A2O-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, August 1, 1992 Glenside Dairy (Continued from Page A 1) from their home were Craig and Laßena Owlett and Craig’s parents and co-owners. Dennis (Denny) and Arietta Owlett. Preparing for this day had not been left to the Owletts alone. Hordes of relatives, friends, and neighbors, along with authorities from the Soil Conservation Ser vice (SCS), Penn State Coopera tive Extension, Agriculture Stabil ization and Conservation Service, Department of Environmental Resources, and more pitched in to give the place a spit-and-polish look, organize some of the events, or man exhibits. That the combined efforts paid off was evident in the smiles on faces as the spectators wandered reluctantly back to the parking lot at the end of the day. Nearly 2,000 people attended Farm-City Day to see, in addition to the tours, a petting zoo, sheep shearing, Christmas tree shearing, chicks hatching, wool spinning, old, new and toy machinery dis plays, and participate in contests for throwing hay bales, splicing wire and milking cows. Even the little ones had a chance to test their strength in a pedal tractor pull. Erick Coolidge, who hosted the first Tioga County Farm-City Day last year at his farm, was pleased with the spectator tum-out. Com menting on the weather’s coopera tion as a contributing factor in the day’s success as opposed to the sporadic rain showers of last year, he said the activities were well organized and farmers could be pleased with how they were Clair Zerby won a wrestling match with a ram who did not want to get sheared. The uncooperative big horn sheep was brought in from a near-by game farm. More pigeons got a . .. eye-view of . jrm-City Day festivities. Curt Owlett, brother of Craig, climbed to the top of a silo to get this shot. represented. Gerry Carlsen, a homemaker in Middlebury Center, formerly a 5 1/2 year resident of Florida, among other parts of the country, thought Farm-City Day was “Great!” Being her first time to such an event, she was amazed at how many cars and people were there. The size of die Owlett’s milking parlour (holding 10 cows) interested her, but she thought the rides through the fields and woods were “absolutely fantastic.” She and her husband Russ are definite ly planning to go next year. Judging from the long, patient lines of people waiting their turn to board the wagons, the field tour was the most popular event A tot al of 81 trips were made. Sche duled to end at S p.m„ the last wagon made it back to the loading dock at 6;45. The first to greet the visitors on the tour was the solitary sentry of a scarecrow waving “hello” from his post in the field. Then the wagons rolled over a sharp dip in the trail and came to a halt From the shade of a stand of trees, Howard Rutledge of the SCS office in Wellsboro stepped forward to explain the diversion ditch and contour strip farming methods that the Owletts practice to help stop soil erosion and keep nutrients in the ground for better crop results. Further up the hill, the group feasted their eyes on the panoram ic view encompassing four diffe rent townships, with mountains more than 20 miles away. Upon approaching a stone wall six feet tall in places, oo’s and Tossing bales of hay isn’t as easy as it looks, and David Peet, both of Wellsboro, worked up a ahh’s of appreciation for the masonary craftmanship that went into making the magnificent struc ture could be heard over the tractor, Dennis’s brother Lloyd waited for the tractor driver to cut the engine before delving into the wall’s 100 year-old history and trivia, such as; how the inside was hollow for about three feet up from the ground and that even though it snaked for seven miles up hills and down into steep gul leys, each stone was laid at level to keep portions from sliding away. Children were amused by a wooden cutout of Humpty Dump ty with a “devil-may-care grin” perched on top. What had always been last on the list of “things to do” for the Owletts but had always been a “someday project” was finally completed for Farm-City Day. Brush was cleared from a cemet ery dating back more than 200 years on the farm. Tour guides on each wagon explained how the William French family, for whom the area was named, had owned a farm on what is now Owlett property but were wiped out by scarlet fever and bur ied there. Their buildings had been burned, too, to keep the disease from spreading. A large lilac bush is all that’s left to mark the origi nal foundation. Among the trees and grape vin es, marble tombstones, their carv ings faded by years of acid rain, sprouted from the creeping myrtle and leaned haphazardly without foundations. A new American flag muscles into third gear as he wins the pedal tractor pull for the nine-year-old boys division with a distance of 21 feet, 5 inches. fluttered in its maiker at the grave of a Revolutionary War Minute man. As the wagons rolled on to the conclusion of the tour, a splendid view of the barns and house reflected the pride the Owletts have in their dairy operation. Fresh paint, new fences, even flower beds among the tent cano pies and exhibits welcomed the guests with eye-appealing, down home comfort Senator Roger Madigan, who participated in the opening cere monies, said he enjoyed himself immensely. Elaborating on the need for the public to be aware of how hard a farmer works, and see ing, firsthand, exactly what he does, Madigan said, “It (Farm- City Day) is a much needed event and I’d like to see it continue next year.” Perhaps the best thing about Farm-City Day was having so much entertainment offered for free. What better way to spend an afternoon? Throughout the day, plenty of door prizes were given away, too. The only costs to the public came by way of refresh ments. Nonprofit organizations sold ice cream, hot dogs, bar becued chicken, milkshakes, ice tea and lemonade. Not a commercially advertised exhibit or for-profit vendor was in sight ‘To keep it (Farm-City Day) a non-commercial day is so impor tant” said Laßena, “because the public needs an event where they can have a good time without hav ing to spend money, for anything other than food.” In a mear 36.96 seconds Mark Jannelli sweat while competing in the contest. Craig added, “The sponsors who brought in the exhibits are the ones making it possible to have this event free.” Indeed, an event this elaborate would not have been possible if the sponsors had not been willing to donate their time, in addition to the cost of bringing in their exhibits, with their names listed in the itinerary brochure as their only form of compensation. Coolidge agreed. “To help defray some of the costs,” he said, “I’d like to see a milk can placed somewhere on the grounds next year to encourage public donations.” Pedal Tractor Pull; Four Year Old*: Lauren Gndley and Carl Erich, both of Wells boro; Flva Yaar Olda: Janna Watts of Mainesburg, Michael Gross IV of Covington; Six Year Olda: Jackie Tamny of Mlddlebury Center. Adam Winter of Nesoopeck; Seven Yaar Olda: Christy Kemp of Ulysses, Gra ham Zugarek of Wallsboro; Eight Year Olda: Nlckla Tamny of MWdlabury Canter, Jeffrey Watts of Mainesburg; Nina Year Olda: Dustin Butler of Knoxville; Tan Yaar Olda: Roberta Baker and John Pino, both of Covington: Eleven Yaar Olda: Dixie Welch of Liberty, Justin Wesnaski of Roaring Branch; Twelve Yaar Olda; Christine Oakley of Wellsboro, Kyle Hayler of Roaring Branch. Bala Throwing: Junior Division: Darrin Kennedy and Nathan Lawton; Mixed Divi sion; Jeff and Vicki Slomlan; Senior Divi sion: Lorry Bulter of Knoxville and Kyle Owlett of Mlddlebury Center. Wire Splicing; 12 Years and Under: Russell Owlett of Mlddlebury Center; 13 to 16 Year Olds; Aaron Kennedy; 17 Years and Older: Larry Kroeck of Knoxville. Celebrity Milking; Madia Division; Caro lyn Moyer of Liberty, FARMER’S FRIEND; Princess Division: Stacey Graves of Little Marsh, Tioga County' Dairy Princess Alter nate; Public Division; Walter Rupnickey of Mlddlebury Center. Victoria Johnson of North Bingham won a free year's supply of lea cream In a drawing sponsored by Eastern Milk Producers and the American Dairy Association and Dairy Council.
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