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From left, Joel, Anna, and Vince Gilbert show off their 4-H projects.
4-H Family Likes Hands-On Projects
DAVE LEFEVER
Lancaster Farming Staff
YORK SPRINGS (Adams
Co.) The Gilbert kids enjoy
putting things together.
Vince, 16, and Joel, 14, have
been building rockets ever since
they joined 4-H as elementary
school students.
Anna, 9, is in the 4-H sewing
club and recently finished her
first skirt.
Vince and Joel plan to enter
their rockets at the Pennsylvania
Farm Show in January. Anna is
also considering taking the skirt
she made.
Vince has had a winning
streak with his rockets ever since
he began showing them at the
South Mountain Fair eight years
ago.
The rocket shown on the pic
ture is a guided missile that won
first place at both the South
Mountain Fair and the Farm
Show two years ago.
Joel’s rocket is a Star Destroy
er, modeled after the one in the
Star Wars movie.
Vince said that the rockets are
equipped with motors that blast
them high into the sky.
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It’s important to have plenty of
open space around the area the
rockets are launched, he said.
Each rocket is equipped with a
parachute. If the parachute is
workjng properly, it will open as
the rocket descends to provide a
soft landing.
Once, a parachute failed to
open and caused one of his rock
ets to be damaged from a hard
landing, Vince said.
Either way, the used-up rocket
motor must be replaced after
each flight before the rocket can
fly again.
Success in rocket competitions
depends on how well the rocket
was put together and painted,
and on attention to details such
as sanding the fins for smooth
ness, Vince said.
Besides his 4-H rocket projects,
younger brother Joel also shows
market lambs at the South
Mountain Fair. He has won the
award for showmanship several
times, including his first time
showing as a 3rd grader and this
year as an Bth grader.
The brothers have also been in
volved in various other building
projects.
One of them was a narade float
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based on the flying escape vehicle
featured in the animated movie
Chicken Run.
Vince; said he worked with his
father to build the float, a major
project.
“It gets stressful when you’re
getting close to the parade (time)
and don’t have it done yet,” he
said.
Their hard work paid off, with
the float winning first place in
the New Oxford parade and sec
ond place at Dillsburg.
Vince, Joel, and Anna are the
children of James and Elaine Gil
bert, York Springs. They attend
school in the Bermudian Springs
District.
Their parents have played a
big part in encouraging their in
terests.
Elaine is a substitute teacher
and volunteer in many organiza
tions, including 4-H. She is a
leader in Anna’s 4-H sewing club.
James was the first to fiiel his
soils’ interest in rocketry and in
building things.
Projects done together as a
family include picking and sell
ing red raspberries from a large
patch grown on their 20-acre
farm.
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