; armlng, Saturday, January 13, t
incaster
1996 Pennsylvania Farm Show In Review
(Continued from Pago A 1)
into heavy use to open and keep
clear main traffic arteries before
hitting side streets or alleys.
A quickly trite question became,
“Where are we going to put all this
snow?”
While'snow removal activities
continued early Friday morning,
another winter storm was predicted
to bring another half foot or more
of snow to the same area by Friday
evening.
Some rural areas probably
didn’t see a plow much before
Thursday, and it was reflected in
this year’s Farm Show the
weekly attendance was estimated
at half normal and a lot of people
couldn’t get to or leave the Farm
Show Complex.
However, a record price for a
market steer was set Thursday
despite delays and the lack of some
supporters being able to attend.
Even with the state of emergen
cy declared for all day Monday, the
Farm Show judging events con
tinued. Qualified judges were
recruited from among those at the
Farm Show, or nearby.
Youth and adult exhibitors who
made it to the Farm Show, or were
snowed in with hundreds of others
helped show entries for other exhi
bitors stranded at home.
The event was a victory of
human spirit and camaraderie,
according to Dennis Grumbine,
Farm Show director.
On Thursday, after six days of
not being able to go home from the
Farm Show Complex, in jest,
Grumbine said Thursday, ‘‘We
pretty much held the Farm Show
without an audience.”
Accounting for about 30 hours
sleep in six days, with 12 from
Wednesday into Thursday morn
ing, Grumbine said he estimated
the attending crowd might be about
25 percent of normal.
“But everybody’s been super to
work with,” he said. “Everylxxly’s
been terribly complimentary about
the show and the help.”
With a skeleton staff, Grumbine
sard that about 100 people from the
agriculture community helped man
telephones, helped with shows,
helped move things, and whatever
was needed to keep the shows as
much on schedule as possible.
“Probably, as I walked around,
several hundred other people asked
if there was anything they could do
to help,” Grumbine said.
“I think that’s the ethic we have
in the agriculture community
people willing to work for the
better.
“If the world could get along as
well as the people snowed in at the
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Farm Show Complex, a lot of the
problems would be solved.”
Without access to specific num
bers, on Thursday Grumbine said
he estimated that about SO judges
for the different Farm Show con
tests had to be replaced. He said he
based that on the phone conserva
tions he had directly and re
organization efforts of some key
events that he was directly
involved in handling.
There are several hundred offi
cials that the Farm Show admi
nistration takes care of as far as
accomodations and travel arrange
ments, and picking up expenses.
It was definitely one of the most
unusual Farm Shows, Grumbine
said, relying on his straight run of
33 years at the Farm Show, of
which 16 years he served as a
member of the Farm Show Com
mission. It was also the first year he
didn’t show any livestock. He has
shown champion swine and sheep.
According to Grumbine, there
were about 1,800 people stranded
at the Farm Show as captive over
night guests Sunday night and
Monday night. He commended
everyone of them for their coopera
tion and attitude.
“We had plenty of food,” Grum
bine said adding that his sense of
the fellowship was that of a “hunt
ing camp atmosphere” in which
people of all titles willingly set
aside their social or business titles
and pitch in on chores. At the same
time he also compared the experi
ence to a summer camp.
For breakfast Monday morning,
“The building superintendent ran
the grill in the cafeteria, while
others were scrambling eggs or
dicing potatoes.”
With the Farm Shows 250
employees, the hundreds or exhibi
tors and families stranded there,
Grumbine said that the people
found ways to entertain themselves
during off hours, such as picking
up touch football games in the
Large Arena, and the younger kids
playing in the Small Arena with toy
trucks and such.
All the while, 12 pieces of snow
removal equipment hauled tons or
snow from the 40-acre parking lot
and plowed out the front lots and
driveways.
Grumbine said that some youth
had been stranded at the Farm
Show, having accompanied their
animal(s) on the trip to Harrisburg,
and their families snowed home on
the farm.
