814-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 4, 1998
Maryland Dairy Weekend Is Udderly Awesome
KAREN BUTLER
Maryland Correspondent
JEFFERSON, Md - The
Maryland Dairy Youth Weekend
provided an "Ddderly Awesome"
opportunity for young people
from both farming and non
farming backgrounds to learn
about the dairy industry in an
enjoyable, non-competitive
atmosphere. Ninety-five dairy 4-
H'ers attended the weekend
adventure, billed as "An
Udderly Awesome Adventure",
held at the 4-H camp center
here
Now in its fifth year, the
dairy weekend was coordinated
by volunteers Susan Summers
and Becky Long Chaney, former
Frederick County 4-H'ers who
have both gone on to awarded
winnmg careers as ag journal
ists and editors at the Frederick
News-Post As the eyes and ears
of Frederick County agriculture,
the two friends saw a need for a
program tailored to youth inter
ested in the dairy industry that
stressed education
"We felt lucky with the back
ground we had, and we saw a
need of voung people who might
nut have that background,"
explained Summers Even
though Frederick is the largest
dairy county in the state, some
voung people in 4-H interested
in dairy pro)ects don't actually
live on a dairy farm Some keep
animals on a nearby farm, and
others lease animals through
‘Super Moo’ Reigns
GAY BROWNLEE
Somerset Co. Correspondent
BERLIN (Somerset Co ) -
When she is "Super Moo,"
Melissa Powell, the new
Somerset County Dairy Princess
will do her dairy best to save the
world from bones that are brittle
and teeth that are rotting
because calcium in sufficient
amounts is not reaching them
It all starts with drinking
milk and eating dairy products
So if taking flight in her
Holstein-colored cap helps the
humans who lack a proper sense
of direction, then the 16-year
daughter of Charles and
Kimberly Powell, Meyersdale,
will have reached her happy
goal
Beck Ray, the alternate dairy
princess, is the daughter of Jim
and Bonnie Ray of Somerset
In a creaky rocking chair, she
read a bedtime story "A Dairy
Tale," about "Bovine" who had
an evil stepmother named
Melissa Powell, right, the 1998 Somerset County dairy
princess, is pictured with alternate Becky Ray.
the state's dairy leasing pro
gram. The dairy weekend pro
vides an educational forum with
top-notch speakers and hands
on activities that benefits all the
youth, whether they come from
a farming background or not.
Part of what made the week
end so fun was the non-competi
tive environment of the pro
gram. Often when dairy youth
get together, it is to compete,
either in the showing or m some
other contest The dairy week
end deliberately shifts the
emphasis away from competing
and focuses instead on fun and
fellowship "We thought it would
be great to stress the non-com
petitive aspects," said Long
Chaney.
In fact there was only one
contest during the weekend, a
junior dairyman's contest led by
Dr Lee Majeskie from the
University of Maryland The
rest of the activities consisted of
talks and workshops David
Hill, Alta Genetics, spoke to the
group on dairy genetics Denny
Remsburg, general manager for
DHIA, led a mock sale, guiding
the young people in their deci
sion making to improve their
pretend herds A series of round
robin workshops featured "Dairy
Products," "Cows From Head to
Tail," "Milk Glue," "Dairy First
Aid," Milk Promotion," and
"Showmanship" And of course,
there was time to play, the pizza
party, dance, and movie night
"Mastitis "
She will be a senior at
Somerset Area High School.
Powell,..who succeeds Jessica
Lynch m holding the title, will
be a Junior in the Sahsbury-Elk
Lick District.
In answering a question that
master of ceremonies Robert
Brown, director of the Somerset
Cooperative Extension office,
asked about the biggest chal
lenge facing the dairy industry
today, Powell mentioned land
availability
She believes that cities and
suburban areas are expanding
to a point where the dairy indus
try is being squeezed
One solution, she observed
would bt for people who want a
house to find an existing one to
remodel instead of taking valu
able land on which to build
something new
Among the gifts presented to
Powell was a $l,OOO scholarship
for college, $2OO from the Allied
Ninety-five young people from around the state came to
the 4-H camp center in Jefferson for the Maryland Dairy
Youth Weekend. They took a break from the action to pose
for this group picture just before lunch.
were all very popular
More than 75 sponsors con
tributed to the program, and
about 25 volunteers gave their
time to make it such a success.
