For Sheep Exhibitors, Farm
ANDY ANDREWS
Lancaster Farming Staff
EL VERSON (Chester Co.)
Maria and Inez Stoltzfus will lake
practice any way they can get it
Several yean ago, Maria and
her sister took their fox terrier.
"Toots.” out'of the pen and pre
tended to wash and clip it—all in a
concerted (though imagined)
effort to make it grand champion
sheep.
“We’d pretend to show and fit
it,” Maria says, glancing at Inez
while both tried to stop laughing.
“We’d bring it out and try to act
like we were washing it and
everything.”
“But her hair was too short,”
replied Inez, giggling.
How did their dog place?
“I’m sure it always won,” Inez
said.
In the end, according to the
Stoltzfus family, even though
Toots escaped the pen, Inez said
the terrier “never tried to bite us or
anything.”
For yean, while growing up on
the family 10-acre farmette in
Elverson. the Stoltzfus sisten
watched as their brother and sister.
Hans and Kendra, exhibited
champion sheep. Maria and Inez,
who care for almost a dozen sheep,
admitted they had a yearning to
exhibit in the show ring—not just
in shepherd’s competition (which
both have done several times at
Farm Show) but in the junior
market lamb show.
This year will be the Erst for
Maria and Inez at the junior market
lamb show on Wednesday at the
Farm Show.
Maria, IS, and Inez. 17, are
daughters of Carl and Hilda Stolt
zfus in Elverson. For years they’ve
been exhibiting at the Chester
County 4-H Market Lamb Show
and Sale as well as the Goshen and
Kimberton fairs. This is their first
time to exhibit at Farm Show.
Maria, a sophomore at Conesto
ga Christian School, will be exhi
biting Abby, a Suffolk crossbred
ewe, purchased from Ken Smoker
in Lancaster. Abby weighed in at
RANDY WELLS
Indiand Co. Correspondent
MARION CENTER (Indiana
Co.) A sizable contingent of
Indiana County farm families will
be among the exhibitors, particip
ants and spectators at the 81st
Farm Show set to open Saturday,
Jan. 11 in Harrisburg.
For some, it would not be Janu
ary without an adventuresome trip
over wintry highways to the
nation’s largest indoor agricultur
al exposition. Others are looking
forward to their Erst Farm Show
experience.
Jerry Ray of Shekwta, plans to
travel east with at least six of his
Belgian draft horses to compete in
several classes, including all the
group classes, men’s and
women’s cart classes and the new
rider draft horse competition.
Ray and his wife Shirley started
going to the farm show nearly 2S
years ago, and have missed only
two years when the weather was
really bad.
“Road conditions are what I
worry about more than anything,”
he said.
The blizzard during the '96
Farm Show forced them to stay
over an extra day in Harrisburg,
then their truck slid into a snow
bank near Ebensbuig on the trip
home. None of he horses Vcrc
hurt
approximately 117 pounds this
week and will most likely show in
the medium weight division ht
Farm Show.
Inez, a senior at Conestoga
Christian School, will be exhibit
ing Sammy, a purebred Montadale
ram weighing 130 pounds, in the
heavyweight division. The Monta
dale was purchased from Cheryl
Fairbaim, Chester County lives
tock agent
Maria'said the name “Abby”
was chesen for her Suffolk ewe
because “I guess I heard it some
where and 1 thought that’s a cute
name for a sheep.”
Maria said that when she pur
chased Abby, “I was surprised at
how gentle she was and every
thing. She doesn’t mind me too
much, either, because I go in there
and put the halter on and walk her
all around, and she doesn’t really
like that Now she runs from me
when I go in the bam. She’s pretty
gentle, though she can be stubborn.
They’re all pretty stubborn
sometimes.”
As for Sammy, Inez’s Monta
dale ram, “Well, he’s pretty good,
he’s pretty tame,” she said. “He
doesn’t like me right now because
I’ve been leading him around and
trying to get him halter-trained and
stuff. He’s kind of mad at me. But
he’s been pretty gentle and he
cooperates.”