On Thursday he said that parents
should not worry. With die full
support of Gov. Ridge, Grumbine
said that the Farm Show has a
24-hour security, all the essentials
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(rooms, showers, food, medical
facilities) and that they youth and
their livestock would be looked
after until Grumbine was satisfied
that road conditions were reason
able for safe travel back home.
With an auto and boat show
scheduled for Jan. 20-27 at the
Farm Show Complex, everything
from the Farm Show has to be
removed quickly.
Grumbine said that Gov. Ridge
has allowed the use of another state
facility for temporary storage of
equipment so that commercial
exhibitors’ property would be safe
until travel conditions improved.
Beverly Gruber, speaking on
behalf of the commodity promo
tion groups that sold food in the
Food Court, sales were down about
half. The Farm Show public open
ing on Saturday was the biggest
day for business, she said on
Thursday, with Wednesday fol
lowing next. However, heavy
crowds appeared on the last day
and stayed past the 4 p.m. closing,
obviously driving up sales at the
last minute.
One commercial exhibitor said
he hadn’t made a sale on his grain
storage equipment all week until
Thursday.
Other commercial exhibitors
also commented on the lack of a
heavy crowd, but those who sold
snow shovels did some brisk busi
ness, and there were still thousands
in attendance. On Sunday while the
storm was breaking out heavily,
the parking lot was up to half
capacity.
Commercial food business exhi
bitors set up this year for the first
time in the West Lobby, adjacent to
the Main Lobby and the butter
sculpture site. The location seemed
perfect for exposure’without con
fusing those businesses with Food
Court sales.
Many of those who attended the
Farm Show said it was actually one
of the better for therti because of
the lack of long lines for food, or
distractions and time restraints
when trying to discuss machinery,
equipment and other business.
Again, all spoke of the coopera
tion among those participating in
die Farm Show with digging out
each others vehicles, being more
understanding of the work of
others, and other such
considerations.
Of course some of the Farm
Show’s planned events were
cancelled, some without doubt for
the first time.
Although a complete list of
cancelled Farm Show events was
not available from the press office
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by deadline, among those noted
was the cancellation of the annual
convention of the Pennsylvania
Society of Farm Women (fust time
in the organization’s 77 years), the
annual banquetof the Pennsylvani
a Dairymen’s Association, the
Scooper Bowl, Dairy Fun Night,
Shccp-To-Shawl competition, the
annual state FFA convention, the
Master Farmer program, a lot of
meetings of agricultural commodi
ty or breed organizations, the folk
dancing contests, and two goat
breeds were unrepresented on
Thursday (goats arrive Thursday
and leave Thursday).
On the bright side, the Pennsyl
vania State Police, who had 90
members from troops around the
slate working out of their booth,
reported only 11 lost children by
12:30 p.m. Thursday, only two dis
abled vehicles, and eight reported
injuries from slips or falls.
They also reported two cows,
one bull and one horse had to be
Ruhl Honored By
Draft Horse , Mule Association
Luke Bruckhart, left, president, Pennsylvania Draft Horse
and Mule Association, presents an' honory membership In
the association to Donald and Janice Ruhl, Percheron and
Belgian breeders from Manhelm in Lancaster County.
Donald has been a very active member of the association
since 1980, serving as president, treasurer, membership
chairman, and In many other activities of the association.
The presentation was made last Saturday at the association
meeting at the Farm Show.
recaptured during the week, after
escaping the control of their owner.
Trooper Joe Nolte and Trooper
Ervin Ward of Troop H (Harris
burg) said it was a pleasure to work
at the Farm Show.
Ward said, “It is always a plea
sure to help educate, answer ques
tions and to help lost children find
their parents.”
He said that in addition to the
general public assistance and
information, the PSP booth also
functioned as a traffic conditions
news center with a direct line to
Traffax (a traffic reporting service)
and Pennsylvania Turnpike
information. v
Charles Itle, manager of lives
tock shows at the Farm Show,
reported that almost all entries
arrived for the show, and he said
that dairy cattle show entries were
up this show.
The 1997 Farm Show is sche
duled to be held Jan. 11-16.