Country store is new Ag Progress hit
BY ROBIN PHILLIPS
Staff Correspondent
ROCK SPRINGS - “It gives
students the opportunity to ex-
Pa. Ag Sec. Penny Hallowell congratulates Penn State ag students on their Country
Store commodity booth new addition to this year's Ag Progress. From the left are
Marcy Gehman, who was in charge of design; Hallowell; Dean Samuel Smith of the
College of Agriculture; and Phil Price 11, chairman.
“It’s produced consistently
over the years Fve used it.”
“A friend of mine recommended
Hardy Brand 301 XS based on his
experience with it, so I tried it. It had a
really good yield, even under drought
conditions. Last year we had three
fields planted at three different times,
and the Hardy still out-produced
perience marketing. Besides, it the College of Agriculture at Penn
helps us to show off our students.” state concerning the Ag Com-
These were the sentiments ex- modities Booth initiated by the ag
pressed by Dean Samuel Smith of students at Penn State. The
See your local Hardy Brand dealer, or contact
For a Hardy Stand use Hardy Brand
everything else. Over my four years of
experience I’ve been well satisfied.
Hardy Corn husks nice, stands up good
and dries down nicely. It’s an overall
good corn for most conditions, and it’s
especially proven itself under drought
conditions.”
that Jean Price fried right in the Country Store at Ag
Progress.
commodities booth, located on the
upper floor of the barn at Ag
Progress Days last week, featured
Pennsylvania grown and
processed agricultural food
products. Products were offered as
samples to taste and for sale to the
thousands of visitors who stopped
by the “Country Store” during
their stroll through the Ag
Progress streets.
The ag commodities booth was
the brainchild of the student
♦<**' .
mcaster Farming, Saturday, September i, 198A-A35
council of Penn State’s College of
Agriculture. Chaired by Philip
Price 11, an ag student, the booth
was managed and operated by
students from every branch of the
College of Agriculture. Com
mittees were formed for pur
chasing, operating, designing, and
planning in order to make the
endeavor run smoothly. Also
lending their support, were several
professors of the college who
helped in procuring commodities
and planning the merchandising.
After letters were written to the
various large commodity groups
for purchases. Price states that the
hardest part was getting the bam
the way they had visualized it
should be. With the support of Jack
Macmillan, assistant to the dean,
and an antique collector, many
nostalgic furnishings were added
to the store site to give it the
authentic country store ap
pearance. An antique Coke cooler
tub was used to hold beverages in
ice, an old school bench and cast
iron stove was displayed in a
comer, and wagon wheels with the
“Country Store” logo were
displayed on the outside of the
barn. Other additions from the
college wre also utilized as teams
of students spent Saturday, Sun
day, and Monday until 2 A.M.
preparing for their opening debut
at Ag Progress Days.
“We did pretty well,” Price
stated after the opening day last
Tuesday. “If it didn’t sell, we
opened up packages and gave out
samples,” he added.
“They like the samples,” Mary
Bates, an ag business major, said
about the visitors to the store.
Durin fa the noon hour and early
afternoon there was usually a line
of people lined up to taste the jelly,
Dutch cookies, canned scrapple,
cheeses, and bologna in the store.
After the first day, the supply of
sparkling cider was sold out and
additional cases were stocked.
Another favorite seemed to be the
Dutch cookies. The Sip-Ups also
sold well according to Price who
also stated that once the public got
(Turn to Page A 3 7)