818-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, September 20,1986
Outstanding
BY ROBIN PHILLIPS
Berks County Correspondent
FLEETWOOD The 132-year
tradition of the Reading Fair
continued last week as outstanding
members of the Berks County
agricultural community were
honored at the annual Reading
Fair Awards Banquet.
One of the most prestigious
awards of the evening went to the
Kopfer 1 family of R 2 Fleetwood,
who were named the 1986 Berks
County Outstanding Farm Family.
All 30 of the previous outstanding
farm families were present to
meet this year’s family and the
Outstanding 4-H and FFA Boy and
Girl.
“It gave us a great boost, said
Carroll Kopfer after her family
was chosen Outstanding Farm
Family. The honor is appreciated
at a time when the farm economy
is depressing, she added.
Serving as spokesman for her
family, Mrs. Kopfer said; “This is
an opportunity for us as an
agricultural industry to help
people understand what we do.”
Carroll and her husband, Robert,
operate 4 K’s Farm in Fleetwood
where they farm 450 acres and
milk 65 Holsteins. They have been
Fleetwood Grange members for 15
years and are involved in the 4-H
and Camp Fire programs in their
community.
Their two children, Ann, age 18,
and David, 12, help out on the farm
and are active in community
programs. A freshman this year at
the Indiana University of Penn
sylvania, Aim Kopfer was unable
to attend the banquet.
Not only did she miss the out
standing farm family presentation
to her parents, she wasn’t present
to accept the 1986 Outstanding 4-H
Chris States, 4-H Extension agent, presented Greg Strieker
with the award for the Reading Fair Outstanding 4-H Boy.
Twin Valley FFA advisor Ron Frederick, left, presented the Outstanding FFA Girl
award to Beth Morgan, while Hamburg FFA advisor Lynn Van Tassel, right, presented
Henry Seidel with the Outstanding FFA Boy award.
Youths, Farm
Girl Award either. Ann received
the award for her extensive par
ticipation in local, state and
national 4-H activities.
Her achievements include:
senior dairy blueform winner,
county fashion revue winner in
1984, 1985 and 1986, regional
fashion revue honors in 1985,
Kiwanis recognition winner in
1984, clothing and textiles judging
team from 1981 to 1985, county
representative from the Fleetwood
Club, Berks County representative
to the National 4-H Junior
Dairyman’s Contest, 4-H Capital
Days delegate in 1985, and the
Berks County alternate dairy
princess in 1985.
Ann Kopfer has been a member
of the Fleetwood 4-H Community
Club for 10 years and a member of
the Eastern Berks 4-H Dairy Club
for nine years. Her major projects
have been clothing and textiles,
foods, dairy and teen leadership in
dairy and foods.
The 1986 Berks County Out
standing 4-H Boy award was
presented to well-known beef and
swine exhibitor Greg Strieker. The
18-year-old son of Gene and Shirley
Strieker of R 1 Bemville, Greg is an
active 4-H’er. He lias been a
member of the Berks County Beef
and Swine Club since 1977, serving
as president of the swine club in
1985 and beef club president in
1986.
He was the state delegate to the
National 4-H Commodity
Marketing Symposium in 1986 and
attended 4-H Citizen Washington
Focus. He was also the state
delegate to the National 4-H Club
Congress in 1986 and the £-H
representative on the 4-H
Development board of directors in
1986. This year he also won the
'■HMHHHi
Fam
Kiwanis Youth Award represen
ting 4-H.
Beth Morgan, the 18-year-old
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas
Morgan, El Birdsboro, was named
the 1986 Reading Fair Outstanding
FFAGirI.
A 1986 graduate of Twin Valley
High School, Beth served as
president of the Twin Valley FFA,
vice-president of the Berks County
FFA and held the offices of county
junior advisor, parliamentarian,
chapter vice-president, and
secretary.
She was a presiding member of
the FFA parliamentary procedure
team, placed third in the Penn
sylvania FFA forestry contest, and
will be a member of the Penn
sylvania FFA team in the national
forestry contest in Kansas City,
Mo. in November.
Beth Morgan has also par
ticipated in the Blue Mountain
Cooperative Institute, the Penn
sylvania Association of Farmer
Cooperatives, the National In
stitute on Cooperative Education,
the National FFA Washington
Leadership Conference and the
National FFA Convention. She
received the Twin Valley DeKalb
Agricultural Accomplishment
Award, the Chapter Star Farmer
Award, and the Smith Brothers
Citizenship Award at graduation.
Her FFA projects have included
a home garden and a wildlife
conservation project. She was a
student in the Twin Valley forestry
and natural resources program.
“She’s our outstanding example
of the fact that FFA isn’t all cows
and plows/’ her FFA advisor, Ron
Frederick, said as he presented the
award. “She’s an outstanding
example of what FFA can do.”
Morgan is a freshman at the
University of Delaware, where she
is majoring in animal science.
