824-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 27,1998 Chester County Team Ready To Promote Dairy Industry COCHRANVILLE (Chester Co ) - Cynthia Grossman of Parkesburg, was recently crowned the 1998 Chester County Dairy Princess. The coronation ceremonies were held in early June in conjunction with the Cochranville Strawberry Festival In front of a packed gymnasi um, the judges, Jane Seabnght of East Berlin, Deb Brubaker of Manheim, and Robert Knutsen of Rising Sun, Md made their decision The excited 17-year-old Grossman was crowned by last year's reigning princess, Melissa Wertz Michelle Windle of Cochranville was named Chester county Alternate Dairy Princess Both Cindy and Shelly pre sented entertaining skits during the pageant, each focusing on the importance of maintaining a healthy diet, with plenty of dairy products Also making presentations were the 1998 Chester County Dairy Ambassadors, Julie Sollenberger of Spring City and ST THOMAS (Franlkm Co ) Seventeen-year-old Megan Meyers was selected the 1998-99 Franklin County Dairy Princess on Friday, June 12 Named Alternate Dairy Princess was 18-year-old Michelle Mellott, The pageant, a family-style din ner, was held at the Lighthouse Restaurant, Chambersburg Serving as master of ceremonies for the event was Warren Elliott, chairman of the Franklin County Commissioners The daughter of Ed and Diana Meyers of St Thomas, Megan will be a senior at James Buchanan High School, where she serves as her class presi dent Other school activities include band, chorus, show choir, SADD, AFS, Great Literature Club and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes Outside of school, Megan is a member of ther Mercersburg Community Band, and in her spare time, she enjoys photography Following graduation, Megan hopes to attend college and pursue a career m agricultural communi cations No stranger to the dairy industry, Megan has been an active 4-H member for nine years. In the Western 4-H Dairy Club, Megan has served as sec retary, and has enjoyed showing and judging dairy cattle at local, state and national events. She owns 10 registered Holstems and works on her family farm, Meyers Brothers Dairy On the 600-acre, 380 registered Holstein dairy farm, Megan’s main responsibilities include milking and feeding. Megan also serves as reporter for the Franklin County Junior Holstein Association. After interviewing with three judges, the contestants present ed a five minute skit promoting milk and dairy products at the banquet. Winning the Earl Stnne Memorial Award for the best presentation, Megan touted milk’s benefits as she artistically painted a giant-sized milk car ton, that came to life with the stroke of her brush. With palette in hand, Megan discussed the nutritional value of milk and Erica Lloyd of Pottstown. Joining these four young ladies are a team of highly enthusiastic dairy maids, Angela Barlow, Laura King, Erica LafTey'and Rebecca Nolan, all of Cochranville, Meredith Bailey of West Chester, and Betsy Brown of Glenmoore. As a group, they will represent Chester County dairy producers throughout the year at various functions. "Chester County Dairy farm ers should be extremely proud. Not only did you have two excel lent contestants running for the title of princess, but you've got a great bunch of girls to represent the dairy industry "Said one of the contest judges Princess Grossman and her court will be available through out the year to help with county events To schedule any member of the dairy princess team for an appearance, contact the Chester County Dairy Princess Committee' Sharon Nolan (610) 593-7465 or Karen Allen (610) 998-0248 Franklin County Selects Dairy Princess dairy products with Dairyo, the talking milk carton. She assured the audience that milk and dairy products play a vital role in the diets of all consumers, and ended her conversation with Dairyo by satisfying her thirst with a tall glass of milk. . After being selected as Franklin County’s dairy spokesperson, Megan said, “I am excited to be selected to repre sent Franklin County’s dairy producers, and look forward to educating consumers about their need for natural calcium by enjoying milk and dairy prod ucts every day. Michelle, the daughter of Tim and Bonnie Mellott, also of St Thomas, will be attending Hagerstown Community College this fall, majoring in manage ment-marketing Her school activities have included band front captain, track, swimming, FFA, AFS, French Club President. Other interests are reading, running, drawing, pho tography, teaching swimming Chicken Reigns At 50th De/mo/vo Festival MILLSBORO, Del, Worth its weight in gold! Certainly that is not the cost of chicken to con sumers, but it sure describes