Older sister Kendra, 21, who
will soon embark to Albania with
husband Dwayne as part of a
church ministry, began showing
when she was eight years old. She
was given a Hampshire ewe lamb.
She showed sheep at the Farm
Show in 1983-1984.
“1 didn’t do real well,” she said.
“But it was a good learning experi
ence. I didn’t have real high qual
ity my sheep wasn’t real high
quality. But it was a very good
experience for me. I learned a lot.”
What Kendra learned about
Farm Show was “the importance
of being fair.” she said. Kendra’s
last year of showing was 1993
when she won champion market
lamb in the county.
Indiana County
Ray said he especially appreci
ates the improvements at the Farm
Show’s horse bam that have made
the stay much more enjoyable for
both the exhibitors and the
animals.
The show is good advertisment
for his Belgians. Ray said, and this
year he’ll have an eye open for
potential buyers. His farm now
has 19 of the big horses, and he
hopes to find new homes for as
many as five of them next spring.
Terry and Sandy Fairman have
been traveling from their home
near Creekside to the Farm Show
for several yean with daughters
Nicole. 11. and Brittany, 9, and
several head of Limousin cattle.
This year there will be some
changes. The Fairman entourage
will include new daughter Brooke,
who will be six months old in
January, and the Fairmans will be
showing Hampshire pigs instead
of cattle.
“It’s relaxing. It’s our vacation.
It’s a nice getaway,” said Sandy of
the Farm Show.
The olders girls will exhibit the
pigs in the 4-H competition.
Steve Kwisnek of Scenic View
Farms near Clarksburg is a
20-year veteran of the Farm Show,
and typically stays four or five
days each year.
He plans to make the trip in
January with lOof his Southdown
Show Preparation Starts With Fox Terrier
Maria Stoltzfus, right, a sophomore at Conastoga Christian School, will be exhibit
ing Abby, a Suffolk crossbred sws, at the Farm Show. Abby weighed In at approxi
mately 117 pounds this week and will most likely show In the medium weight division.
Inez, a senior at Conestoga Christian School, will be exhibiting Sammy, a purebred
Montadale ram weighing 130 pounds, in the heavyweight division.
The past several yean, Inez and always had a flock of sheep at
Maria have been competing in the home.”
shepherd’s contest, which Maria and Inez are excited about
involves taking a “raw” lamb from this year’s Farm Show,
the pen, cleaning it, clipping it, and “I thought it would be fun,** Inez
making it presentable for a show. said. “I thought it would be a good
A portion of that involves answer- experience to go up there.”
ing questions, such as equipment, Inez said she never watched a
feed, or other items used in raising market lamb show at the Farm
sheep. Inez said the contest “tests Show before, but she expects
your total ability and knowledge tough competition. Maria said she
about sheep.” wants to go to Farm Show for the
“You judge some wool some- experience. “I’m not expecting to
times,” said Maria. do real well,” she said. However,
“And to be able to get in to the
Farm Show with that kind of com
petition, you have to do well in the
county.” said their mother, Hilda.
Kendra said that the family has
been “focused more on breeding
for market all along, rather than
show. That’s what we have poured
a lot of our energies Into.”
Kendra said that Maria’s line of
sheep have done the best overall in
market competition.
Hilda Stoltzfus said that “we
Families Come To Farm Show
sheep.
Scenic View Farms sells breed
ing sheep, and Kwisnek values the
annual farm show from a business
standpoint
“If you do good (in the competi
tion), you find buyers,” he said.
For Clyde McConaughey of
Mahoning Creek Farms near
Smicksburg, the farm show is also
an integral part of his year-round
business. His farm raises Duroc
and Hampshire hogs, and McCo
naughey said it’s important that
breeders make every effort to
exhibit as many animals at the
farm show as possible.
