and are speaking out on their own for agriculture. Noting that men rarely can afford to take time off from the farm to promote agriculture. Miss Tevis challenged the women to go out and take the promotional responsibilities on them selves in whatever way they see possible. “There is no one way to speak up for ag,” Miss Tevis said. To back her statement • Full line of bucket elevator equipment. • Totally automated Mix-Mill gnndmg/mixing. • Versatile grain storage, 20 to 400 ton units. • Automatic feed delivery systems • Latest on-farm gram-roasting equipment • Total system design/work-flow expertise. up, she cited several examples of women in promotional efforts. One such example was Doris Royal of Nebraska, who without the help ,of any organizations to back her, was responsible for collecting 231,261 signed petitions for the revision of the inheritance tax law. Due to her efforts, the law was revised last month - two years ahead of schedule. Of course, not everyone can afford to take on the r t 4 challenge that Doris Royal did, so Miss Tevis named other ways for women to do their part. She snggested writing letters to congressmen, or writing letters to any news media if it has falsely represented any area of agribusiness. “You can promote agriculture in any way you like,’.’ she stated. “You can work individually or as a member of a large group. Either way, the promotion of agriculture is a prime concern,” she concluded. The final speaker of the afternoon was Mrs. Elaine i \\ 'A \ ttac-mii -T '' i i Benner, chairman of the state women’s committee of f the Pennsylvania Farmer’s ' Association and member of the state board of directors. Mrs. Benner is from Snyder County where she and her husband farm 400 acres and run a dairy operation with 70 head of Holsteins. Speaking on “The Spirit of ’76” Mrs. Benner charged all the women present to “pass on the democratic principles of the nation which have made us great.” At the conclusion of the luncheon, door prizes were awarded. F w K .i V V>v , i MSS ! f I’ri ! I i !fc
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers