Maryland Holstein Members Honored At Annual Ba
GAY BROWNLEE
Somerset Co. Correspondent
GRANTSVILLE, Md.
The Garrett County Holstein
Club recently hosted the
annual Maryland Holstein
Convention banquet. During
the banquet, outstanding
members and junior mem
bers were recognized.
More than 300 members
and guests gathered into the
Salisbury, Pa., fireball for the
banquet, which was themed
“Mooving Into The New
Moollennium With Hol
steins.” Sharon Mast and
Martha Bender coordinated
the banquet for the annual
convention.
During the meeting, the
club recognized first and
second placed 4-H dairy
judging teams. The first place
team attended the national
competition in Louisville.
The members of that team
were Brett Haines, Josh
Sanders, Jeff Sutton, and
Amanda Valentine, with
coach Lee Majeskie and as
sistant coach Anne Davis.
The second place team was
Tommy Smith, Jill Torene,
Gary Brauning, and Justin
Watt. The 4-H Dairy Bowl
Team was also recognized.
Those members included
Mary Archer, Ryan Downey,
Erin Shank, and Michael
Spurrier. The team coach
was Mark Varner, with
Terrie Shank serving as as-
Maryland Junior Winners recognized at the banquet included from left (front) Scott
Davis, Nathan Rhoderick, Curtis Rhoderick, Amy Yeiser, (back) Allyson Lethbridge,
Hannah Smith, Ben Yoash, and Laurel Moore.
Junior Production Award recipients are pictured with the award sponsors. From left
are (front) Matt Debaugh, Jacob Pieper, Davis Schwartzbeck, (back) Carl Bender, Marlin
Hoff, Jaimi Savage, Gus Schwartzbeck, Jason Myers, and Douglas King.
sistant coach
Scholarship recipients
were also honored during the
evening. Arthur and Peggy
Johnson presented the schol
arships to Amy lager, Jessica
Fritz, Sarah Bedgar, and
Kristin Myers.
Recipients of the Junior,
Intermediate, and Senior
Awards for Distinguished
Junior Members were also
recognized during the ban
quet. Amy lager and Barbara
Schenning were named Dis
tinguished Junior Members
for the club.
As part of the program,
junior member Kelly Burner
delivered the winning speech
in the Intermediate Holstein
Speaking Contest. Jacob
Leach gave the winning
speech in the Junior division.
Junior production awards
were also presented at the
meeting.
Morris Jones, a retired
farmer from South Carolina,
was the guest speaker. Gary
Yoder of McHenry, Md., was
the toastmaster. After the
awards presentation, Denny
Remburg of Jefferson, Md.,
hosted a fun auction.
A beautiful Holstein Cow
quilt made by Naomi Yoder
was on display during the
evening to encourage people
to attend the sale auction
held on Saturday. Half of the
proceeds from the quilt will
be donated to a local man
battling cancer.
***»(*
\\
Maryland
Schenning,
Senior Winners indued Bret Haines, Katherine Herbst, Amy lager, Barbara
Gary Brauning, and Justin Watt.
Maryland Intermediate Winners recognized at banquet
included Ryan Haines, Tracy Webb, Emily Yeiser, Jennifer
Herbst, and Ben Calimer.
Wenger Rallies
To Bury
The Death Tax
HARRISBURG (Dauphin
Co.) - A measure that would cut
Pennsylvania’s inheritance tax
by $lOO million was approved by
the state Senate Finance
Committee, according to state
Sen. Noah Wenger (R-36), who
supports the reductions outlined
in Senate Bill 6.
Wenger also attended a
Harrisburg rally, joining farm
ers and other interested citizens
in an effort to encourage legisla
tors to agree to “bury the death
tax.”
“Our commonwealth has the
second-highest inheritance tax
rates in the nation, which drives
older people to retire in other
states and forces descendants to
sell family farms and family
owned businesses,” Wenger said.
“This bill represents the first
step toward phasing out the tax,
as many other states have
already done.”
Senate Bill 6 would save
inheritors nearly $lOO million
through:
•A 1 percent cut for direct
descendants, from 6 percent to 5
percent.
•A reduction of the tax from
15 percent to 12 percent for non
lineal descendants.
•The elimination of the tax
for assets transferred from a
child to a parent. Under the pro
posal, should a parent survive a
child, trust, college, or other sav
ings funds would not be subject
to the inheritance tax.
uet
Wenger said Pennsylvania
was the first state to institute an
inheritance tax and is second
only to Connecticut in reliance
on revenue taken from sur
vivors. Meanwhile, other states,
including New York and
Louisiana, are taking steps to
eliminate inheritance taxes.
“The tax is particularly bur
densome to farmers who want to
pass the family business down
through the generations,”
Wenger said. “Too often, those
who inherit the operation are
forced to sell off their assets to
meet their tax bills.”
Wenger noted that the high
tax, by forcing individuals out of
business, runs counter to
progress made at the state level
to promote the growth of small
businesses, which are increas
ingly important job creators, and
the success of agriculture,
Pennsylvania’s number one
industry.
The senator added that
Pennsylvania’s death tax is a
form of “triple taxation” because
assets left to heirs have already
been taxed as wages and as prof
it from investment.
“It’s time to take the first step
toward eliminating this tax in
the interest of fairness to sur
vivors, to promote a healthy
economy, and to encourage the
transfer of family farms from
generation to generation,”
Wenger said.