Balmer takes
European trip
ANNVILLE Daryl Balmer, of
the Little Dutchmen FFA Chapter
at Annville-Cleona High School,
Lebanon County, is among the 22
national proficiency winners who
are now participating in an 18-day
travel seminar to Eueope.
Balmer was the national winner
in Placement in Agricultural
Production.
The European seminar includes
staying with farm families in
Denmark and Holland, with visits
to the American Embassy and
Palace of Versailles in France,
sight-seeing and visiting with the
West European Director of the
American Soybean Association in
Belgium, stopping at the famous
Flower Auction at Alsmeer in
Daryl L. Balmer, Little Dutchmen FFA'er at Annviile-Cleona
and son of Mr. and Mrs. John W. Balmer, Lebanon, is
congratulated by C: Coleman Harris, National Executive
Secretary of the Future Farmers of America, on his top
national proficiency placing in Placement in Agricultural
Production.
FFA Week set June 19-21
UNIVERSITY PARK - Penn
sylvania FFA Activities Week,
June 19 to 21 at Penn State, will
have as its theme, “Keeping
America on the Grow Vocational
Agriculture and FFA.” The annual
event is sponsored jointly by the
College of Agriculture at Penn
State and the Pennsylvania
Department of Education,
Harrisburg.
Highlighting the annual event
will be 24 state FFA contests in
which 1800 FFA members will
demonstrate their agricultural
skills and abilities. New state
officers will be announced on June
21. Co-chairmen for FFA Activities
are Edgar P. Yoder of the
Department of Agricultural and
Extension Education at Penn State
and Charles Lebo of the Penn
sylvania Department of
Education.
Participants will be involved in a
variety of educational demon
strations and contests. The Farm
ON THE GROW
Holland, visiting the manufac
turing and assembly plant of Claas
OHG, makers of harvesting
equipment and the German
Agricultural Society Show in West
Germany.
Each student is sponsored on his
or her winning trip by a business or
industry in the particular
proficiency category. Balmer’s
sponsors are the Hesston Corp. and
The Shell Companies Foundation.
Prior to leaving for Europe, the
group spent a day in Washington,
D.C., including meeting Sec. of
Agriculture John Block and a
Capitol Hill breakfast with
congressmen, senators and
sponsors. The group returns on
Thursday.
Management Contest will involve
the use of a microcomputer.
Special tours will include visits to a
modern dairy farm. FFA mem
bers will have an opportunity to
discuss agricultural careers and
college programs with personnel
from the College of Agriculture.
Carolyn Witmer, State FFA
President from East Earl, and 10
fellow officers, will preside over
the daily business meetings and
general sessions of the Penn
sylvania Association of FFA. The
State FFA Band, directed by Ned
C. Delhi of Penn State’s Blue Band,
will present concerts at general
sessions each day.
Contest winners will be an
nounced at the final general
session June 21 at 9 a.m. in
Eisenhower Auditorium. Awards
will include expense-paid trips to
national and regional FFA con
tests. Presenting the awards will
be Charles F. Lebo, Adult
Treasurer of the Pennsylvania
FFA, Harrisburg.
New Lancaster County FFA officers
A new officer team has been elected to direct the activities of the Lancaster County
Red Rose Chapter during the coming year.
Officers include, seated from the left. Don Welk, vice president, Lampeter-Strasburg,
son of Don and Joyce Welk R 2 Strasburg; Margaret Herr, president, Eastern Lancaster
County, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Betty Herr, R 2 Narvon; Don Hartzler, secretary,
Elizabethtown, son of Eugene and Lois Hartzler, R 1 Bainbridge.
Standing, from the left, are Chris Esbenshade, sentinel, Solanco, son of Nancy and
Fred Esbenshade, R 2 Quarryville; Mike Appel, treasurer, Pequea Valley, son of Leon and
Grace Appel, Rl Pequea; and Doug Ebersole, reporter, Manheim Central, son of
Raymond and Leah Ebersole, R 3 Manheim.
E-Town tops wildlife contest
MIDDLE CREEK - The Middle
Creek Wildlife Management Area
was the scene of the FFA Wildlife
Contest among some 40 chapter
members from Lancaster, Berks
and Lebanon counties.
The contest involved a 50-
question written test on wildlife
management and general
knowledge of wildlife. The com
petitors also had to identify from 10
slides each of birds, mammals,
fish and reptiles or amphibians.
They had to select the correct
species from a list provided by the
Pa. Game Commission and Pa.
Fish Commission. Final iden
tification included 10 species of
birds from tape recordings fo their
calls.
The outdoor portion of the
contest centered on a test of
knowledge of wildlife signs,
wildlife tracks and wildlife foods.
This segment was coordinated by
Two FFA’ers win essay lambs
NEW HOLLAND - Two
freshmen students at Garden Spot
High School, New Holland, Lan
caster County, have won feeder
lambs in an FPA Market Lamb
Essay Contest.
The winners in the contest,
which is open to all first and second
year students in the En
vironmental Agriculture course,
are Tony Bender, son of Mr. and
Mrs. Warren Bender, Orion St.,
New Holland; and Mike Middleton,
son of Mr. and Mrs. William
Middleton, Valley View Drive,
New Holland.
According to Robert Lauffer,
environmental agriculture in
structor, the purpose of the
competition is “to stimulate in
terest, especially among younger
members, in the raising, showing
and marketing of FFA project
lambs."
This marks the third year that
the FFA chapter has sponsored the
contest in cooperation with
Greystone Manor Farm, Leola;
and Breaker Lane Farm, Good
ville.
The winners were selected by a
panel of three judges who scored
the essays independently based on
content, spelling, grammar, etc.
Bender selected his lamb from
the Breaker Lane flock of Mr. and
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Mike Weaver, a senior vo-ag
student who was enrolled in the
Careers in the Environment
Course at Nolde State Park and
was placed at Middle Creek as part
of his senior year supervised oc
cupational experience program in
Eastern Lancaster County School
District.
The final portion of the com
petition involved evaluation of
wildlife habitat sites throughout
Middle Creek. Official judge was
Charles Strouphar, resident
manager of the Middle Creek
Wildlife Management Area.
The first-place winner from
Elizabethtown FFA was Tony
Bevel, with 715 points. He won a
$25.00 check from the Lancaster
County Federation of Sportsmen’s
Clubs and a copy of the new hard
back book, “Pennsylvania Birds,”
of the Game Commission.
Winners of the Grassland FFA lamb essay contest in the
Eastern Lancaster County School District are Mike Mid
dleton, left, and Tony Bender. Middleton’s wether came from
Graystone Manor Farm, Leola, and Bender's from Breaker
Lane Farm, Goodville.
h?** K f
Second place went to Chris
Horne, also of Elizabethtown, with
664 points, who won a copy of the
Game Commission’s Mammal
Book. Third-place winner was
Mike Sweigart, of Garden Spot
High School, New Holland, with 643
points. He was awarded a Working
Together for Wildlife Patch
depicting the bluebird.
Other top 10 finishers following
the leading trio were Scott Zim
merman, Elizabethtown; Mark
Metzler, Manheim Central; Jeff
Williams, Ken Fanus, Brian Putt,
Stacey Wittle, all of E-Town; and
Wayne Kauffman, Garden Spot.
A perfect score was 760 points.
Competing FFA chapters came
from Ephrata, Elizabethtown,
Eastern Lancaster County,
Manheim Central, Solanco in
Lancaster County, ELCO in
Lebanon County and Twin Valley
in Berks County.
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