814-LmcMlar Fanning, Saturday, January 24, 1998 Eileen, fifth from left, has lots of help with dairy princess responslbilltes from her sisters and boyfriends. From left are Teresa, Mitch, Josie (exchange student from the Phllllpines), Brian, Eileen, Annette, and Matt. Enthusiasm Spills From Eileen’s Busy Life LOU ANN GOOD Lancaster Fanning Staff ULSTER (Bradford Co.) —For those who read the recipe section of this paper, the name Eileen Murphy is a familiar one. Eileen is a regular contributor of wonderful tasting recipes. “I love cooking and experiment ing,” the 19-year-old said. Wearing the title of both Brad ford County Dairy Princess and Pennsylvania Second Alternate, the high school senior leads a busy life. She participates in her high school cooperative program by working as a secretary from 7 a.m.-8;15 a.m., takes morning classes at school, and then returns to her job as secretary from noon until 7 p.m. After that, she squeezes in such activities as homework, dairy promotion, 4-H Club, president of student council, FBLA president, youth group prayer group, 4-H County Council, Interact, and IR Cooperative. Stu dents Against Drunk Driving, band front, swim team, track team, morning activities announcer, and tifne with her boyfriend. In addition, Emily is a member of North Rome Wesleyan Church, where she is assistant nursery director, Bible School worker, and a member of youth choir and the teen youth group. Because she is so busy, the whole family pitches in to help. Family includes parents Malcolm and Sylvia Murphy, two sisters Teresa and Annette, and an exchange student, Josie. The sis ters’ boyfriends also lend a helping hand. “My boyfriend Brian drives me in all the parades, Mitch slices cheese, and Matt likes to cook and tests all the recipes," Eileen said. Eileen recalls that her first experiment in cooking macaroni and cheese for her boyfriend’s family turned into an embarrass ment. “The macaroni and cheese was runny, but they ate it anyway.” she said. Not only that, she said that the family stuck with sampling her cooking while she perfected her skills. On the family’s 435-acre farm, they raise 124 Holsteins and Jerseys. The Murphysons Farm has been in the family for 76 years. Over the years, the Murphy sis ters have shown both Jersey and Holstein cows at local fairs and at the county 4-H roundup. The Jerseys are from Sunset Ridge Farm, owned by Eileen’s Uncle Brian Harris and grandfather Eugene Harris, and the Holsteins are from the family farm. Eileen now has three Jerseys of her own. ”1 prefer Jerseys because they are easier to train. At the same time, Eileen said that she has been hurt more by her favorite Jersey cow than any other. “She doesn’t like men,” Eileen said of the cow’s excuse in acting up while she’s Asleep after a long day at the Fair. showing her. Her mother recalls that Eileen could hardly wail until she was old enough to show her first calf. That enthusiasm for showing continues. One of the highlights of her year was participating in the Troy Fair. Most of the dairy promotional events that Eileen participates in are well planned, but she had an impromptu promotion while fly ing to Florida last year. She sat next to a man, who when he heard that she was a dairy princess, spread the news to the other pas sengers. Soon Eileen was bom barded by passengers requesting that she autograph the advertising (milk moustached) pages that they ripped from magazines. Many honors have come Eileen’s way. But the one that is most meaningful to her is the Miss Congeniality title that other county contestants voted to give to her at the Pennsylvania State Dairy Prin cess Pageant “I was so surprised, because I was just being myself. I was raised to care about people and to be nice to them,’’ Eileen said. She’s also been raised to eat properly. "My mom is a home eco nomics teacher, so nutrition has always been preached to us,” Eileen said. Some people have the false assumption that people who indul ge in daily products are over weight Eileen is walking proof that one can enjoy indulging in According to Pennsylvania Alternate Eileen Murphy, one of the most asked questions by kids attending the Farm Show: “What kind of cows make strawberry milk?” nutritious dairy products and stay slender. “You need to manage what you eat to comform to your body’s metabolism,” she said. Although she believes she has a high meta bolism because of her busy lifes tyle. she also makes a concious effort to eat healthful foods instead of junk. During her involvement in 11 years of4-H, Eileen has completed 44 projects, mostly in dairy, stitch ing, and cooking clubs. Recently, Eileen received the Orville Yoder Memorial Award given to a Brad ford County 4-H’er who most demonstrates outstanding leader ship by helping younger members with projects. Yoder was a former county extension agent. Eileen is often fascinated by sto ries told by her grandfather Ray Fenton Murphy, who was on the National Milk Producers Federa tion board of directors for 25 yean. “He recently had a stroke. Now, he can’t tell you what happened yesterday, but he remembers everything else,” she said. When her schedule allows, Eileen feeds die calves on the Murphyson Farm in Bradford County Is home for Pen nsylvania Alternate Dairy Princess Eileen Murphy, her parents Malcolm and Sylvia, and sisters, Teresa and Annette. Homestead NOTES farm, a job that her mother normal ly does. Eileen said that she met her boy friend in 4-H, just like her parents had met Her parents are married 29 years. Eileen enjoys school promo tions and seeing the excited frees of the students as they hear about cows. One of the highlights of her year was promoting the Real Seal Campaign. First graders collected more than 27,900 Real seals in the county. ! Although Eileen thrives on being busy, it’s been really tough to promote the dairy industry at both the county and state levels while finishing her senior year of high school. This semester she car ries a heavier load at school and will need to cut back on state promotion. She also has dropped swim team and track—a hard deci sion because she had qualified to go to district competition. After high school graduation, Eileen plans on entering a two year program on early childhood education at Penn Tech in Williamsport
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