82
—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, September 1,1979
Tina Bucher -
in everything she does
By SUSAN KAUFFMAN
Staff Writer
Tina Bucher, a tall, slender Solanco High School senior
has the natural talent, training, and interest in journalism
to equip her with the necessary skills to write award
winning essays, articles for the school newspaper and
even cover meetings and local events for other news
publications.
Recently, her essay concerning the operation of the
Underground Railroad in Lancaster County was selected
the winner for a contest conducted by the Southern
Lancaster County Historical Society. Tina spent con
siderable time researching, writing and documenting the
historical accounts of families, the locations of farms and
buildings, and the routes by which slaves were tem-
porarily housed and then moved along their search for
personal freedom. At least one local newspaper picked up
her report and printed it in serial form for several weeks.
Generally, however, Tina’s journalistic works have
been printed in the Solanco “Quill.” In addition to this
type of reporting, she has had a year’s work at reporting
the activities and business which progressed at the
Solanco FFA meetings during her junior year as chapter
reporter.
She was selected in May to the office of County FFA
secretary to record the minutes of the quarterly meetings
for the 1979-80 school year.
In her local chapter, however, Tina will be drawing
upon some skills other than purely literary.- She was
elected chapter president in May of this Spring.
Throughout the coming school terms she will preside over
the monthly, evening chapter meetings and delegate
responsibilities to various committees.
11113 office of presidency has come after the mmplptinn
of three years of FFA projects and studies.
Tina recalled that when she was a freshmen she was one
of five girls among approximately fifty greenhands. To
date, she says three of the girls have remained in the FFA
program.
As a greenfaand, Tina carried a project of a Holstein calf
and a project for a pleasure horse. Her parents, James
and Ozella Bucher, along with her older brother .Tim, have
operated a Holstein dairy farm for many years. It was a
natura' decision for her to choose a Holstein for her first
project It was also natural for her to choose the pleasure
horse because she had had some experience with the Lan-
Chester Pony Club prior to entering high school.
However, after one year with the pleasure horse
project, Tina decided to discontinue it because it required
poses junior yearling
Guernsey heifer, Lindenhof Flash Div Eulene. The
cow was the recent reserve grand champion at the
Southeast Regional FFA dairy show.
actively
involved
participation in more horse shows than she wished to keep
up with. As a sophomore, she carried the same Holstein
project and added a Guernsey calf and two acres of corn
to her project list.
As a junior, Tina continued with the two dairy animals
and the com project and at the South East Regional FFA
dairy show earlier this Summer, August 21, her junior
yearling Guernsey placed first in her class, took junior
ci'ampion honors and was selected Reserve Grand
Champion.
Recalling the judge’s comments about her animal, Tina
said her junior yearling exhibited outstanding size in
comparison to the others in her class as well as any would
her age.
Lindenhof Flash Div Eulene, Eulene as Tina calls her,
was purchased from Dick Linde, a well known'Guernsey
breeder in the Southern end whose records are state
winners.
“Dr. Fredd suggested that I buy one from Dick Linde if
wmesfpad
tA/ctes
I wanted to buy a Guernsey for a project m my sophomore
year, so I did,” Tina explained.
“Next year I plan to have a dairy herd project which
requires three animals as a minimum,” Tina added. “By
November, I hope my Holstein has a heifer calf. Last year
she had a bull!”
Tina helps with the morning milking and washes up
after the evening milking in addition to taking care of her
project animals. But her real enthusiasm for dairy
animals came in the competition of participating on the
Solanco Dairy Judging Team. Tina went out for the
preliminary training and trial judging as early as her
Freshmen year and successfully studied and practiced
her way into a position on the dairy team.
Year after year, Tina has kept her position on the team
which has traditionally been very selective. After the
Farm Show activities have been finished each Winter, the
How I would dread this weekend when I was m
school. The official end of Summer was here, and
regular school hours would shortly enforce me to
give up my easy-going way of life.
When the school bells would ring for the last
time in June, how ecstatic I would appear. That
long Summer stretched before me, and how I
loved the thourght of not having the daily routine
of school enforced upon me
But all too quickly June would end and July
would be upon me. But still I was smiling because
July is a long month, and there was always August
to enjoy.
But July always flew by. and when I saw August
staring me in the face, I'd start to get the first few
' *
Tina works diligently at her project book, one of
the many record books she keeps for projects as
' well as those she maintains for chapter and county
FFA elected positions.
adviser starts with local bam meetings and practices.
Later on in the school year, the group takes a tour for a
few days to a number of outstanding dairy herds in
several surrounding states as well as Pennsylvania for
more exposure for the young people to dairy cattle.
In early April the final dairy judging team is selected.
Tina said she really enjoys the competition and even
giving the oral reasons although she says she feels a bit
nervous on the outset.
Between the FFA meetings, the dairy club meetings
and her school work which she'had to dear away each
week, Tina went out for the varsity softball team. “I was
not one of the outstanding players by far, but I hope to
improve this year! ” she quipped,
Tina has been a member of the national honor society at
Solanco for three years attesting to her academic
qualifications. She sees a future which will probably in
clude a college education, but she is not certain yet what
field to study and has consequently not thought much
about selecting a college.
“I intend to work for a year before going to college.” “I
am not ready for college yet,” she explained.
“My one real hobby —. or the one that I am most in
terested in is country music,” she .confessed em
phatically. “I would like to dream that a number of years
from now I might be working in the business end of
country music.” Neglecting to mention that she plays the
piano, the guitar and the banjo as well as sing herself,
Tina prefers at this point to emphasize others’ musical
productions.
Although Tina Bucher has no long range plan neatly laid
out before her, she has a number of past accomplishments
and presently active talents including writing and music
and dairy judging. And with the local chapter and county
FFA offices for the coming school year, one can be
assured that she will not be idly spending her time.
flutters of apprehension in my mind. The only
redeeming grace of August was that it held my
birthday, and even that would have been gladly
traded for a few extra days of freedom.
August is a terrible month, it zooms by with the
rush of a superjet, and leaves you hanging on the
terrible brink of that horrid holiday--Labor Day
Weekend-otherwise known as the last days of
liberty from school.
While everybody else was happily engrossed in
picnic plans and special ideas to celebrate the
date, I would mope.
I’d head to my favorite secret spot in the barn,
throw myself down on the hay, and silently hate
whatever fate so quickly tore away my Summer
vacation. It just wasn’t fair. Summer was never
long enough, and I wasn’t ready to go back to
school.
But no matter how I fought it, the holiday would
end, and there I would be, bright and early,
standing at the bus stop, muttering. And the giant
yellow transportation to scholarly intentions would
come and gobble me up, and I was powerless to
prevent it.
But by the middle of October I would finally be
reconciled to the the fact that there was only about
150 more school days until the next Summer
vacation, and that one, I would assure myself, just
had to last longer