Workaholic Learns
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who farm along the same road also
help out.
“I have exceptional help. I’m
just one of the cogs in the wheel,”
Hoover said. “I’m the fill-in type
of person. I go wherever I’m
needed. I really don’t do a lot of
tractor driving except for spraying
because it’s easier to tell help to go
plow than to fix something.”
On the day of the interview.
Hoover was trying to finish com
planting. One of the hired hands
was plowing, another preparing
the ground for planting, another
planting, and Hoover was spray
ing. By working together, the team
plowed, prepared, planted, and
Old-Fashioned
July 4th Celebration
WESTMINSTER, Md. A
patriotic salute to the Historic
Fourth will be celebrated at the
Carroll County Farm Museum in
Westminster, Maryland. The
American holiday program will
take place on Thursday, July 4.
from noon until 9:30 p.m. General
admission price is $3 for adults;
$2 for ages 7 to 18 and 60 and
over; six and under arc free. The
fabulous display of fireworks
begins at 9:30 p.m.
Craft vendors will be selling
hand-crafted treasures for souve
nir seekers; dried flowers, leather
and wood crafts, stenciled items,
fabric crafts, jewelry, tole painting
and other assorted crafts. The
Farm Museum’s General Store
will be stocked with hand-crafted
items, nickel candy, and
souvenirs.
Other commemorative sights
and sounds of this American holi
day will fill your day with patrio
tic entertainment The Maryland
National guard will be on hand to
provide and exhibit and demon
straiton for visitors. The Farm
sprayed 150 acres of com within
two days.
With the type of farming he
does. Hoover said there is never a
slow time. Of the spring season.
Hoover said, “Planting and seeing
those little plants come up I just
love it.”
The long winters are the tough
est, especially those with heavy
snows. It takes five hours daily to
feed the catde finishing in the
bams. The cattle require a trailer
load of feed daily.
“We feed candy and anything
that is nutritional filin’ in order to
cut the cost of feeding com. But
with com prices up, everyone else
is looking for cheaper sources
Museum buildings will all be open
for tours including a firehouse
exhibit which is new this year and
the one-room schoolhouse exhibit
which opened last year. The build
ings will be open for tours from
12:00 noon until 8:00 p.m. Volun
teer artisans will be demonstrating
their skills as they were performed
.in the 1800 s between 12:00 noon
and 8:00 p.m. Stage entertainment
will be provided including: Ray
Owen, recording artist and enter
tainer, beginning at 12:00 noon.
Freewheeling, a country music
group, will take the stage at 12:45
p.m. Wherligig, an Irish/American
Folk music band will follow at
1:45 p.m. Paddyfields and Johnny
Dark will perform country msuic
for visitors at 3:00 p.m. and 5:00
p.m. The Carroll County Cloggers
will perform at 4:00 p.m. Other
activities will include a kiddies
pedal pull for ages 4 through 8
years. Mule wagon rides will be
available from noon to 8:00 p.m.
A demonstration of old fashioned
games will be held from noon to
5:00 p.m.
too,” Hoover said.
Hoover uses shredded paper
products for bedding. He picks up
used egg cartons and newsprint
from sources at which he has hand
shake contracts. A bale chopper is
used for shredding.
The winter months are also used
to fix equipment “We have lots of
big equipment” Hoover said of
that shared among he, his father
and brother. Although all three
work independently, they help
each other whenever possible.
A few weeks ago, his brother
had emergency surgery for appen
dicitis. “I sat on the com planter for
a whole week,” Hoover said. In a
few days. Hoover was planning to
put in chickens for his toother. “He
usually does it himself, but now
with his surgery, it requires a
group effort to get things done,”
Hoover said.
During the busy times of plant
ing and harvesting, Bonnie serves
“meals on wheels” to the men
working in the fields. “In the
spring and toll, we drive and eat,”
Hoover said.
“Wc have two-way radios on
almost all the equipment, so I
know what’s happening cvery
'wherc although I can’t always be
there to help,” he said.
Crops are harvested through
custom fanning, which his brother
owns.
Fixing things is Hoover’s forte.
He relishes taking what others con
sider junk and making something
new out of it He has a truck made
from concrete forms that didn’t
cost him a dime except for labor.