“You’ve got to keep the number
of animals up. We try to keep
them up to 30 head or more in
each breed” to attract buyers from
as far away as New England and
Virginia.
McConaughey plans to do his
part by trucking at least 16 ani
mals to January’s show.
“We started showing (at the
Farm Show) in 1939,” McCo
naughey said. “We’re probably
the oldest exhibitor there.”
The Farm Show helps promote
his farm and his business ventures
during the rest of the year.
“It lets people know you’re still
in operation,” he said.
Maty Miller, a home economics
teacher in the Northern Cambria
Middle School, hopes to see her
she hopes to see good prices paid
for the lambs.
The sisters are taking time away
from school, frem serving on stu
dent codbdl and school choir, to
attend Farm Show. They also are
active in their youth group at
Hopewell Mennonite Church. Inez
serves on the high school yearbook
staff.
“We’ve always wanted to go.
Butour ewes lamb in February and
so that would be too early to have
daughters participate in the 4-H
“Fashions with Flair” fashion
show at the Farm Show.
Miller and her husband Tony
are sponsors of the ‘Treasure
Seekers” community 4-H club in
the Strongstown area, and their
four children Mary, 12,
Michael, 11, Tony, 8, and Aman
da, 6 will be visiting the show
for the first time.
Mary won prizes in the Indiana
County Fair and Green Township
Community Fair for a vest, shirt,
shorts, beret and decorated shoes
she made. They’ll be on display at
the Farm Show, and Mary may be
chosen to model them in the fash
ion show.
Daughter Amanda may have
the chance to model clothes sewn
by her mother.
Other members of the Treasure
Seekers are sending cooking, sew
ing, wildlife and woodworking
entires for the many 4-H
competitions.
Although both sets of grand
parents lived on farms, it will be
the first visit to the state Farm
Show for Jennifer Cribbs, Indiana
County’s Queen Evergreen.
A freshman marketing major at
Indiana University of Pennsylva
nia. Cribbs expects a busy two
day itinerary, including opportuni
ties to meet Gov. Tom Ridge and
Agriculture Secretary Charles
them, so then we had to go buy
them.”
Maria has taken her lambs into
elementary school to show them to
a class. She recently gave a presen
tation to her 10th grade English
class on what it’s like to raise
sheep.
U I just gave a presentation a cou
ple of weeks ago,” Maria said. u lt
was an expository speech and I
demonstrated how to fit a sheep.”
Maria spoke about the impor
tance of clipping before the sum
mer heat sets in, which can pose a
health challenge to sheep that
aren’t clipped.
One question Maria fielded: had
she ever nicked a sheep while cut
ting off the wool?
“Sometime* you cut it a little
bit, bull never cut it bad,” she said.
Maria kept a ewe lamb, Una, a
Suffolk crossbred, which she
intends to show at the county sheep
roundup.
(Turn to Pago AS4)
Brosius, giving comments along
with other commodity queens at
the show's International Day din
ner banquet on Friday, Jan. 10,
and welcoming visitors, especially
at the show's Christmas tree
exhibit.
“My dad’s been telling me all
about it," she said. “I’m expecting
it to be like the county fair but
really big.”
“It's Old Home week for me.
It’s been one of the bright spots of
my life,” said Clayton Winebark
of Rochester Mills of the 51 Farm
Shows he has attended.
He’s planning on being back for
the S2nd time in January.
Wine bark is a former regional
director of the Pennsylvania
Department of Agriculture’s Reg
ion IV headquartered in Gibsonia.
Over the years he's made many
acquaintances and friends at the
annual exposition.
' “I started showing pigs (at the
farm show) in 1949 as a high
school freshman,” he said. “I’ll go
as long as I’m able.”
Now retires, he’ll have more
time to watch his four grandchil
dren showing pigs, and plans to
spend several days at the show.
The change to a Saturday start a
few years ago was an improve
ment, he said, making it possible
for more students, teachers and
woridng people to visit the show
on the weekend.