Lancaster farming. (Lancaster, Pa., etc.) 1955-current, June 10, 2000, Image 54

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    814-Lancaster Fanning. Saturday, June 10, 2000
Little misses and escorts, from left front are: Malorie Coddington, Alexander Fox;
Janna Shober, Lucas Calvert, Justin Ferko, Megan Brown, Tucker Cotter, Katelin Mi
chael, Kristin Paul, Jennifer Martin, Lori Horning, Drew Cotter. Not pictured are Levi
Friedline, Isaac Plummer and Keri Friedline.
Somerset Dairy Princess 2000
Cracks Case Of Project Milk
GAY BROWNLEE
Somerset Co. Correspondent
BERLIN (Somerset Co.)
“Project Milk" found 16-year-old
Lacey Coleman examining all
the clues she found on the farm
to crack the mystery case. Once
on the scent, however, each clue
lead to another and before you
knew it the agent had found all
the answers.
On May 27, Lacey Coleman
captured the title of Somerset
County Dairy Princess 2000. The
daughter of Phillip and Lee Ann
Coleman, Berlin, was among
four contestants in the 34th An
nual Somerset County Dairy
Princess Pageant, held at Berlin-
Brothersvalley High School.
Retiring Somerset Dairy Princess Not Inclined To Waste Time
BOSWELL (Somerset Co.)
Susanna Thomas, who is retiring
on June 30 as the 1999 Somerset
County Dairy Princess, is not in
clined to waste her time.
The 17-year-old, for instance,
in the middle of the day, dashes
home from the Greater Johns
town Career and Technology
Center to meet an interviewer
who, obviously is late.
Instead of impatience, the in
dustrious young woman hastily
begins chopping the carrots
needed for a dish on the family
dinner menu that evening.
In the last 12 months, she has
had similar experiences making
every minute count. Her parents,
Mark and Doris Thomas, and
sister. Elizabeth, 15, are support
ive.
Maintaining responsibilities on
the 154-acre Bowling Green
Farm, where Susanna tends her
own small Jersey herd and beef
cattle, school, and being the
dairy princess is a demanding
commitment.
She also works at the North
Fork Golf and Country Club in
the capacity of a cook.
Susanna says it was the right
time for her to be the dairy prin
cess. As a junior, studying horti
culture, floriculture and hydro
ponics, she found the
educational work load manage
able.
“This is a good age to be inter
ested and relate to little kids,”
In evening gowns for their
promenade, the young women
also presented dairy skits and
underwent questioning in the on
stage interviews by master of cer
emonies, state representative,
Robert Bastian.
Coleman leads the Somerset
County Holstein Club as its pres
ident; shows and fits her own
eight dairy cattle; is a 10-year
member of the Milksquirts 4-H
Club, and chapter sweetheart of
the Berlin-Brothersvalley FFA.
Her travels have included a
2000 4-H Exchange Trip dele
gate to Mendocino County, Cali
fornia, and delegate to the 2000
National Rural Electric Youth
Tour to Washington, D.C. She
she observed. “When you are
older, you are doing your own
thing."
So, happily, Susanna is em
bracing the future where her
concentration as a senior can be
more self-focused. “My senior
year is my year,” she firmly an
nounced.
Her former reserve was effec
tively banished through meeting
many new people. “I was sort of
shy and backward,” she ac
knowledged, “but my people
skills have grown immensely. My
knowledge of the dairy industry
has grown even more,” she said,
assessing herself.
It was equally notable to the
dairy princess that her experi
ences were also helping others to
grow and change.
An inner-city child, for in
stance, knew nothing about
cows, milk or dairy products. So
when Susanna presented the
news that a cow can make 50-60
glasses of milk in a day, because
she drinks the equivalent of a
bathtub filled with water, eats
hay, corn and other feed, the
child was lost. He was unable to
grasp beyond what his family
found in a grocery store. Broad
ening his young mind was a
moving exercise for the princess.
The lion’s share of promotions
found her at schools, supermar
kets, malls, special events, and
meetings. The spontaneity of
children made school promos a
participates in many more activi
ties in school and church.
Coleman is the only daughter
of four children. Her brothers are
Matthew, 21; Adam, 18 and
Wade, 11.
The alternate dairy princess,
Rebekah Fox, 16, is Brad and
Melissa Fox’s daughter. She was
the Miss Congeniality recipient.
The Fox family resides near
Brotherton.
Cristie Weaver, 16, and Jenni
fer Stahl, 17, rounded out the
contestant roster. Weaver’s par
ents, Carl and Brenda Weaver
are from Windber. Stahl’s par
ents, Richard H. and E. Ellen
Stahl are from Somerset.
Judges for the affair, which
favorite with Susanna.
Most Somerset County
kids have the basic under
standing of farming, yet,
when it came to the cows
themselves, they were eager
to hear more from Susanna.
Enlightening them about
the cow breeds, for instance,
and the cow’s amazing, com
partmentalized stomach.
They were awed at the pro
cess of bovine digestion.
“When a cow eats food,
she might chew a bit and
swallow then bring it up later
to finish chewing,” she re
ported.
Children love to learn new
things. They can more readily
accept that milk is good for
you no matter how old you
are. Adults, of course, are
harder to convince that
drinking milk and eating
dairy products is, by far, the
best preventer of osteoporo-
“My most difficult challenge
was talking to older people
who were set in their ways,”
she said.
“Calcium is good for hair,
skin, eyesight, heartbeat and
helps muscles contract and relax.
It is good for a lot of things,” Su
sanna said.
The promoter stated that Vita-
Somerset County Dairy Princess 2000, Lacey Cole
man,right, is shown with alternate Rebekah Fox.
was followed by an ice cream so
cial, were Karen Soliday, Johns
town; Mary Beth Lieb, Cambria
County and John McElvaine,
Westmoreland County.
Almost, but not quite every
one, was a door prize winner.
Dairy maids Jessica Rose, Danie
la Shriner, Elizabeth Ann Thom
as, Joy Tressier, and Bethany
Weimer hand-delivered them to
recipients seated in the auditori
um.
Little Miss participants were
Megan Brown, Malorie Codding
ton, Keri Friedline, Lori Hom
ing, Jennifer Martin, Katelin Mi
chael, Kristen Paul, Janna
Shober. Their escorts were Lucas
Calvert, Drew Cotter, Tucker
Cotter, Justin Ferko, Alex Fox,
' Susanna Thomas has always worked with cows, but
learned a lot of new facts as Somerset County Dairy Prin
cess.
min D in milk is what helps
bones absorb calcium, yet there
are individuals who believe all
they need to prevent osteoporosis
are calcium pills.
She anticipates climbing back
in the tractor driver’s seat and
Levi Friedline and Isaac Plum
mer.
Angie Shober, chairperson of
the Somerset County Dairy
Promotion Committee. Assisting
are Jodi Flick, Amy Paul, Jenny
Plummer, Christine Singo, Bar
bara Brant, Nina Ferko, Gloria
Kaufman, Sylvia Mast, Helen
Mishler, Dorothy Naugle and
Sue Tressler.
The new dairy princess, who
succeeds the retiring Susanna
Thomas of Boswell, received
$2OO from the Allied Milk Pro
ducers’ Cooperative, Inc. In
April 2001, Allied will give a sec
ond installment of $3OO if the
princess, at that time, has met
the obligations and requirements
of dairy promotion.
doing the field work she enjoys
so much. In some ways the old
routine will feel good again. Still,
not for anything would Susanna
exchange the wonderful experi
ences and unique growth emerg
ing from the dairy princess re
sponsibilities.