the value of the chicken industry to the Delmarva Peninsula. That importance was recognized at the 50th anniversary Delmarva Chicken Festival the weekend of June 12 and 13 in Millsboro, Delaware. The golden anniver sary festival, combined with 50 years of service to the local chicken industry by its trade association, Delmarva Poultry Industry, Inc. (DPI), created the theme for this year’s fun-packed event. From the opening ceremonies in which Delaware Governor Tom Carper and other communi ty leaders reaped high praise on the industry while noting its valuable economic contributions to the closing entertainment, thousands of person enjoyed this community event hosted by the Greater Mitlsboro Chamber of Commerce. Chicken festival guests had e o—ortunity to learn about Representing Chester County, from left, are Dairy Maids Laura King, Angela Bar low, and Becky Nolan, Dairy Ambassador Erica Lloyd, 1997 Dairy Princess Melissa Wertz, 1998 Dairy Princess Cindy Grossman, Alternate Shelly Wlndle, Dairy Ambas sador Julie Sollenberger, and Dairy Maids Betsy Brown and Meredith Bailey. and the internet. She is current ly employed as a waitress at two restaurants, part-time and works on their small family farm. For her skit, Michelle answered a call from a six-year old, on the “Dairy Hot Line.” She quickly informed the child of his need for dairy products, explain ing his body’s need to consume three to four servings a day, and how to buy “real” dairy products by looking for the “real seal.” Hanging up frqm her call, she was anxious to help the next person learn of their need for dairy products. Having served as the 1997 alternate Dairy Princess, Michelle is looking forward to continuing her work in promot ing and educating the consumer about the importance of dairy products. Both Megan and Michelle will be attending the state-wide training seminar at Lycoming College in Williamsport, July 6- 9. the 75-year history of Delmarva’s chicken industry thanks to an exhibit planned and manned by educators with the University of Delaware and University of Maryland Cooperative Extension. Visitors could see displays about the eco nomic importance of the indus try, visit commercial vendors, hear a variety of musical enter tainment, and of course, enjoy chicken. Using chicken provided by Townsends, Inc., cooking oil donated by Purdue Farms Inc., and coating provided by McCormick’s, the Millsboro Lions Club cooked thousands of chicken quarters in one of the trademarks of the festival. DPl’s giant frying pan was heated by gas donated by the Mid Atlantic Propane Gas Association. During the chicken capers games Saturday afternoon, teams from Perdue Farms Inc. Salisbury, Maryland processing plant and Perdue Farms Inc. Delmarva broilers Hve-produc tieti captured honors in the relay ■' J *& . *• 4 >- * Newly crowned “TEAM” to promote the dairy industry in Franklin County, from left Michelle Mellott, alternate dairy princess, and Megan Meyers, County dairy princess. races among the area’s poultry companies. Chicken Capers, organized by DPl’s Allied Industry Committee, attracted hundreds of spectators and scores of contestants to the many activities. Of course, a highlight of the event was the Delmarva Chicken Cooking Contest in which cooks from the Mid- Atlantic and Northeast United States prepared their entries on Frigidaire -ranges. The announcement of the winners as made Saturday night. Selected as the winning recipe Was “Smothered Chicken with Gingery Mango Sauce,” pre pared by Dorrie Mednick of Baltimore, Maryland. Her prizes were a Caribbean vacation for two, $l,OOO, Cutco cutlery, LP gas grill, and a McCormick spice rack with spices. All entries from the contest, plus recipes and features from past years are contained in a new publication “Chicken Cookery” available from DPI. To order, send a check for $2 per book and year name ***„! , j$ * - *■ Professional food writers from across the country who were invited by DPI to watch and report on the chicken cook ing contest heard “ from Jim Perdue, chairman of the board of Perdue Farms Inc. He spoke of some of the new and anticipated developments in the poultry industry. Among the challenges he mentioned were working with the' new U.S. Department of Agriculture processing plant inspection system, continuing to work on clean water and nutri ent management issues, and marketing effectively in these times of increased meat produc tion in the United States. One new development for consumers is the trend toward “home meal replacements.” This is a huge and growing market that serves consumers who Want to “heat and eat.” >kP and address to Chicken Cookery, Delmarva Poultry Industry, Inc., RD 6, Box 47, Georgetown, DE 19947-9575.