BlB—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 2,1982
Martin
BY SHEILA MILLER
EPHRATA Seventeen-year
old Barry Martin of R 1 East Earl,
Lancaster County, crouched
confidently next to lus Suffolk ewe
lamb, waiting for Judge Terry
Coon’s selection of first-place lamb
in the third class of Suffolk-sired
market lambs during last Wed
nesday evening’s Ephrata Fair.
After emerging as the blue
ribbon winner despite tough
competition against seven class
entries, Martin had only just
enough time to catch his breath
before he and his lamb were pitted
against the other two-first place
Suffolk lambs one a stablemate
owned by Barry, the other
belonging to Jeff Martin of R 1
Ephrata. Still Barry held the lamb
that had captured the judge’s
attention, and after a few moments
deliberation, Coon, a graduate
student at Penn State, gave Barry
the nod which indicated his lamb
was champion Suffolk.
As Martin and his lamb waited,
the remaining first-place entries
representing five other sheep
breeds lined up in the straw bale
encircled show ring to see who
would be grand champion of this
year’s Ephrata Fair Lamb Show.
After handling and critically
observing more than 53 lambs,
Judge Coon awarded the top
honors to Martin’s “powerful”
lamb. She explained her selection
reflected her choice of a lamb that
was “progressive” and would
“make more money” for any
producer.
“This is the type of lamb people
should be striving to raise,” said
Coon, while praising the lamb’s
“meatiness and thickness."
Martin, the son of John A. and
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First-year competitor Lynn Crill, 16, of R 2 Ephrata was
selected as champion fitter while fourteen-year-old Kent
Halsey was named champion showman.
Steve Moyer or R 1 Reinholds showed the champion pen of
market iambs. Helping him hold the winning lambs’ were
sister Rebecca Moyer, left, and friend Donna Martin.
ewe lamb emerges as Ephrata Fair Champ
Marilyn Martin, is a junior at
Garden Spot High School where he
is a member of the FFA and a Star
Chapter Farmer. Quarter horses
and sheep are the principal
livestock raised on the family’s 28-
acre farm.
The family’s sheep flock num
bers roughly 50 head, with 30
breeding ewes. Martin explained
he began raising sheep sue years
ago after getting interested
through school work. About 75
percent of the flock is purebred
Suffolk.
This is not the first time Martin
has felt the intense scrutiny of a
sheep judge in the ring, having won
reserve champion honors twice at
the Elizabethtown Fair along with
grand champion showman. But
this is the first time in his six-year
history of Ephrata competition
that he has exhibited the grand
champion lamb, a happy Martin
reflected, adding quietly that his
older sister, Deb, had won top
honors here three years ago.
Martin also exhibited the
Ephrata Fair’s champion carcass
lamb on foot and rail, and Deb
showed the reserve champion
carcass lamb on foot. Jason
Carman of RI Ephrata exhibited
the reserve champion carcass
lamb on the rail.
A newcomer to the show ring and
sheep production, fifteen-year-old
John Spangler and his parents,
Richard and Annabelle Spangler of
Lititz were elated when Judge
Coon went to his Suffolk x Hamp
shire ewe lamb forßeserve Grand
Champion honors. Spangler’s lamb
followed Martin’s to the cham
pionship circle, placing second to
the grand champion Suffolk lamb
in class, standing as reserve
champion Suffolk, and finally
reserve grand overall.
Judge Coon praised both lambs’
uniform finishes, stating em
phatically that she “would put
either one of them on my plate.”
This is the first experience
Spangler, a sophomore and FFA
member at Warwick High School,
has had in raising and showing
sheep." He purchased two ewe
lambs, including his reserve grand
champ, from McDonald’s Farm of
R 2 Palmyra.
Neither of John’s parents had
raised sheep before this year and
both admitted it would be hard to
sell them since the lambs had
become a family focal point. John
and his parents worked together
with vocational agriculture
teacher Soma Shaner in learning
the basics of sheep production
and everyone got involved in the
project.
A beamingly proud Shaner
congratulated young Spangler on
his accomplishment. “It’s thrilling
to me,” she said enthusiastically,
pointing out that she was the only
teacher who had worked with John
on this project.
In the fitting and showmanship
competition, Lynn Grills, 16, of R 2
Ephrata was awarded the
champion fitter honors. Lynn is a
junior at Ephrata High School and
serves as chaplain for the Cloister
FFA chapter. This was Lynn’s first
lamb project and he said he plans
to “take another lamb next year”
and ply his hand at the sheep
shears again.
Fourteen-year-old Kent Halsey
of Bowmansville demonstrated his
showmanship skills and captured
champion showman honors in a
contest that pitted the young sheep
producer against his older cousin,
Brian Hurst and beginner
showman Jeff Martin.
Kent, who is a ninth grade FFA
member at Garden Spot, said this
is his third year “working with
lambs,” having taken them as his
first ag project during sixth grade.
