O-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 3,2001 B 1 Kids State Lamb And Wool Queen Teaches Kids How To Overcome ‘Baa’ed’ Experiences GAY BROWNLEE Somerset Co. Correspondent As far as the Pennsylvania Lamb and Wool Queen is concerned, kids are really important people. She cares so much about them, in fact, when Deidra Smith that is her name meets young peo ple, she intends to share the story of how showing iambs in 4-H changed her life. When she was nine years old, you see, Deidra was a shy little girl. The first time she ventured into a show ring with a lamb, she did more things wrong than right. It was a “BAA-ED” experi ence. Then some grownups who had watched her perform, sug gested ways she could do things better. They encouraged her to not give up, but try again the next year. She followed their advice. By leaps and bounds, her skills im proved. Its a pretty nifty thing that Deidra is 16 years old and has showed lambs and steers every year since that first “baa’ed” ex perience. Deidra says kids who don’t play sports in school, often want to compete in other ways. In joining 4-H and showing animals they will have that opportunity. “A lot of kids are into sports because they like the compet itiveness,” she says. “But, I be lieve animals can give you much more than a ball can.” One of the benefits of 4-H showing, Deidra said, “Is that you actually get a friendship with your animal by the end of summer.” The first time showing may tighten the tummy with funny knots, but concentrating on doing a good job is key to not paying attention to spectators watching from the bleachers. “Everything changes in the show ring,” Deidra says. “You forget the crowd and focus on your animal. Win or lose, its a great feeling. “The first year is going to be full of new experiences, but if you have older people behind you and keep doing it, it becomes fun,” she adds. During the summer months, an animal project can provide a constructive and fun activity. Deidra explained that a market lamb, steer or pig can’t under stand the meaning of words, but, if spoken to, animals learn to identify your voice. They also sense the tone of your voice, How Do Fish Survive In The Winter? Fish are amazing creatures. They breathe air from the water through special breathing mech anisms called gills. These gills keep them alive-in warm weath er and even in winter, when top layers of their pond may freeze. Most ponds don’t freeze deep enough to harm the fish. Aquatic (water) plants, especially micro scopic ones, continue producing oxygen as long as light can pene- * * < The Pennsylvania Lamb and Wool Queen is Deidra Smith. She will promote lamb and wool in all aspects to people in her state. Here, with sister Kelsie outside the bam, they are attempting to control the sheep, but Kelsie ends up in the snow. •' i ’ r - ii- ' m & Ai wmt If fiM\ /i/firn I I Family support and the Somerset County 4-H program have helped Deidra Smith grow into a confident and competent 16-year-old spokesperson as the Pennsylvania Lamb and Wool Queen. From left, Gail Smith, her mother; Deidra, Dwight Smith, her dad; and Kelsie, 11, her sister, at the family farm near Glencoe in Somerset County. trate the ice. Sometimes, how ever, the plants can’t produce oxygen. Why? Because deep snow may be covering the ice and that prevents sunlight from shining into the water. If this snow cover lasts long enough, the plants will begin to die. Oxygen is used in the decomposition pro cess-oxygen that’s important for the fish to survive. If enough oxygen is used by the plants as Korner they decay, the fish could suffo cate. If you have a pond that is cov ered with several inches of snow, you may want to take steps to in sure next summer’s fishing sea son is successful. It’s important to remove snow from at least one-tenth of the pond surface. This will allow light to reach the plants. And if the plants survive the winter, so will the fish! * * t V s >• : KIDS GULP MORE MILK While youths (18 & under) represent only of the populstii they drink 46% of all milk consumed in the U.S. Source Dairy Management Inc “The animals learn to know my voice,” she explained. That is comforting for a ner vous lamb in the show ring. Deidra says lamb, as food, is very good to eat. She plans to serve samples of lamb to visitors when she appears at some impor tant events in Pennsylvania and offer recipes for fixing great lamb dishes and snacks. People shouldn’t be surprised when the lamb and wool queen reports other nifty stuff about the woolly critters. “Sheep affects people in every day life,” she says. Sheep provide wool for cloth ing and blankets, lanolin for lo tions, and even chewing gum? Yes, indeed. Also, sheep products are used to make buttons, gelatins, gel capsules, cosmetics like eye shad ow and foundation, candles, soaps, and many other items. In 4-H Deidra learned to make pretty wool clothing for herself. For her first experience in sew ing, Deidra followed an easy pat tern. Later, she advanced to diffi cult projects that were judged in 4-H Fashion Revue and the Make It Yourself With Wool Pennsylvania Competition. The judges at Make It Your self With Wool decided Deidra’s garment was well done and should be in the national contest. So from January 25-28, she and Aleecha Jones from Loysburg another winner flew all the way to Sparks, Nevada for the big event. Going aboard the fast jet plane in Baltimore was tre mendously fun for them and the family members who flew with them. Deidra says getting away from being tongue-tied took hard work, but it was worth it to par ticipate in 4-H public speaking contests. Her sister, Kelsie, at 11, is exactly opposite, Deidra says. Kelsie has a gift of being able to talk with ease to anyone she meets. Unlike her older sister, Kelsie has never needed to over come shyness. She also shows an imals, sings and plays instru ments. *< ( J I The sister’s parents are Dwight and Gail Smith. In Som erset County the family lives in a log house surrounded by beauti ful steep mountains, near Glen coe. which changes if you are feeling happy, glum or angry. Deidra talks to individual ani mals as she would to a person.
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