A22-Lahcast*r Farming, Saturday, Ftbruary 7, 1998
Lancaster Extension
ANDY ANDREWS
Lancaster Farming Staff
LANCASTER (Lancaster Co.)
While the entire extension ser
vice of Penn State strengthens its
own outreach programs, the Lan
caster County Extension has
already made big strides. In the
past year alone the county office
assisted 26,638 people, according
to John Schwartz, extension
director.
Extension service family and
friends were invited to celebrate
the efforts of the local extension
office Thursday evening at the
Lancaster County Cooperative
Extension Association Annual
Meeting and Social Event, of
which more than 100 attended at
the Farm and Home Center.
A highlight of the celebration
was the annual “taste testing” that
went on shortly before the start of
the meeting. There, people stood in
line to feast on the many products
offered by producer commodity
groups in the county.
Represented at the event were
the Lancaster County beef produc
ers, fruit growers, poultry produc
ers, dairy producers, swine pro
ducers, and potato growers. The
tasty treats included dishes served
up by various producers, including
omelettes with a variety of ingre
dients by the Lancaster County
Poultry Association with “Sand
er’s Gold” eggs donated by R.W.
Sauder, pork barbecue and ham
loaf meatballs provided by Gene
Wenger’s Meats, beef sandwiches
donated by Hess Barbecue, apples
donated by Cherry Hill Orchards,
potatoes from the Paul Mast Farm
Dairy royalty wait in the wings to serve up tasty sundaes
of any kind of topping. From left, Liz Smith, dairy princess,
with dairy darlings Karen Shaub and Katie Hershey. At
right, Leon Ressler, honored for 10 years of service, gets
extra helpings of strawberries.
in Morgantown, and other com
modities donated by Herr's Chips
and Sharon’s Flower Design.
“During the past year,”
Schwartz told those who attended
the buffet banquet meeting, “we
distributed 190,277 newsletters
and publications.” In addition, 698
volunteers assisted in the county
continuing education program.
Overall, 3,998 4-H members car
ried out 5,146 county projects.
During this “very challenging
and interesting year,” the director
noted, “avian influenza, dry
weather, and fluctuating dairy
prices were some of the major
challenges we had to face here in
Lancaster County.” He said that
technical assistance was provided
in dead bird disposal in order to
protect groundwater quality. “We
also looked for ways to explore
alternative methods to depopula
tion as a method to control the
disease.”
By using tight biosecurity, birds
were not depopulated and eggs
were allowed to move to market
under special procedures. Losses
were drastically reduced to the far
mer, Schwartz indicated.
Also, a newsletter was deve
loped by the staff to help farmers
consider options to increase feed
production during last year’s
drought Educational workshops
have been developed to help dairy
farmers “develop new business
strategies to deal with fluctuating
dairy prices,” said Schwartz.
Schwartz pointed out that “we
continue to have strong master gar
dener” and “strong 4-H” prog
rams. A total of 81 active master
Buffet Is Celebration Of Service
Omelettes In all flavors were made courtesy of the Lancaster County Poultry Asso
ciation. From left, Kendra Weaver, poultry ambassador, Paul Wolgemuth, Guy Martin,
and Karen Wolgemuth.
gardeners are serving the county.
The gardeners donated 3,889 hon
ors with more than 6,600 contacts,
including answering home horti
cultural questions in the office,
running a plant diagnosis clinic,
and coordinated a “Meet The
Plants” Program for the youth.
With all those hours put in by the
gardeners, Schwartz indicated, it
was equivalent to having two full
time employees working in the
extension system.
The Lancaster 4-H program
numbers 175 4-H clubs. Embryol
ogy continues to be a very popular
in-school program, acquainting
youth with biology and ag science,
Schwartz noted.
The past year marked several
changes in the 4-H program. In
June. Dr. Zoann Parker was
selected by the state secretary of
agriculture to be the deputy secret
ary for administration. As a result.
(Turn to Pag* A 23)
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Serving up sundaes of all flavors at the extension buffet
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