The 1986 Outstanding FFA Boy
“seems to embody all the super
things that you would like to see in
young people today,” Hamburg
Area FFA advisor Lynn Van
Tassel said as he presented the
award to Henry Seidel of R 1
Lenhartsville.
The son of Robert and Nancy
Seidel, Robert has served as
president of the Berks County FFA
Chapter as well as his home
chapter.
Robert received the Keystone
Farmer Degree in January and
will represent Pennsylvania in
regional competition next week in
Massachusetts.
He has also received the Bank of
Pennsylvania Scholarship to at
tend the Washington Leadership
Conference and has attended the
National FFA Convention in
Kansas City.
Seidel’s projects have included
dairy, market swine, field corn and
fy Honored At Reading Fa
o
The Robert and Carroll Kopfer family of Fleetwood was
selected Berks County Outstanding Farm Family of 1986.
Pictured here with their 12-year-old son, David, they accept
the award.
oats. He is presently attending The Reading Fair will be held
Penn State Berks Campus and Sept. 21 through 27 and will feature
intends to enter the field of free parking, admission, and
agricultural engineering. entertainment, along with
Judge Forrest Scheaffer, numerous Berks County entries in
president judge of the Court of dairy, livestock, floral
Common Pleas, was the evening’s arrangements, needlecraft and
featured speaker. home products.
Trace Minerals
SOUTHAMPTON - We hear a
lot about the importance of
vitamins—but a host of other
strange-sounding chemicals called
trace minerals are also essential
for life.
Trace minerals or “elements”
are substances needed by the body
in minute amounts, says Dairy
Council Inc. of Southampton.
These include iron, iodine,
fluoride, copper, manganese, zinc,
selenium, chromium, and cobalt.
Iron is necessary for the
production of red blood cells.
Required amounts are 18 mg. for
women and 10 mg. for men. The
average diet contains about 6 mg.
per 1,000 calories, but many
women don’t meet their daily
needs because of either blood loss
due to menstrual periods or low
calorie diets.
Only a small percentage (10
percent) of the iron consumed is
absorbed, so you need to consume
substantially more than your body
needs Coffee and tea can decrease
iron absorption, tea by as much as
70 percent and coffee by as much
as 40 percent
Meat, fish, poultry, soybeans
contain iron that is more readily
absorbed than iron found in grains,
fruits and vegetables' Iron
deficiency signs are apathy,
fatigue, and hyperactivity On the
other hand, black stools can mean
you’re taking in too much iron and
this could lead to liver malfunc
tion.
lodine is necessary for
production of the thyroid hormone
that regulates metabolism.
Primary sources are iodized salt
and seafood. An iodine deficiency
has never been a problem in the
U.S. food supply due to iodized salt,
but goiter is still a serious health
problem in other parts of the
world.
A theoretical problem may exist
for those who cut back too much on
sodium intake and thus increase
risk of goiter. It should be
remembered that processed foods
danot use iodized salt.
Fluoride is important for strong
bones and teeth, especially the
enamel. Primary sources are
drinking water, small ocean fish
with bones, and tea. One cup of tea
can have as much as three times
the amount of fluoride as that
tound in fluoridated water. An
ir Banquet
Are Essential
excess can cause mottling or
discoloration of teeth.
Copper affects pigmentation and
the structure of the hair. It also
mobilizes iron and synthesizes
hemoglobin. Because it is related
to iron, a deficiency sign is
anemia. Excess intake of zinc and
vitamin C will decrease copper
absorption. Primary sources of
copper are oysters, nuts, organ
meats, enriched breads and
cereals, and cocoa.
Manganese is involved in protein
and energy metabolism. It is also
necessary for normal skeletal
connective tissue development.
Primary sources are nuts, apples,
raisins, and tea.
Zinc affects cell growth and
repair. Those at risk for zinc
deficiency are vegetarians,
children and teens, pregnant
women, and the elderly. Zinc has
been known to improve taste
perception in the elderly, while an
excess can affect the high density
lipoproteins beneficial to the heart.
Good sources are liver, oysters,
milk, and eggs
Selenium is essential for the
functioning of important enzymes.
You need between 50 to 100
micrograms, a very small amount.
Toxic symptoms can include
brittle fingernails, hair loss, and
gastro-mtestmal disorder. Good
food sources are organ meats,
seafood, and grains.
Chromium increases the ef
fectiveness of insulin, and a
deficiency may cause impaired
glucose metabolism, with symp
toms similar to diabetes: frequent
urination, extreme thirst, loss of
weight. Good food sources are
cheeses, meat products, whole
grains, and brewer’s yeast.
Cobalt is a part of vitamin 812B 12
so food sources are the same;
green leafy vegetables, foods of
animal origin, such as milk.
These discreet functions are
essential to life, so it is reassuring
to know what a wide variety of
foods from the four food groups
should provide enough of these
essential trace minerals. Only
severe dietary modifications
would cause a deficiency, says
Dairy Council, out it is important
to remember that large doses can
cause an imbalance in the body’s
chemistry—so more is not better.