"When you do a program like
this I think it snowballs, and
In Somerset
Milk Producers Cooperative
($3OO will follow next March if
incentives ale met), and $lOO
Savngs Bond from U.S. Bank
Five dairy maids were recog
nized and participated in giving
door prizes to numerous win
ners The girls are Katie
Stutzman, Nicole Powell,
Rebekah Fox, Joy Tressler, and
Jill Fox
The Little Miss participants
were Jill McWilliams, Rochell
Gossman, Malone Coddmgton,
Bnanna Trent, Melissa Paul,
and Jennifer Martin
Their escorts were Sam
McWilliams, Jeremy Scheffel,
Cayton Scheffel, Austin
Coddmgton, Andrew Smgo and
Samuel Shober.
Judges for the event were
June Bigelow from
The Susquehanna County 4-
H Dairy Judging members have
had a very good year thus far
The members have been practic
ing since the winter and have
participated in a couple of con
tests. The county has a group of
youth working on each side of
the county and they occasionally
get together for joint practices
At the annual Penn State
spring dairy judging contest,
five individuals competed. In the
senior 4-H division, the team of
Andrea Garner, Justin Garner,
and Jeremiah Fearnley placed
seventh overall. A special high
light was a sixth place finish by
Andrea Garner.
Ben. Hoover and Matt
Fearnley participated in the
everyone is eager to get
involved," said Susan Summers
And as a way to practice their
letter-writing skills, each and
every sponsor will receive a
hand-written thank-you card
from a young person
County
Williamsport, Blair County; Jeff
Calvert/and Renee Calvert, <
spouses who are relocating to
Berlin, Somerset County, from
Fairmont, W.Va.
Members of the Dairy
Pageant Committee are Angie
Shober, chairperson; Chnstm
Singo, Jenny Plummer, Amy
Paul Katie Shaulis, Kelly
Bittner and Amanda Meier
The - Dairy Promotion
Committee is composed of
Dorothy Naugle, Nina Ferko,
Gloria Kaufman, Jayne Piatt,
Helen Mishler, Pat Saylor,
Donna Martin, Charlene
McWilliams, Barbara Brant,
Shelly Walker, Sue Tressler,
Sylvia Mast, Lisa Michael, Kim
Powell, and Darlene Yoder.
An ice cream social followed
the pageant held in the Berlin-
Brothersvalley High School
junior division. Ben placed ninth
in this contest.
M,ore than 200 participants
competed at this statewide
event, including 54 junior 4-H
members and 49 senior 4-H
members
The annual Delaware Valley
College dairy judging contest
was held on Saturday, April 18.
Susquehanna County again had
five 4-H members competing in
this contest.
The lone senior member,
Andrea Garner, placed first
overall in the contest. Andrea
was also fourth in reasons scor
ing.
Susquehanna County’s junior
team had a great day at
Delaware Valley. They placed
Susan Summers
first overall in the contest —a
whole 26 points ahead of the sec
ond place team. Individual high
lights for the juniors were, Ben
Hoover, fourth; Katie Onyon.
fifth; Jessie Sartell, tenth, and
Justin Garner, fourteenth
The 4-H Dairy Judging team-,
are now practicing for summer
contests and the State 4-H Dairy
Judging Contest to be held in
August. Winners at the state
contest will qualify for national
contests at either Madison, WI,
or Louisville, KY
Any other youth who may bo
interested are encouraged to
attend the practice sessions
Dairy judging is an excellent
way to learn more about dai r y
cattle, public speaking, and
working as a team.
Leaders for 4-H Dairy
Judging for 1998 are Dave
Castrogiovanni and Josh
Harvatine. If you are interested,
call one of these leaders or the
Penn State Extension office in
Montrose, (717) 278-1158 for
more details.