From Farm kids fo Outstanding Farm Couple, Spanglers share committment to land
BY MARGIE FUSCO
Staff Correspondent
MIFFLINBURG - Lee and
Kathy Spangler of Mifflinburg
speak shyly about being chosen a
1984 Outstanding Farm Couple
Under 30 by the Pennsylvania
Young Farmers. “We didn’t really
do anything,” Kathy says, “We
just filled out the forms.” But it’s
what the Spanglers put on the
forms that made them out
standing.
Lee and Kathy were farm kids
from the start and proud of it. They
met through 4-H when Kathy was
growing up in Middleburg. The
romance blossomed through
shows, sales, and fairs. By the time
they reached college, the couple
had made not only a commitment
to each other, but also a com
mitment to the land.
“I though at first I wanted to be
an ag teacher or a veterinarian,”
Lee recalls of his first year at Penn
State. Finally the elective choices
drew him into ag ed. He was the
top student in his class his junior
and senior years, and he com
pleted his student teaching and
found job offers waiting. “I wanted
to have the degree, and I like
knowing that I have my cer
tification I can fall back on, if I
have to,” he says. “But I knew by
then that I wanted to go back to
farming.”
They were married in 1979.
Kathy still had a year of school
remaining, and she commuted 45
miles each way to State College to
complete her bachelor’s degree in
horticulture. Today she has her
hands full with the couple’s two
daughters, but she continues to
work in a local flower shop and do
private consulting on weddings.
She also finds tune to keep a large
garden, can in season, and help out
with the heifers.
Lee credits his parents with
instilling in him strong values
about education and farming. His
father, Eugene, with whom he now
farms, encouraged Lee and his
older brother Glenffand younger
brother Barry to get involved in
farming from the start. The boys
were involved in deciSfbn-makmg
about the farm, and they were
encouraged and rewarded for
helping with the work. Their late
mother, Martha, a Penn State
graduate and former Extension
Service home economist, joined
their father in encouraging the
boys to pursue a college education.
“We knew that it was expected of
us,” Lee recalls. When the boys
made any money from a 4-H or
FFA cattle sale, the money went
straight into the bank for college.
By the time they were ready for
more school, they had enough
money to pay for their tuition. The
Spanglers also hired their sons to
work on the farm during summer
vacations, then extended their pay
through the school year, an in
centive that made them look
forward to coming back to the
farm each summer.
Lee and his father now farm 250
acres and maintain a herd of 84
milking-age cows. Glenn is a vo-ag
teacher at the Mifflinburg Area
School District, and Barry is a
sophomore at the high school. Both
help out on the family operation as
time permits. The farm has been
planned for labor-saving and ef
ficency.
The heifers stay in the old barn
at Lee’s house; the milking cows
are a few acres away, at Eugene’s
more modern barn. Eugene
Spangler purchased the farm in
1964 after several years of renting
in nearby Swengle. "Dad got us
involved from the start,” Lee says.
In 1970 they put in a herringbone
milking parlor. In 1973 they
renovated the heifer barn. They
added concrete silos to Eugene’s
barn in 1970 and 1975, and more
recently they built a 16x60 ft.
poured concrete silo at Lee’s barn,
with additional space4o expand the
square footage of the heifer barn
The Spanglers have also bmlt a
heated, insulated shop where they
can do equipment repairs during
the winter months.
The Spangler dairy herd
currently enjoys a rolling average
of 16,550 pounds milk, 658 pounds
butterfat and 4 percent test. The
fat levels are about 50 points below
last year because an outbreak of
cowpox hit the herd and did its
share of damage.
Eugene has been breeding his
own cows for years. Recently Lee
has taken over more of the
breeding, and they have begun to
use the ABS computer genetic
evaluation service. They’re now
breeding for greater production,
body type and udder traits, using
bulls like Chairman, Vic, Milk
master, Columbus and Geranjo.
The present herd is about 60
percent registered and includes
two 11-year-old cows. With the end
of the cowpox and some better
bred cows coming along this
spring, Lee is looking forward to
watching production levels rise.
The Spanglers’ interests don’t
stop at farming. They’re con
cerned about the community and
about conservation as well. Lee
and Kathy are active in their
church and are youth group
leaders and Sunday school
teachers. Lee is a member of thge
Union County Economic
Development Council, the Union
County Agricultural Land Task
Force, and the Vocational Ad
BY JOYCE BUPP
Staff Correspondent
YORK - Joyce Ruppert is York
County’s 1985 dairy princess, after
being crowned by outgoing prin
cess Judy Perry, as the highlight of
the annual pageant at the 4-H
Center. Alternate princess is Kelly
Kilgore.
Joyce is the 21-year-old daughter
of Mr. and Mrs. William Ruppert,
Harrisburg Street, East Berlin. A
1982 graduate of Dover Area High
School, she is employed on the
family farm, assisting with the 56-
head herd and 168 acres of
cropground. Joyce is also an artist,
specializing in painting, and
studied for a semester at the
Antonelli Institute of Art and
Photography.
During her high school years she
was class treasurer, Honor Society
member and a member of the
track team through all four years.
She also served on the yearbook
staff, homecoming and prom
courts, and won several school
awards.
Joyce’s milk promotional skit
was one of the two selected for
presentation during the pageant.
Also chosen to give her
promotional presentation to the
audience was contestant Loretta
Cooper.
Alternate princess Kelly Kilgore
is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
William Kilgore, Airville R 2. Kelly
is 17 and a 1985 graduate of Red
Lion Area High School, where she
has been an active FFA member
and officer. She is past chapter
president and served as the
county’s first woman FFA
president.
