There’s A ‘Mom Away From Home’ At 4-H Horse Show
UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre
Co.) Only a handful of celebri
ties are recognized by a single
name Cher, Liza, Madonna.
Elvis, and Liberace, to name a few.
The Pennsylvania State 4-H Horse
Show has its own single-name star
Maria!
Maria Campomizzi is the head
liner in the show’s Hospitality
Room every October, and her fans
return year after year to pay hom
age. Mention her name, and almost
anyone who’s ever worked the
show will use any or all of the fol
lowing words to describe her:
friend, encourager, coach, excel
lent cook, superb hostess, hard
worker, untiring volunteer, unique
and loveable person.
At the 1982 state show, the late
Jim Gallagher (another name
instantly recognized among Pen
nsylvania horse lovers) expressed
his concern to Maria that many of
the show judges and committee
members had not found time to eat
properly. Jam-packed days and the
lack of nearby restaurants had not
permitted them to break free long
enough to have a decent meal.
Maria took it upon herself to
telephone a long list of Harrisburg
eateries and convinced one of them
to slay open past regular hours for
the hungry horse-show people.
Gallagher was so impressed with
her ingenuity and take-charge atti
tude that he invited her to initiate a
“hospitality room” at the 1983
show.
Maria brought plenty of home
made vegetable soup, hot coffee,
bagels, and doughnuts that first
year, but decided she would have
to find a way to lop her own efforts
the next year, and the next, and thtf'
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next. The hospitality room soon
became an oasis for twenty-rive or
so horse show staffers —a place to
get away from the noise, the
crowds, the dust. Maria is there for
five days every year, from early
morning until late at night, serving
breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and
snacks in between. She doses out
generous measures of friendship
along the way.
“It’s really like having your own
‘Mom-away-from-homc’,” said
Don Tanner of McKean County
Cooperative Extension. “And if
you’re too busy to leave your post,
she’ll bring the food to you or
relieve you while you break away
to eat”
Tanner, as well as many others,
said Maria simply has always been
there, and it would be hard to ima
gine the state show without her.
Like all great stars, Maria
begins preparing for her one
woman show long before the per
formance. As soon as this year’s
busy show week is over, she will
begin poring over supermarket ads
for the best foods, then spend the
winter cooking and baking afl the
sumptuous goodies people will
enjoy next fall. She will spend the
spring and summer stocking her
freezer with fresh fruits and veget
ables from her own garden and
those of others. All of this is simp
ly a labor Of love for Maria, who
considers herself a “frustrated
gourmet cook."
So much can be said about this
small, generpus, energetic woman
who came to the United States by
way of Germany, with brief sto
povers in World War II labor and
refugee camps. Over the years,
Maria has shared a wealth of
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inspiring stories with friends and
co-workers. She said that 4-H peo
ple have become her family here in
America. Her work at the State
4-H Horse Show is simply a culmi
nation of decades of volunteerism
with 4-H, including 23 years as a
4-H horse leader in Bucks County.
Maria has worked the regional
4-H horse shows as host, judging
team coach, and horse-bowl judge,
and she has repesented her county
at district meetings. But 4-H"is a
passion with Maria. Her fan club
said she loves the kids and will do
anything for them, including
chauffeuring them to clinics and
various other activities.
Montgomery County Coopera
te Extension Agent Nancy Kad
will said Maria has been known to
travel hundreds of miles to take
young people (too young to be
eligible) to 4-H State Days to prac
tice horse judging for future
competition.
In addition, she teaches a mea
suring certification class for coun
ty 4-H leaders and gives horse clin
ics for 4-H’ers in Bucks County.
When Maria judges horse shows
across the state, she generously
donates her fees to the Therapeutic
Riding Endowment Fund in sup
port of the 4-H Horseback Riding
• for the Handicapped program.
In 1992, Maria helped establish
the James Gallagher Trophy in
Grooming and Showmanship at
the regional level. She said that
much of her work now is a tribute
to Gallagher, who was Penn
State’s equine specialist for many
years. Gallagher conducted the
first interstate 4-H horse judging
contest in the United States, which
became the National 4-H Horse
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Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 29, 1994-C7
Marla Campomlzzl is the headliner at the State 4-H Horse
Show's Hospitality Room every October. Her cooking and
friendship make long days at the Pennsylvania Farm Show
Complex more palatable for the show judges and commit
tee members.
Judging Contest, and he worked
with the Easter Seal Society to
organize handicapped-riding
programs in Pennsylvania.
At the time of his death in 1991,
he was planning a Pennsylvania
Center for Integrated Therapy and
conducting an economic impact
study of the equine industry in the
state. Many of those Maria so
willingly serves correspond with
her throughout the year with let
ters, Christmas cards, and thank
ypu notes.
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Although she is concerned that
her age will soon limit her work,
Maria said she will be at the State
4-H Horse Show again this year,
dishing out food and friendship.
This year’s State 4-H Horse
Show will be held October 28-30
at the Farm Show Complex in Har
risburg. For more information,
contact Extension Horse Program
Coordinator Pat Comerford (814)
863-3657 or Kathy Houser (814)
863-3668.
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