State Grangers ‘Speak Out’ At Competitions
CARLISLE (Cumberland Co.)
Members of the Youth and
Deaf Activities departments took
center stage recently at the the
128th annual Pennsylvania State
Grange Convention here with
rousing performances in the
Somerset Cooperative Extension
Plans Annual Meeting
SOMERSET (Somerset Co.)
The annual meeting and banquet
of the Somerset County Cooper
ative Extension Association will
be held on Thursday, Nov. 9, at
the Masonic Temple, Somerset.
A social time to view educational
displays begins at 6 p.m. with the
stuffed pork chop dinner served
at 6:30 p.m.
The annual business meeting
will include the election of new
board members and presentation
of the annual program report
highlighting programs in agricul
Honey Queen Candidates Needed
LEBANON (Lebanon Co.)
The Pennsylvania Beekeepers
Association is seeking qualified
candidates for the Pennsylvania
Honey Queen title. Contestants
will compete for the title during
the PSBA annual winter meeting
and convention held at the
Country Cupboard in Lewisburg,
Nov. 10-11.
Each candidate must be no
younger than 17 and no older
than 21, and must be sponsored
Montgomery County Granger Is Best Of Show At State Grange Convention
CARLISLE (Cumberland Co.)
By day, Matthew Wismer is a
typical dairy farmer someone
who toils long hours caring for
his herd, cultivating the crops,
and performing all those jobs
necessary to run a successful op
eration.
By night, however, the Mont
gomery County Granger chucks
his work clothes for a tuxedo and
takes on a completely different
persona that of a semiprofes
sional concert pianist and enter
tainer.
Wismer took Best of Show
Public Speaking and Sign-A-
Song competitions.
The Public Speaking and
Sign-A-Song are two events,
which were held at the Grand
Ballroom of the Clarion Hotel,
that promote the activities of the
hire, family living, 4-H, and
youth. Several local residents will
give the program a personal ap
proach as they share how Coop
erative Extension has touched
their lives. A written annual re
port will be provided.
Attend the annual meeting
and banquet by making reserva
tions at the Cooperative Exten
sion Office, 165 E. Union Street,
Somerset or by calling (814)
445-8911. Adult tickets are $8
per person. Reservation deadline
is Nov. 1.
by a beekeeper or a local associa
tion, which will pay the expenses
of the candidate while she at
tends the convention to compete.
The candidate must write a
300-word essay entitled “Honey”
and complete all necessary appli
cations. During the competition,
candidates will be interviewed by
a committee and judged on gen
eral appearance, poise, ability to
speak to the public, and basic
knowledge of the beekeeping in
dustry.
honors during the Talent Night
Festival recently at the 128th an
nual Pennsylvania State Grange
Convention here, and won the
right to represent the Pennsylva
nia State Grange at the National
Grange Convention next month
in Fresno, Calif.
“I’m looking forward to it
since I’ve never been to Califor
nia,” Wismer, of Keystone
Grange #2 in Trappe, said after
of the competition. “I fed confi
dent about the music I’ve select
ed, and ami honored that I will be
representing Pennsylvania
Grange’s Youth and Deaf Activi
ties departments. The Public
Speaking and Sign Language
judges said the competitions
were exciting and enlightening.
Brian Ebersole of Community
Grange #1767, Perry County,
was a first-place winner in both
the Sign-A-Song and Public
Speaking competitions. Ebersole
won the 20-29 age bracket with
an informative speech titled
“Life’s Lessons” and the individ
ual category of the signing com
petition.
Jodi Keith, Lincoln Junior
Grange #SO9, Huntingdon Coun
ty, took the division for youth
ages 14-19 with the motivational
speech “Milk. It Does a Body
Good,” and the topic “The Fu
ture of the Grange” helped pro
pel Ila May McMillin, Westfield
Grange #1514, Lawrence Coun
ty, to first in the 30 and older
category.
The Youth Department of the
State Grange is for members
ages 14-35. Youth members at
tend annual retreats, a summer
camp, and leadership training
seminars to prepare them to be
the leaders of tomorrow. The
youth program also promotes
fellowship and socials that lead
to friendships that last a lifetime.
Tina Houser and Rebecca Vo
nada, both of Logan Grange
#lO9, Centre County, won first
place honors in the group divi-
If crowned queen, the candi
date must be able to make herself
available for promotions and
must maintain a scrapbook of
her activities.
Following her reign as state
queen, she will be eligible to com
Grangers at the national ses
sion.”
Wismer, whose musical reper
toire ranges from classical to
modern pop, said he picked what
he calls a medley of “popular
classical” to perform before the
500 Grangers in attendance at
the festival held in the qpditori
um of Boiling Springs High
School. Calling it “The Carlisle
Overture” in honor of the session
being held here, Wismer’s per
formance included Tchaikovs
ky’s “Piano Concerto,” Mozart’s
“Symphony #40,” Strauss’ “Blue
Danube Waltz,” Lizst’s
“Hungarian Rhapsody,”
Beethoven’s “Fur Elise,”
and the “William Tell Over
ture.”
