—Lancaster Fannins, Saturday, January 20,1979 42 It's a 'Long' way to a championship Among all the awards presented at the Farm Show, the tme which brings with it the most public attention is the grand champion junior beef show award. This year’s winner was Steven Long, son of Samuel F. and Marian Long, Peach Botton, Lancaster County. He is a member of the Red Rose 4-H Beef and Lamb Club. Steve’s Chianina Ansus was actually shown by his older brother, Sam. A closer look into the matter uncovered a family with an unusual background and a busy schedule. Any household with five of the six children being teenagers would most likely be very energetic and complicated, and the Longs are no exception. Sam and Marian Long have taken the supervision of their children as their responsibility and have worked with them both individually and as a part of a family unit to allow for individual interests. Five years ago iviarian, a widow with two sons, married Sam, a widower with two sons and two daughters. They moved to the 144 acre dairy farm in Drumore township the next year. After moving into the old stone house and getting the herd settled into the stanchion bam, they were kept busy with 4-H and FFA projects, high school sports events and local baseball team practices and games. Sammy, the brother who showed the grand champion steer for Steve this year, graduated from Solanco last year and is presently working at home full time with his parents. Perhaps reflecting his father’s interest in steers* as a youth, Sammy has been involved with beef projects for many years. Although he never had a grand champion of his own, he has been an accomplished showman. At the 1977 Lancaster County round-up he received the Litell steer for being top showman. In 1957 his father had been top showman at the Farm Show. It is Sammy who pur chases the beef animals for the various family members. So far this year he has found three of the four project animals needed. Marian explained that Sammy has been to a number of sales this winter to purchase the three animals. The steers are expensive this year though and he has not settled on a fourth animal with the quality and for the price he would like. Sammy has bought two projects for himself-one for 4-H and one for FFA. The third is an FFA steer for Jeff, He needs a 4-H steer for Steve yet. Jeff, a sophomore at Solanco, is an avid basketball player for the school team and has chosen to work wiht an FFA steer because it will be sold in >mber, lea l Last week at the Pennsylvania Farm Show, Sam, showing for his brother Steve, took the cham pionship honors in the Junior Steer Show. Seen By SUSAN KAUFFMAN Staff Writer Members of the Long family include, seated from left to right Sharon. Marian, Sam, and Sheila. him relatively free for basketball in the late Fall and Winter. Jeff’s older brother, Wayne, an 18 year old senior at Soianco. is also a basketball enthusiast. Marian said of Homestead them, “They have been playing basketball for as long as I can remember!” Wayne exchanges his uniform as a Varsity forward for Solanco High in the summertime for a Black Bear baseball uniform. The Black Bear team is one of several local teams which play their games on a diamond on the farm of Dr. Troop, a veteranarian and dairy farmer in East Drumore Township. Wayne has been employed by Troop for four years to help out with the farming chores. Part of his job there is with Sam are his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Long. Notes Standing are Steve, Sam, Wayne, and Jeff. to milk every other weekend. The Saturday mornings after basketball games make short nights when he gets up to go milk. But Marian explained that he takes it in stride and “gets up and gets going.” “In the summertime, he practically lives there (at Troops).” Sammy has worked at home since graduating from high school. Wayne has worked for several years for Dr. Troop and Jeff worked this Summer for another neighbor. According to Marian none of the boys has really made up their minds what they will do in the future. Steve, a sophomore who is several thousand dollars richer since the Farm Show, is also a sports participant Unlike Wayne and Jeff who are basketball players, Steve Is a wrestler for Solanco. As a junior varsity member this year he found that the January Fapm Show dates ran in opposition to wrestling practice and games. In addition to the scheduling conflicts, his asthmatic reactions were evident even after only a brief two-hour visit Friday at the complex for the beef auction. Consequently, Sieve plans to sell his 4-H project next year at round-up. “It’s a chance he’ll have to take by not going to the Farm Show if he is eligible and he will really miss not showipg—he will hate to get out of that v ”.Mariaaadded. j[ The 4-H and FFA project animals are housed with! several family beef animals, bringing the total number of animals to-abouf 10'at any given -timer Sam explained that all the beef animals are fed silage in the Spring and Summer up until August when they are in dividually consuming 10 pounds of com silage a day. They are also fed home grown chop, ground ear com and supplement - as much as they will eat. “It is hard to tell what a steer will look likel'from one month to the next,” Marian said. “Sometimes they looked really nice as calves but when they were older they had sagging backs or didn’t put on the weight.” From round up In November to Farm Show time in January they can change a lot You just never know! Steve’s steer this year really put the weight on after round-up and filled out.” All of the boys’ projects this past year weighed about the same by round-up at around 1150 pounds, Sam added. The Longs also have two daughters - Sharon, 16, and Sheila, 8. Sharon is also a sophomore at Solanco and works parttime at the Presbyterian Home in Quarryville. “Until she went to work she was a real help to me in the house,” Marian said. “She baked and cooked and helped out in the kitchen. Now she works from 3to 6:30 p.m. four or five days a week and has little chance to help at home.” i Marian said that Sharon has no definite plans for the future as yet. Sheila, the youngest in the household, is already taking part in the scheme of things in a household this busy. She clears the breakfast table before going to school and helps with the evening table too. “She would like to learn to cook but I haven’t let her do much of that as yet,” Marian added. In addition to tending to the household chores of a sizeable family, Marian helps her husband milk the 57 cows in their herd and tends the calves. They have a mixed herd consisting of Holsteins, two Jerseys and one Brown Swiss. Sam and Marian milk night and morning 4 a.m. to 6 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Jeff, Sammy and Steve do the bam clean-up chores and in the Summer, Sam and Sammy do most of the tractor and field work. They raise com and bay for their dairy cows and bee! animals they fatten. Sam added that the family likes to roller skate when they can find the time and find enough of them home at the same time. They also enjoyed an _above the ground swiming pool for many years.-Plans are in the making to replace the old one with a new one this Summer. Round-ups and Farm Shows make even more hectic schedules for fanning families. Add-Sports enthusiasts and parttime jobs to the calendar and the family is going in several more directions. Cooperation and support go a long way in keeping this family going.
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