Now, raising (Jornedale sheep f>as
become somewhat of a hobby
for Kent who explains he kept one
.of his original ewe lambs for
breeding stock. “1 was going to
batcher her but I got too at
tached,” he confessed with a grin.
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Kent is the son of Charles and
Muriel Halsey.
The champion pen of market
lambs was exhibited by eighteen
year-old Steve Moyer, a graduate
of Ephrata High School and a
member of the Cloister FFA. His
winning entries, a three-way cross
between a Suffolk ram and a
Dorset x Rambouillet ewe, were
purchased from Dutch Valley
Farms, Manheim.
Class results follow;
1 Barry Martin, RI East Earl, champion. 2 Deb
Martin Rl Hast Ear), reserve champion. 3 Jeff
Martin Rl East Ean 4 Doug Martin Rl East Earl.
5 Jason Carman. Rl Ephrata
1 Barry Martin, champion, 2 Jason Carman
reserve champion. 3 Jeff Mart in. 4 Clifford
Horning Rl Denver. & Deb Martin
1 Doug Martin
Dorset
1 Brian Gtadlelter Rl Stevens 2 3 Phil Eby
RI Ephrata
I 2 Brian Hurst. Bowmansville 3 5 Kent
Halsey. Bowmansville 4 Doug Hurst Bowman
sville
Southdown
1 John Spangler Lititz
Hampshire
1 4 Kevin Horst R 2 Ephrata 2 Mike Carman
Rl Ephrata 3 Shawn Carman RI Ephrata
1 Jeff Martin 2 LynnCnlls R 2 Ephrata 3 Jodi
Carman Rl Narvon 4 Linda Ehrgood Lititz 5
Steve Moyer Rl Rhemhotds
1 Barry Martin 2 Carolyn Witmer R 2 East
Earl 3 Jeff Martin 4 Steve Moyer 5 LynnCnlls
Suffolk C
1 Barry Martin grand champion 2 John
Spangler reserve grand champion 3 Carolyn
Witmer 4 5 Jeff Marlin
I Brian Hurst
1 Kevin Horst
Suffolk
1 Steve Moyer champion 2 Jeff Martin 3
Linda Good 4 LynnCnlls
CARCASS DIVISION
On-foot
On-rail
MARKET LAMB
Cheviot
Cwnedale
Suffolk A
Suffolk B
PENCE LAMBS
Cornedale
Hampshire
Barry Martin, 17, of R 1 East Earl, exhibited his purebred
Suffolk ewe lamb to the grand champion honors of last week’s
Ephrata Market Lamb Show. Barry is a member of the
Garden Spot FFA. Posing with the lamb and Barry is judge
Terry Coon from Penn State.
Fifteen-year-old John Spangler of Lititz showed his Suffolk
crossbred to the reserve grand champion honors. This was
Spangler's first year in raising and showing sheep.
Other
1 Carolyn Witmer. reserve champion 2 Barry
Martin, 3 Kevin Martin. 4 Jeff Martin
SHOWMANSHIP
Beginner
1 Jeff Martin 2 Lynn Cnlls 3 Kevin Martin 4
Phil Eby. 5 Brian Gladfelter
2nd & 3rd
1 Kent Halsey, champion 2 Kevin Horst. 3
Steve Moyer. 4 Terry Good. Rl Narvon 5 Dave
Spoo
Liz Chapman wins
3rd hog title
EPHRATA Liz Chapman’s
successful 4-H career, now
drawing near an end, can boast at
least three hog show grand
championships, with the promise
that she’ll be trying next week to
add yet a fourth trophy where it ail
started four years ago.
The third grand championship
came at last week’s Ephrata Fair
where her 230-pound, three-way
cross caught the eye of judge
Larry Arnold when it first came
into the ring and must have
remained in the back of his mind
through the presentation of the
show’s top trophy.
Seventeen-year-old Liz started
her trio of grand championships
four years ago at her hometown
Manheim Farm Show.
Sandwiched between that initial
top finish and her latest grand
I Brian Hurst 2 Barry Martin 3 Deb Martin
Beginner
I Lynn Cnlls, champion, 2 Linda Ehrgood 3
Jeff Martin. 4 John Spangler. 5 PhilEby
2nd & 3rd
1 Carolyn Witmer. 2 Kent Halsey 3 Jeff
Martin. 4 Galen Martin 5 DaveSpoo
Advanced
1 Barry Martin 2 Deb Martin. 3 Brian Hurst
t Ephrata Fair
championship was her 4-H
Roundup win last year, when
younger sister, Chris, took the
reserve grand championship.
And on Monday, it’s back to the
Manheim Farm Show, where she’ll
once again assume the favorite’s
role and seek her fourth top win.
Liz also had atonediumweignt in
the competition that finished
second in its class.
“The heavyweight was the
better hog,” she said.
“It was heavier-muscled and a
broader pig.”
It addition to depth of frame and
obviously lots of red meat on the
hoof, the winning Landrace-
Yorkshire-Duroc cross that came
out of the Dutch Valley Farms
stock was also a tall animal that
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Advanced
FITTING
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