Wismer said he squeezed
practice sessions in addi-
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sion of the Sign-A-Song competi
tion.
The Deaf and Hard of Hear
ing Awareness Department is the
community service project of the
Pennsylvania State and National
Granges. The Sign-A-Song con
test is one of the outreaches of
the Grange’s Deaf Activities De
partment, which promotes sound
hearing and works to assist indi
viduals, schools and social agen
cies that serve the deaf commu
nity.
The past few years the Deaf
Activities has made a monetary
donation during the annual con
vention to a charity, and the
2000 session proved to be no dif
ferent.
Deaf Activities Director Pat
Beck presented a check for near
ly $450 to Teresa Deller, manag
er, Deaf Center of York located
in York County. Deller told the
audience of about 2SO Grangers
assembled for the competitions
that the donation will be used to
purchase instructional video
tapes to assist in the training of
individuals interested in a career
as a deaf interpreter.
The top three places in each
competition were;
Public Speaking
Ages 14-19: 1. Jodi Keith, Lin
coln Grange, Huntingdon Coun
ty. 2. Rebecca Vonada, Logan
Grange, Centre County.
Ages 20-29: 1. Brian Ebersole,
pete for the title of American
Honey Queen at the American
Beekeeping Federation Conven
tion.
- For more information con
cerning the honey queen pro-
tion to working the 230-acre,
190-herd dairy farm and spend
ing time with his wife and two
children into the early morn
ing or late night hours in the
month leading up to the festival.
Wismer, who is in a partnership
with his father, Charles Wismer,
grows alfalfa, corn, wheat and
rye, and has approximately 120
milking cows and 70 calves and
heifers.
“It could have been a little
more polished,” Wismer said in
critiquing his performance, “but
considering the amount of time I
invested, I am doubly satisfied
with the outcome.”
Wismer said he supplements
his farming income by playing
the piano at corporate affairs,
parties and organizational pro
grams.
The Run
ner-Up Best
of Show,
17-year-old
Paul Elliot
of Hook
sto w n
Grange,
Beaver
County,
sang a spir
itual song
called “Peo
ple Need the
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Community Grange, Perry
County. 2. Yvonne Shepherd,
Community Grange, Perry
County.
Ages 30 and older: 1. Ila May
McMillin, Westfield Grange,
Lawrence County. 2. Pat Beck,
Scrubgrass Grange, Venango
County.
Sign-A-Song
Individual division: 1. Brian
Ebersole, Community Grange,
Perry County. 2. Ila May McMil
lin, Westfield Grange, Lawrence
County. 3. Tina Houser, Logan
Grange, Centre County. 4. Re
becca Vonada, Logan Grange,
Centre County.
Junior division: 1. Catherine
Carberry, Lincoln Grange, Hunt
ingdon County. 2. Jodi Keith,
Lincoln Grange, Huntingdon
County. 3. Philip Vonada, Logan
Grange, Centre County.
Group: 1. Tina Houser and
Rebecca Vonada, Logan Grange
#lO9, Centre County.
The first-place winners at the
state convention advance to the
regional meeting known as the
Mid-Atlantic Grange Conference
in next spring in New Jersey.
They will face Grange Youth
members from six other states.
The winners of the Mid-Atlantic
Youth Conference will perform
for national honors at the Na
tional Grange convention in
Cedar Rapids, lowa, in Novem
ber 2001.
gram, or to obtain rules and an
application, interested candi
dates should contact Linda
Hackenburg, queen committee
chairman, at (570) 568-2337 or
Pennsylvania Honey Queen,
Renee Blatt, at (717) 865-4517.
Lord” and will represent Penn
sylvania if Wismer is unable to
compete in California. Elliot, a
senior at South Side High
School, performs in school and
local theatre productions and
plans to have a career in the arts
after he graduates from college
with a degree in theatre/arts.
The Grange talent show en
compasses individual and family
group performances in vocal, in
strumental and other acts (theat
rical skits and scenes) categories.
Sponsored by the Lecturer’s De
partment, which is in charge of
programming at local, county
and state Grange meetings, the
Pennsylvania State Grange Lec
turer’s Department handed out
awards to the top Subordinate
(local) and Pomona (county)
Lecturer of the Year.
Keith Grim of Lehigh/
Northampton Pomona Grange
#6B, who was the 1999 Pomona
Lecturer of the Year, was award
ed the Subordinate Lecturer of
the Year sash for 2000 while
Faye Heckman of Berks County
Pomona Grange #43, was hon
ored as Pomona Lecturer of the
Year. The Subordinate and Po
mona Lecturer of the Year are
judged on the programs they run
at their Granges during the past
year.