Owner of six head of cattle, Kelly
exhibits in both FFA and 4-H dairy
competition, and does some of the
artificial insemination work for the
70-cow herd. She plans to continue
working with the home farm, and
hopes to pursue studies as a
licensed practical nurse.
A special feature of the 31st
annual pageant was a reunion and
update on the activities of York’s
dairy princesses of the past 30
years. Ten former winners took
part, including the first princess,
Hope Hanley Bradley, of Delta,
who won'the crown in 1955.
visory Committee to the Mif
flmburg Area School District. He is
also a past president of the local
chapter of Pennsylvania Young
Farmers and a member of PFA.
Kathy teasmgly likes to
characterize the couple as “a pair
of workaholics.” Lee doesn’t quite
agree. He sees them working for
results: “You can’t get anything
done if you’re not willing to get out
and do it.”
When they’re not on the farm,
the Spanglers enjoy the outdoors.
They take camping vacations, and
Lee is an avid hunter involved in
both archery and guns. He is also a
licensed pheasant propagator and
has a serious interest in wildlife.
In 1981, the Spanglers bought a
17-acre piece of land that linked
their property to Eugene’s. They
turned the bottom land, which was
cut through by a meandering
stream, into a wildlife refuge. By
damming the stream and building
a pond, they established a
waterfowl preserve where great
blue herons, mallard ducks,
Canada geese, and whistling swans
are visitors or residents.
Both Lee and Kathy are com
mitted to their family as well. One
visible sign of that commitment is
a huge playhouse Lee constructed
for their older daughter, Valerie.
The house takes up nearly a
quarter of the large family room.
When their second daughter,
Sheila, was born, Lee added a
“kitchenette” inside complete with
stove, refrigerator, and sink.
Joyce Rupperf becomes York daily princess
Other former princesses at
tending were Carolyn Falkenstein
Markey, York, 1956; Louise
Smyser Frye, York, 1957; Vicki
Evans, McFarland, York 1972-73;
Cindy Rutter Johnson,
Cockeysville, Md., 1976; Susan
Adams Becker, Dallastown, 1977;
Patricia Greek Jones, Parkton,
Md., 1978; Carol Druck Tipton,
Windsor, 1979; Tina L. Neufeld,
Elkton, Md., 1980; Candy Neufeld,
York, 1981; and Nancy Eisenhart,
West Chester, 1982.
Emcee for the pageant was
Berks County dairy farmer Ernest
Miller. Judges were Phoebe Bitler,
former extension home economist
and Berks County dairy princess
coordinator, Vernette Meyers,
former Berks County princess
pageant chairman, and John
Blyholder, secretary of the Penn
sylvania Dairymen’s Association.
Coordinator for the 1985-86 York
Dairy Pnncess program is Kathy
King, Delta R 2. Individuals or
groups wishing to schedule ap
pearances by the York County
Dairy Princess should contact
Mrs. King at 717-862-3607.
HARRISBURG - Rebecca
Michalka, women’s activities
director for the Pennsylvania State
Grange, recently announced state
winners in the National Grange
Sewing Contest, the nation’s
largest general sewing com
petition.
Jane Reppert of Hamburg,
Berks County, was judged the top
state winner, taking best of show,
first place in the children’s
clothing category and the Offray
Ribbon Company’s award for her
use of the sponsor’s product in the
garment. Reppert belongs to
Virginville Grange in Berks
County. Her winning garment was
a hand-embroidered dress sewn
for her infant daughter
Melinda Shaffer, age 15, of
Georgetown, Beaver County, won
first place in the youth sewing
Lee and Kathy Spangler display local and state awards they
received as Outstanding Farm Couple Under 30.
While their daughters dart in and “I don’t know that we’re doui|
out of the play kitchen, Lee and things any better or worse thai
Kathy take tune to sit and talk in others,” Kathy muses. “We try ti
their grown-up kitchen. Kathy tells work hard at whatever we do. An
about the bear Lee shot last year, we try to be understanding
Farming takes long hours, and
marriage takes a lot of work. Yot
have to remember both of thos
things when you’re the wife up n
the house and he comes home lati
and tired.” They exchange a smilt
across the table.
and he points out a flower
arrangement his wife recently
made. It’s apparent that each is
proud of the other, and that they
value each other for their dif
ferences.
Joyce Ruppert is York County's newly-crowned dairy
princess. Alternate princess is Kelly Kilgore.
Grange sewing winners named
category. The South Side High
School sophomore belongs to
Hookstown Junior Grange and has
previously won 4-H, Sewing with
Wool, and State Farm Show sewing
awards. She lives on a small farm.
Laura Boak, a retired teacher
from Cannonsburg, Washington
County, placed first in the adult
clothing category. She belongs to
Millers Run Grange.
Charles Day, age 10, of
Honesdale, Wayne County, was the
first place winner in the category
for elementary age children. The
fourth grader won with a three
piece jogging outfit. He is a
member of Beach Grove Grange.
Wanda Mae Lehner of Bald
Eagle Grange, Blair County, won
the B. Blumenthal and Company
award, and June Boak of Millet)
Run Grange, Washington Count?,
was selected the Pellon Company
prize winner.
The state winners in the ffflt
categories will receive monetary
awards from the State Grange u
addition to prizes awarded by
Simplicity Pattern Company a»
other contest sponsors. All fit*
place garments will 'be entered«
national competition to be held aV
the Simplicity Pattern Compao'
headquarters in New York City
June.
The National Grange Sewini
Contest is conducted from Dec 1 b
April 15 and is open to any no
professional sewer, regardless <
membership in the Grange. Fo
further information on enterin
next year’s contest, contact tb
local Grange in your area.