—Lancasiei farming, Saturday, October i 4,1978 114 Brooke Palmer , accomplished 4-H queen By JOYCE BUPP Staff Correspondent SHREWSBURY - She was chosen last October as York County’s first 4-H Queen, a title earned through scholarship, participation and leadership skills gained through her club experience. Now, as she turns her crown over to her successor, another chapter of ac complishment in Brooke Palmer’s impressive 4-H _ career will be ended. At the age of eight, Brooke attended her first 4-H meeting, encouraged by her mother who had been im pressed with what the 4-H program had to offer in terested youths. Food and clothing were the projects chosen for that first year. Although she con tinued with those two basic interests, the blonde 16-year old, daughter of Glenn and Pat Palmer, Shrewsbury, has broadened her knowledge and skills through participation in a' variety of clubs. . Foods preservation has headed the list as a favorite interest and earned Brooke a trip as a finalist in that field to the November 4-H Congress in Chicago. The Kerr Company, makers of home canning equipment, will sponsor her as she competes for one of the eight $lOOO national scholarships to be awarded m the foods preservation area. But before she’s off to Chicago, Brooke will give a dried foods demonstration at the National Junior Hor ticulture Association, an organization Of 4-H gar dening project members who will be meeting later thismoiith. When she first looked into the idea of drying food, Brooke discovered that there was no project book written on the subject. Undaunted, she set out to write her own program .and created a demonstration for use in teaching others the techniques. “Drying foods takes less time to prepare than canning and is cheaper than storing foods in a freezer,” she has discovered. After building a rack from wood and wire, Brooke experimented with drying apples, onions, mint tea leaves and parsley. Friendly and easy to talk with, Brooke credits 4-H with helping her leam to work with people. Her family reaps the benefits of a home canning project which Brooke has studied. Together with her mother, Pat, the 4-H queen prepares fresh apples for home preservation. “The best part has been meeting 4-H’ers and adults from all over the country,” she smiles, adding that her hobby of writing' to pen-pals has grown considerably through letters she ex changes with distant 4-H acquaintances. As current president of the county’s junior horticulture .group and vice-president of pounty council, Brooke is using leadership skills that have been sharpened by holding every office in her local Shrewsbury Com munity club and several others within the county council also. Along the way, she’s captured a wall-full of awards, including recognition as a Keystone winner in home en vironment, food preser vation, recreation and achievement, and selection as York County’s Out standing 4-H girl. Using her 4-H background of several years, Brooke has moved into the position of teen leader. 'This past summer she worked with a home canning club of three girls, and is already plan ning what the group will do next year in their second unit. But some of her warmest memories of 4-H result from serving as a teen leader for the county’s handicapped club. “Working with those really terrific kids has been quite an experience,” Brooke says “They’re planning to start it up agam and I wouldn’t miss helping.” A few years ago, in a quest for a project completely different from the home oriented skills she’s been perfecting, Brooke found herself, bow and arrow in hand, on the county’s ar chery club team. Like every other project she tackled, Brooke did it well, capturing the high individual points award in 1976. “I just decided it was something I wanted to do,” she recalls. “Besides being a lot of fun, it taught us safety skills;” The archery club became immediately popular and York’s team has won several state cham pionships since their beginning. As the 4-H queen, Brooke has made appearances promoting 4-H involvement. Along with king Tim Beck, she appeared on Channel B’s “Noonday At Eight” program, and helped to narrate a fashion show during the 4-H Expo at the York Mall. The county’s royal pair also presided pver the annual summer day camp at the 4-H Center and helped to plan it as teen agents. One speaking engagement took the queen if 4 Scorpion’s the shape of things to go as the Big Red One hits the trails. The Sting showed its colors at the 1979 Snow Goer test sessions. This strong performer will be showing its colors all winter long, with its sleek'Tines, powerful Cuyuna- Engine, its n&w generation of suspen sions in the Para-Slide ll* , its lightweight and all-around performance. The Para-Slide II- is a race proven suspen sion with an increase of 22% of Travel to smooth out the moguls and soften the bumps. You can choose between the Cuyuna- 400 or 440 engine sizes. The new clip-type track wilt give you stability and quick response. You owe it to your pocketbook to check out the Big Red Sting at your dealer now . . . it’s not only a great machine but the price will really surprise you. * Results based on Snow Goer test of six 1979 pre-production 440 fan-cooled snowmobiles. See Our Display at The Snowmobile Show Sat. Oct. 21 2 to 10 P.M. _ Sun. Oct. 22 1 to 7 P.M. at J. Harold Merkey’s Garage Rt. 72 South of Manheim * v " to the Thomasville Club Achievement Night program. ~ Brooke’s leadership abilities will be tapped in preparation for the statewide 4-H Leadership Congress, set for Penn State ppen Unexpectedly It’s wise to make sure you’re cov ered for any and all eventualities, before they occur! Protect yourself from loss. See us. Phone 215-267-3894 BERNARD C. MORRISSEY Farm & Agri-Business Specialist fAGWAVI 130 S. 4th St. Denver, PA. 17517 j ~ "V * K \ • The Fastest 440 Fan-Cooled* • The Lightest 440 Fan-Cooled* #scoftnon WHITE OAK LAWN EQUIPMENT 329 W. HIGH ST. MANHEIM, PA 17545 HJOURS: Daily 8 to 5:30 Mon. Wed., Fri.-7 to 9 P.M. Sat.-9 to 4 \ *“ next June. Daring this year’s Congress, she was selected by a group of about 100 youth delegates to serve as- an advisor for the 1979 program, geared to helping (Turn to Rage 115) ""J&pifc r 4ir.*v i 3 - I