arl Geib leads busy life of FFA state officer
iOANNE SPAHR
fEIM, Pa- - Thls
Pennsylvania Farm
going to mean a lot of
{or Earl Geib,
nR4, even though he
er in charge of an
ior taking part in any
itions. Instead, he
e his work cut out for
fulfilling his duty as
nnsylvama Eastern
yiee President of the
Farmers of America.
!the other 10 officers
(state as well as last
president, are
ble for the program
ate FFA convention
fvdl be held in con
i with the Farm Show
ednesday of that
ular week.
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“The state convention is
the thing we do all year, so
we want it as perfect as we
can get it,” says the amiable
18-year-old farmer. As part
of the festivities, Keystone
Farmer degrees will be
handed out to deserving
youth around the Com
monwealth as well as
honorary Keystone degrees,
honorary parent degrees
(those having three or more
Keystone Degree sons or
daughters), 1976 proficiency
awards, and several others.
(The Keystone Farmers will
be published in next week's
issue of Lancaster Far
ming.) Geib’s designated
roll ur the program is to
introduce the Eastern
Region Star Fanner and the
MILLER
IU
individual who has won the
regional agribusiness award
for the year.
“We’re going up Sunday
morning at 10 o’clock to
usher the elderly people
around the buildings,” Geib
explained. And from then on,
the week will be all work for
Geib from morning to
evening Until Wednesday
when the program takes
place. >
To the state officer, who
was appointed to his role in
June of 1976, this “work” is
not tedious, but fun. Prior to
this convention, he took part
in' the national FFA con
vention in Kansas City, Mo.,
in November. There he was
part of the Courtesy Corps,
and also took his turn in the
delegate seat.
“I didn’t get too much
sleep at that convention,” he
jokes, admitting that
although the meetings lasted
long, he and his group of
friends also managed to
have fun when their day was
all "over - to the point of
missing some sleep.
“But, I’d say that the
greatest advantages to being
a state officer are traveling
and meeting people,” Tie
explains in vindication of the
good times he has. “FFA has
meant a great deal to me,”
he says, “and, I’d encourage
anybody to get involved and
try for leadership.”
But, anyone who has a
short chat with Geib is quick
to pick up that his enjoyment
of FFA is just part of an
overall positive view of life
in which many things that
other people might not allow
themselves to fully enjoy are
“fun” for him.
For instance, he
thoroughly enjoys the
Manheim Fair, his home
town Fair, because this is the
arena in which he shows his
hogs and steers. He raises
five steers a year - one for 4-
H, qne for FFA, and the rest
for fattening and selling. Of
those steers, some of the
greatest enjoyment he gets
is showing them at
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Manheim. 1974 was a good
year for him - that year he '
had the reserve champion
FFA steer. And, while he
likes pigs for their con
venience in getting them
ready to show, he says
working with a steer for a
whole year m preparation
for a Fair is “fun, too.”
His hog operation is
another example of his zeal
for the things in which he
involves himself. While his
father raises hogs, beef,
tobacco, and grains to feed
the animals, the Geib family
hog operation had been
fairly limited until Earl
became interested in it.
“Then, I wanted more and
more,” he says, “And, now,
we’ve got them in every
available space.” Geib
raises 80 head of his own in a
fattening operation. He
purchases the animals at 40
pounds and finishes them
out. This year he entered his
pigs at the Lancaster County
FFA hog show where he took
third and fifth places.
Although he still works for
his father at this point, he
does raise hogs, steers, and
tobacco on his own, and has
hopes of going into part
nership with his father in the
future. This is one of the few
ways Earl sees for a young
farmer to get started
nowadays, unless the
beginner has an abundant
supply of money to start
with, which is a rarity.
Right now Geib is working
part time for both his father
and Plain and Fancy Egg
Ranch, Elizabethtown. He
works at Plain and Fancy on
Monday, Wednesday, and
Friday, and for his father on
the remaining days. :
“I'm really lucky,” he
says, talking about his
employers. “The people at
Plain and Fancy don’t get
bothered if I have to take
time off, and so far my
parents have felt that FFA
comes first no matter what
needs to be done on the
farm.”
Geib has needed time off
Lancaster Farming, Saturday 1 » 1977
Earl Geib puts the tobacco in the press. He and
tils father and brother are spending a large part of
their days stripping right now, a chore which Earl
says he really doesn’t mind doing.
from work several times
during his term as officer.
Beside the conventions he
has attended and will attend
in the coming year, he has
also taken part in three
leadership training con
ferences. One was held in
Lancaster, another in
Lehigh, and a third in
Delaware-Chester. Usually
he takes charge of teaching
the vice presidents in these
sessions. He will also be
attending a state officers’
convention in Washington
D.C. at the end of January.
Two other responsibilities
of the regional vice president
are visiting all 19 Lancaster
and Lebanon County FFA
chapters and going to
banquets around the region.
It can get to be a full
schedule for a farmer with a
part time job, but Geib
■ter'
"Your Purina Dealer"
definitely feels that it is
worth all the energy he puts
into it.
“I have friends from all
over, now,” he explains.
“And, I’ve developed both
my leadership and speaking
abilities because of this.”
Prior to being named the
regional .vice president last
June, Geib had held the
positions of chaplain,
treasurer, and president of
his own chapter. He
graduated from Manheim
Central High School in 1976.
While in school, he
received the Outstanding
Agriculture Student award
in 1975. Just this year, he
placed second in the state
livestock production
proficiency area.
And, while fanning is the
major part of Geib’s life, his
outside interests include
being a member of a singing
group comprised of 12 young
people from Chiques Church
of the Brethren, Manheim.
The group calls themselves
the “Joy Boys” and have
sung in as many as 15 dif
ferent places. They ac
company themselves with
guitar, banjo, and piano.
Geib is active in the church
youth group, which he
describes as being quite
active, itself. The youth get
together for activities such
as roller seating, caroling,
and winter picnics.
So, all in all, Geib is a busy
fellow at this point in his life.
But, he manages to do it aU,
and quite happily at that,
from all appearances.
“I won’t want to see my
term end next June,” he
says, reluctantly looking
ahead to the future. “It’s
meant a lot to me, and I hate
to give it up.” Fortunately,
even when his term expires
he will still have three more
years to spend in the
organization.
53