A32-Lancastor Farming, Saturday, August 19, 2000
MICHELLE RANCK
Lancaster Farming Staff
Recently area 4-H’ers con
verged on Manheim fairgrounds
to showcase their livestock,
cooking, sewing, weaving, braid
ing, drawing, or scrapbooking
talents.
Lancaster livestock extension
agent Chet Hughes estimates
that participation in 4-H live
stock clubs has remained con
sistent over the past five years.
The swine club tops the list with
102 participants in the club,
with more than 60 club members
participating in the Extrava
ganza. The dairy beef show also
grew from more than 20 4-H’ers
last year to about 40 partici
pants this year.
Cody Andrews, 9, son of
Randy and Christine Andrews
of Willow Street, began his
career in the beef ring by taking
home grand champion honors
with “Buddy.”
Even though the Andrews
farm boasts hogs and chickens,
“Cody decided he wanted to do
it, so we decided, ‘Let’s try it,”’
said Christine. “He was really
dedicated, he walked and
brushed Buddy almost every
day. Buddy was also a nice calf
to begin with and he didn’t have
any setbacks,” added Christine.
A senior at Elizabethtown this year, Nathan Eisenhower,
17, took “Samantha” and “Bubba” to supreme champion
honors for both the doe and buck divisions in the breeding
goat show.
Bubba proved to be a drawing card during the Extrava
ganza. “While we were washing him, people kept coming
up to us and saying, ‘ls that a baby bison?”’ said Eisen
hower. Mandy Grube, left, with Samantha, also took home
several goat show honors in the 4-H event.
Jessica Schmidt, 18, won champion showman in the
sheep ring, with Tiffany Dean reserve showman.
4-H Holds “Extravaganza” at Manheim Fairgrounds
This year marks the second
year for the club, but the first
year the animals were not only
shown but also sold at the Extra
vaganza. Last year the animals
were sold at the Manheim fair.
The 4-H goat show continues
to increase in both number of
participants and higher quality
of animals.
“This is the first show I ever
judged,” said Deneise Goss, who
owns “Red Gate Farms” in Pal
myra with her husband. The
couple not only owns a herd of
dairy goats but producers their
own ice cream, milk, and cheese
for a growing market.
Although the business keeps
Goss busy, she found time to
judge the recent 4-H livestock
dairy goats. “I liked it. I knew
the kids, since our own kids used
to be in 4-H. It was really nice to
see how the kids have really pro
gressed as far as the animals
they have, and how to grow
them out,” said Goss. The meat
goats, said Goss, have a good
market outside of the shows,
which makes them ideal for 4-
H’ers.
Dr. Robert Herr judged both
the dairy beef and market goat
shows. “The Manheim area is
getting a really good reputation
in the market goat area,” said
4-H Extravaganza sheep show winners: Sarah Boyd, 19, at left, got reserve grand
champion market lamb placing while Tiffany Dean, 14, in the eighth grade at Lampeter
Strasburg, won grand champion honors with “Keanu." Jimmy Zimmerman, 16, and
“Jessi" won the supreme champion ewe spot.
Goss. “There are good competi
tive goats here that will make
super prospects to develop out.”
Lancaster, said Herr, is a lead
ing area for meat goats on the
Eastern seaboard.
Nathan Eisenhower, 17, took
“Samantha” and “Bubba” to
supreme champion honors for
both the doe and buck divisions
in the breeding goat show. Ei
senhower picked the animals
from the more than 70 goats at
his home farm.
The 4-H fair was only the be
ginning of the fair circuit for Ei
senhower, who will take his
animals to Manheim, Elizabeth
town, and Ephrata fairs. He also
plans to attend the farm show,
where he is an 8-year veteran.
Rachel Keener, from Mount
Joy, picked her goat from six
goats on her home farm. This
winner is one of twins, both of
which Keener took to the show
ring in Manheim. She has three
years of experience in showing
goats.
Penn State shepherd Dick
Kuzemchak picked the winners
of the sheep shows.
Tiffany Dean, 14, picked
“Keanu,” named for the Holly
wood star, because of his stylish,
large frame out of her eight
sheep at home. “Keanu” rose to
the top for Dean as he won
grand champion honors in the
market lamb competition. Dean,
who has six years of experience
in 4-H, looks forward to compet
ing again next year.
The reserve grand champion
spot went to Sarah Boyd, 19,
and “Dino.” A sophomore ele
mentary education major at Mil
lersville University, Boyd
participated in her eleventh and
last year in 4-H.
Jimmy Zimmerman, 16, a
junior at Ephrata High School,
won the supreme champion spot
in the breeding sheep show with
“Jessi.” Zimmerman, who has
seven years of experience in 4-H,
is looking forward to participat
ing next year also.
Jessica Schmidt, a recent
graduate of Solanco High
School, won champion show
man. Schmidt plans to attend
Penn State York campus to
study animal science. Tiffany
Dean was reserve showman in
the competition.
During his first stint in the beef ring Cody Andrews,
grand champion dairy beef winner, learned many valuable
lessons about showing cattle. Perhaps the most unfor
gettable lesson Andrews took away from the experience is
the proper height to hang the ribbonabove the calf in the
fair stall. “Buddy” ate the ribbons off his new grand cham
pion rosette.
Rachel Keener, left, took home supreme champion
market goat honors and Nathan Eisenhower the reserve
champion market goat placing. According to judge Herr a
brightly-colored goat such as Keener’s animal will catch
the eye of goat buyers and thus be easily marketable.