He tore apart the concrete forms
and built the stake body to use to
transport feed from the bam to
other farms. He also designed a
chuck wagon, which is 24 feet
long.
Before building wagons and
truck beds. Hoover doesn’t draw
his plans. “It’s an idea that I have in
my mind. I just do it,” he said.
He has a friend that has helped
him rebuilt the motor. Although
Hoover classifies all the facilities
and equipment that he uses as old.
“I’m farming big time with old equipment,” said Hoover
who derives lots of satisfaction from making something out
of nothing. “If we had new equipment, we’d have a lot less to
fix, less hassle, and less stress, but I’m kind of proud to
have tractors with 10,000 hours on them and still running."
Hoover designs much of the equipment to fit his needs.
“This didn’t cost me a dime In materials only my labor,”
Hoover said of this truck. He made the stake wagon from
discarded concrete forms, which he tore apart and used to
built a 24-foot long wagon at a lower height so that It will fit
into the barns.
he doesn’t see it as a disadvantage.
He believes in making the best use
of what he has to work with and he
has plenty of novel ideas.
Because much the land that he
farms is spread over a five mile
radius, he uses more trucks than
tractors for farming. He took the
tank off an old feed truck and set it
inside to grind shell com, and
inserted an auger into that system
to have TMR mixed. The truck is
used to haul silage from a central
point to all the other farms.
“If we had new equipment, we’d
have a lot less to fix, less hassle,
and less stress, but I’m kind of
proud to have tractors with 10,000
hours on them and still running,”
he said.
Cody, standing nearby, piped
up, “Yes, Dad, it’s worth it”
Hoover said that he’s learning to
take time off to spend with the
family. “I’m a workaholic. I work
hard at not being one, but 1 know
that I am. It’s getting better, but I
still feel a bit guilty when I know
there is so much work to be done.”
Hoover is also a staunch supporter of doing the least
amount of work possible on Sunday.
“We don’t get all our work done in six days, but the seventh
is for the Lord, my family, and me. We look forward to that”
But emergencies happen in farm life. Hoover said, “I won’t
leave an animal in pain and agony. I’m the key person on this
operation and if it’s an emergency, I take care of it.”
Because Hoover and his wife Bonnie believe that it’s
important to be involved in their children’s lives, they took
time away from work to talk about the upcoming benefit sale
for the school that eight-year-old son Cody and Jody attend.
“Because school is important to Cody, I want to do what I
can to be involved,” Hoover said.
Bonnie heads the publicity committee for the Lititz Area
Mennonite School, which will hold a two-day benefit auction
on June 21 and 22.
Both husband and wife believe it is essential to school their
children in a Christian environment
Bonnie said, “We owe it to our children to give them every
possible opportunity to succeed. I think being exposed to
Bible teaching every day gives children a great foundation to
handle adult life.”
Hoover said, “I was raised in public school. I didn’t like
school Cody loves it.”
Bonnie is also the contact mother for second grade.
The school is only one of the activities that the Hoovers
support.
“I love helping people and being neighborly,” said Hoover,
who has a reputation for plowing open neighbors driveways,
sharing meat from butchering, and helping whoever is in
need.
Hoover is a member of Ephrata Area Young Farmers.
Bonnie takes care of the bookwork on the farm and works
part-time in bookkeeping for her dad who operates Mervin
Zimmerman Inc. Plumbing and Heating. She also is on the
committeed in charge of vacation Bible school for Hinkle
town Mennonite Church and teaches a 4-H cooking club.
“We feel it’s important to be involved where our children
are and to be committed to do a good job,” Bonnie said.
Balancing so many responsibilities is not easy for the fami
ly, but Hoover said, “We take one day at a time. We ask the
Lord’s help and keep at it”
When he’s gone, Hoover said, people won’t remember
how much he farmed, but his children will cany on the influ
ence he had in their lives.
“It’s such a thrill to watch them growing,” Hoover said.
Lancaster Farming, Saturda;
“He has lots of ideas to make
fanning more cost efficient I think
he inherited his mother’s ability to
make something out of nothing,”
Bonnie said.
Tm proud of what I’m doing
because I know I’m good at it yet
sometimes I wonder if it’s all
worth it because it takes so much
time from the family,” Hoover
said.
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