ister Farming, Saturday. June 4. 1977
22
—Lai
mcai
4-H dairy project turned into a family affair
By JOANNE SPAHR
NEWMANSTOWN, Pa.-
The Richard Heiljnger
family, Newmanstown R 2, is
a 4-H dairy family. And, as
far as they can figure, their
involvement all goes back to
their eldest daughter, Susan,
age 14.
“Well, I wanted a project
that I could keep from year
to year,” reasons Susan.
And, as far as she can
remember, that is why she
chose to start a dairy project
in 4-H four years age.
Coming from a 46 acre
“variety” farm in Lebanon
County, she had a wide range
of animals from which to
choose a project. But, she
didn’t want to get attached to
a steer or sow and then have
to sell it, so she went the
dairy route.
Up until that time, the
farm had only one cow which
the family used for domestic
purposes, but, today, they
have built up their number of
dairy animals to 26, five of
which are milking. And, of
those five, three belong to
Susan and her sister Patti,
age 12, as 4-H and ‘FFA
projects. Their brother
Bruce, age nine, in his first
year of 4-H with the ELCO
Dairy Club, has a calf.
Even Richard Heilinger,
their father, has caught the
“bug” and hopes someday to
own a herd of about 20
animals for himself. At
present, he is a tinsmith
working for a firm in
Ephrata. After a normal day
at work, he comes home and
farms part-time. He also
helps out with the ELCO
Dairy Club, where he has
been a leader for three
years.
But, this is not where the
family’s interest in 4-H dairy
ends. They also belong to the
Lebanon Valley Dairy Goat
Club. They have three
crossbred goats on their
variety farm, two of which
they milk.
This is where the youngest
child in the family, Karen,
age 17 months, gets into the
picture.
goat’s milk,” says Mrs.
Heilinger (Jo). “She really
does well on it.”
In their involvement with
the ELCO Dairy Club, the
three children have different
tastes in animals. Susan
owns a Holstein and Patti
and Bruce own Brown Swiss.
“She’s smarter than I
am,” states Susan referring
to her sister, “she never has
Blown-Out Fuses
When it’s necessary to
change a blown-out fuse in
the home, Extension safety
specialists at The
Pennsylvania State
University caution
homeowners to be certain
hands are dry as well as the
place in which you stand to
change the fuse. Replace the
fuse with one of equal
amperage rating, providing
it is the right one for the
wiring. Never use a fuse with
a larger amperage for it can
cause fires.
The Soviet Union has forty
three percent more
cultivated land than the
United States, more than ten
times the number of farm
wi -i and twice the area
pi ;rains. Yet Soviet
gi *s are less than
h America and
ut is twenty
V f ours.
much competition when she
shows.”
Both Susan and Patti love
to show their animals, and
they especially enjoy the
Lebanon Fair. They
“practically take the whole
farm” to that county farm
show, as their mother says,
pointing out that they take
guineas pig, flowers stamps,
chickens, rabbits, goats, and
cows.
Susan has taken
showmanship honors with
her Holstein at the county
fair, but Patti has garnered
the highest acclaim with her
two-year-old Brown Swiss.
At the county roundup, she
took junior champion honors
as well as reserve grand
champion. Then, she went on
to district competition m
Harrisburg: and was again
first in her class. And,
finally, at the Junior All
American, she was sixth.
As impressive as that
record might be, her sister is
quick to point out that Patti
had only two in her class at
the county roundup,
compared to the stiff
competition in the Holstein
breed.
But, Susan keeps a stiff
upper lip and looks toward
the positive aspect of her
showing experience.
“4-H really teaches you
how to be a good sport,” she
points out with a big grin and
a laugh.
4-H also teaches its
members how to be leaders,
as both Susan and Patti are
finding out. Susan is the
secretary in the ELCO Dairy
Club and Patti is the news
reporter. Susan is also the
president in a third club the
family takes part in-the
Fort Zellers Community
Club, where Mrs. Heilinger
is also a leader. Patti is also
news reporter for that club.
BEACHLEY-HARDY
Bruce,. itti,. Susan Heii -iger are <
in the ELCO dairy club. Both Bruce and Patti favor
Brown Swiss, but Susan likes Holsteins, as
4-H has also helped to
guide Susan in the direction
of a career. She says she
wants to “go deeper” into
dairy and eventually wants
to attend Penn State
University for agriculture.
She’s not absolutely positive
of her future goals, but at
this point she thinks she
would like to be an ag
teacher.
At ELCO High School she
is a member of the Future
Farmers of America
chapter, where she earned
the highest honor given a
first year FFA member-the
Star Greenhand award. She
also has a Holstein as a
project for FFA as well as
hay and veal calves.
HELD and GRASS SEEDS
Shirenunstown, Pa. 17091
And, unlike some students
and 4-H members whose
animals are part of their
father’s milking herd, Susan
and her brother and sister
don’t expect their dad to do
all the milking for them.
Until a few months ago, they
milked their own animals by
hand at night, but recently
their father purchased a
milker, so the process is
more automated, now. But,
they still do all the evening
work. Since, they go to
school in the morning, their
parents do the a.m. chores.
So, the whole family gets
into the dairy act, an
involvement that all began
with a 4-H project and has
blossomed into a family
affcii.
evidenced from their choice of breeds for dairy
projects.
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