Bi4-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 23, 1995
LINDA WILLIAMS
Bedford Co. Correspondent
BEDFORD (Bedford Co.)
When Fred Claycomb signed up
to be a VOCA (Volunteers Over
seas-Co-operative Assistance)
volunteer at Ag Progress Days, he
didn’t realize it would change his
life.
And, little did he know that he
and his wife, Connie, would both
be working to help convert the
country of Ukraine back into the
bread basket of Europe.
It began with Fred, a Bedford
County dairy farmer, being sent to
Ukraine to educate farmers on the
latest farming technologies.
Ukrainians, natural bom farmers,
had had little knowledge of mod
em farming methods during the
communist regime. With the brea
kup of the Communist control,
Ukrainians were ready to make
the rich soil of their country
productive.
However, Communism had not
allowed for advancements in
farming. Machinery, seeds, and
parts are difficult to find and the
knowledge of farmers such as
Fred Claycomb is a valuable asset.
Fred was met at the airport by
an interpreter, Anna Alekseyenko,
a third-year student at the Univer
sity of Kiev studying “Internation
al Tourism.”
Anna’s father was one fo the
farmers with whom Fred worked
in the Ukraine.
It was an instant friendship and
soon after his return to America,
Fred and his wife, Connie, invited
Anna to come to America. They
raised the money for her expenses
with donations from churches,
civic organizations, clubs, and
individuals. A letter from Senator
Rick Santorum helped to speed up
plans.
Arriving on October 25, Anna
is staying with the Claycombs
until January 7, gathering agricul
tural knowledge to take back to
her native homeland.
“I want to return to America to
attend Penn State and study ag
business,” Anna says. “I am so
excited about all I have been
seeing.”
“I feel the Lord has had a hand
in all this,” says Connie Clay
comb. “There is a plan for that
rich farmland in Ukraine and I feel
we are somehow a part of it.”
Anna is quick to point out that
her native land has always
remained Christian despite the
strong Communist control. “All of
the priests in our Christian Ortho
dox churches were killed during
Stalin’s takeover,” she says. “But
we still maintained our
Christianty.”
“We do not need the missiona
ries from the Mormons, Baptists,
and various other religions being
sent to us. What we need instead is
the knowledge and availability of
seeds, fertilizers, and machinery,
to make our farmlands
productive.”
Proud of her heritage, Anna
remembers a grandmother who,
despite a life of hardship, was
always smiling and full of faith
that the people of Ukraine would
some day get their native land
back.
Her father always managed to
keep his family well fed. He has
worked as a journalist, a musician,
a photographer, and is now fulfill
ing his greatest desire of farming.
“Everyone in Ukraine is, in his
own way, a farmer,” Anna con
tinues. “In every backyard you
will find a vegetable garden, a few
pigs, or chickens. We know how
to farm, we just don’t have the lat-
Beford Farmer Helps Ukraine Farmer
visited the Ukraine, Is visiting the Claycombs in Bedfoid
County and plans to return to study agriculture at Penn
State.
est technical knowledge oi the
resources we need. We know that
the soil in Ukraine is the best in
the world and I can’t ever remem
ber of the drought. I have never
even heard my parents talk about a
drought.”
Traveling with Fred on his calls
as a crop insurance agent, Anna
met dozens of farm families
throughout the state. She has also
met Governor Ridge, the secretary
of agriculture, and most of the
members of the board of Penn
State University. “The highlight
of my" stay was being asked to
attend classes at the University for
Q'ask
fs *
¥OU
This column is for readers who have questions but
don’t know whom to ask for answers.
“You Ask—You Answer” is for non-cooking ques
tions'. When a reader sends In a question, it will be printed
In the paper. Readers who know the answer are asked to
respond by mailing the answer, which will then be printed
in the paper.
Questions and Answers to this column should be
addressed to You Ask—You Answer, Lancaster Farming,
P.O. Box 609, Ephrata, PA 17522. Attention: Lou Ann
Good.
There’s no need to send a BASE. If we receive an an
swer to your question, we will publish It as soon as possi
ble. Please Include your phone number because we
sometimes need to contact the person to clarify details.
QUESTION Esther Nolt, Newmanstown, would like to
know where she can buy a set of Jungle Doctor books written
by Paul White. She enjoyed these books as a child and would
like to get them for her children.
