BiO-Lancaster Farming, Saturday. September 4, 1999
Konger. *
After the tour,
Kids See Connection
Between Farm And Food
JINNY WILT
Adams Co. Correspondent
YORK SPRINGS That bee
in their urban backyard might
seem like a nuisance, and the
slow-paced tractor on the road
ahead might be annoying, but 60
Adams County youngsters learned
that these are all part of what
brings food to their dinner table.
Takng part in the Adams Coun
ty Agricultural Science Day.
Camp sponsored Aug. 10-11 by
the Penn State Extension Office,
the youngsters arrived at Ber
mudian Springs Middle School,
which opened its doors for the
program.
From the school on the first day
the youngsters were bused in two
groups to a tour of Hollabaugh
Fruit Farm where they rode in a
large wagon pulled by a tractor
through the orchards.
HoUabaughs, in business, since
19SS, showed off some of its SOO
acres of apple, peach, pear and
plum orchards and a few of its 11
irrigation ponds.
Extension office staffer Jeannie
Plotica explained, as she bounced
along the trail through the or
chards, that “the ag program,
when advertised filled up quickly.
We limited it to 60 and of those re
gistering only 12 are already in
4-H,” she said.
“lliis is an effort to expose
farming to those who haven't ex
perienced it,” she continued.
Joined by John Wardle, agricul
tural teacher at Bermudian
Springs, the two spoke of the im
portance of letting youngsters see
where their food comes from.
Plotica noted that many people are
moving into Adams County from
urban areas and complaining
Kids ride the tractor-pulled wagon jugh . _ -rm o;~
north of Biglerville, Adams County. About 60 kids participated in the Agricultural Sci
ence Day Camp sponsored by Penn State Extension Office.
about the smells and activities of
the farming community. “They
don’t understand that this is a rural
community and this is all part of
it,” she said.
“It is our hope that these young
sters as they grow up might re
member when they see that bee in
their backyard that it is necessary
for pollination, and that the farmer
needs to move from field to field,
and that they might have more re
spect for farming,” Plotica said.
Wardle said earlier in the day
that the group toured Kimes Cider
Mill, just up the road from Holla
Typical of the visitors at Elizabethtown Fair are these who make attendance a tradi
tion. Nancy Shenk, grandmother; with daughter Michele Shenk, left, and children Kel
ly, 20 months, and Cody, 4, and another daughter Patti Snyder and her aon Craig
Snyder, 13.
aide to see peaches go from fresh
raw fruit to a processed product
“It’s important for them to
make the connection between the
farm and their food,” he said. '
After lunch at Oak Side Park,
the youngsters traveled back to
Bermudian Springs where they
prepared peaches to make jam and
learned about nutrition labels and
what they mean. They prepared
their own nutrition labels for their
jam.
On Aug. 11, the youngsters
once again boarded their buses,
this time to tour Buttercup Dairy
' near East Berlin where the
took a hayride and fed calves be
fore visiting the Buttercup Market
with its abundance of fresh fruits
and vegetables.
After lunch they went onto Ke-
Holtz Dairy located along Route
234 west of East Berlin where
they observed a 24-hour dairy in
action. After this tour the youth re
turned to Bermudian Springs
where they made ice cream. This
treat was topped with peaches and
served to the youngsters and par
ents. Plotica said.
She explained that the ag sci
ence program took the place this
' of the farm saft