QUESTION Dale Leighow, R.R.3, Box 368, Catawissa,
would like to locate some seed from a corn called 8-row yellow
or possibly Flint com. It is a small diameter cob about
8-10-inches long. Also the cob is white and every ear has
eight rows of kernals. The kernel is about the size of an aver
age person's fingernail on the ring finger and is dark yellow in
color. It was used many years ago to grind into cornmeal. Dale
would like 20 to 25 kernels to plant in 1996.
QUESTION A Turbotville reader-would like to know
where to find literature or an owner's manual on a US Slicing
Machine Co., Van Berkel’s original hand crank meat slicer
that was made in 1912 in La Porte, Ind.
a day,” Anna beams.
In order to give the fanners of
the Ukraine a better understanding
of how co-ops work in America,
Anna spent a day making a video
at Agway and Farm Bureau asking
managers in the various stores to
give their own ideas on how a
similar type structure could be
developed.
Anna’s father owns about 100
acres in Ukraine which was given
to him by the government follow
ing the breakdown of the Com
munist control. He raises potatoes
and other vegetables. His desire is
to become a distributor of quality
Anna, Fred Claycomb, and Mr. Alekseyenko in Ukraine.
seeds. It is Fred Claycomb’s wish
to help him realize that dream.
“Prior to the revolution, farmers
in Ukraine had about 1,000 acres
of land. But, all of those farms
were destroyed when the com
munists took over,” says Anna.
Today only a few live on their
farms. Most housing is in large
apartment buildings. “A few are
beginning to rebuild private
homes and that is what we hope to
do,” Anna says.
Anna has been “very much
impressed,” with American farm
life. “I am so happy I got to come
here,” she emphasizes.
While here she took advantage
of a local dentist. An abscessed
tooth was reason enough and
Anna was quite surprised to find a
root canal a painless procedure.
“In Ukraine it would take many
QUESTION —A reader from Coatesville wants to buy a lap
harp for her husband for Christmas. Consequently, she
doesn’t want her name printed. She understands that lap
harps are handmade.
QUESTION Allison Burdeshaw Harriford, Staunton,
Va., desperately wants to purchase a child's turquoise blue
Easy-Bake oven with accessories in time for Christmas.
Please call her at 1-800-229-5801, ext. 246.
QUESTION —Daniel Esh, Gordonville, would like to know
where to purchase a small battery-operated music box that
imitates a canary singing.
QUESTION Glenda Strouse, Northumberland, would
like to know the title and author of an excerpt from the follow
ing poem. The complete poem appeared in the 12/9 issue, but
we need to condense for space. It’s her grandmother’s favo
rite poem and she could recite every word until a stroke took
her voice. She is 89 and in a nursing home, but Glenda reads
this poem to her every Christmas. Glenda said that there may
be parts missing or wrong since she wrote it from memory.
The yule log blazed in the ancient hold.
The begger shrank from the biting cold.
The baron’s only daughter, the little Lady Grace
was better dressed than any guest and fairer in the face.
Yet never a thought of pride had she
as she gaily danced round the Christmas tree... .
QUESTION Carrie Leiphart, Port Trevorton, would like
to know where to buy by-products for cattle such as pasta and
bread.
QUESTION Doris E. Jordan, R. 4, Box 153, Muncy, Pa.
17756, will pay for a pattern to make an appllqued peacock
quilt.
QUESTION Mrs. Clyde Barrick, 2660 Walnut Bottom
Rd., Carlisle, Pa. 17013, would like the story “The Night the
Animals Talked.”
QUESTION—Mary Dengler, Middletown, Ohio, would like
to know where to purchase heavy duty chair frames for
macrame. She does not want to do all that work on used
frames. (Turn to Pag* B 15)
dollars to have painless dentistry,”
she explains. “You can get your
teeth fixed through the medical
treatment provided by the govern
ment. If you want it to be painless
you pay a lot more.”
Consequently, Anna has had as
many teeth filled as time would
allow.
The same is true of all medicine
in Ukraine. “You can always find
a doctor,” says Anna. “But, the
government pays them only $9O a
month. If you want good treat
ment, you pay under the table.”
When she departs the United
States in January it will be with a
bundle of newfound American
knowledge. Knowledge she hopes
her native Ukrainians can put into
practice.
And, Anna also hopes to return
as a student at Penn State where
she can further studies in
agriculture.