Shenandoah Valley 4-H’ers Gearing Up To Visit Farm Show
GAY BROWNLEE
Virginia Correspondent
HARRISONBURG, Va.
When the Pennsylvania Farm
Show opens, at least one 4-H club
from the Shenandoah Valley will
be on hand to take in the rodeo
on Saturday.
Greenmount 4-H Club mem
bers Isaac Burgess, vice-presi
dent, and his brother, Paul, presi
dent, love the rodeo, especially,
the bull riding competition.
Two years ago at the National
FFA Convention, 16-year old
Isaac got hooked on the danger
ous event while watching the
High School Rodeo.
Isaac said he’s determined to
ride bulls one day himself. Al
ready, he is practicing for the fu-
With the Greenmount 4-H Club banner, pictured is or
ganizational leader, Sandra Strawderman with her son,
Blair, 12 and daughter Carenda, 14.
Kayla Dull Takes Her Love Of Sheep To This Year’s Farm Show
LINDA WILLIAMS
Bedford Co. Correspondent
MANNS CHOICE (Bedford
Co.) Kayla Dull feeds and
walks her sheep every day in
preparation for the Pennsylvania
Farm Show.
Kayla Dull of Manns Choice, Bedford County, is proud
of her Dorset and Suffolk sheep flock. She will be exhibi
ting a crossbred lamb wether at this year’s Farm Show.
hire with a portable bucking rig
he designed and constructed in
school. He used a barrel and con
nected various lengths of pipe
that keep it well-anchored. The
nifty invention has been on pub
lic display in local parades.
The elder brother is well over
six-feet tall but the height of his
sibling, Paul, 14, is almost too
close to determine the difference.
Both are active in 4-H and FFA.
Sandra Strawderman, organi
zational leader for Greenmount
4-H, said the club hasn’t been to
the Farm Show for three years.
With adult supervision, Straw
derman said the kids will have
permission to roam about and
enjoy whatever events and exhi-
She knows what it is like to get
up in the wee hours to help deliv
er lambs.
“It’s all part of raising sheep,”
the Chestnut Ridge High School
10th grader explained. “If a
sheep is having a lamb in the
bits appeal to them, as long as
they are responsible to meet at
the appointed place for the
homebound journey, later.
Carenda Strawderman, 14, her
daughter and a freshman class
mate of Paul Burgess at the
Broadway High School, adores
observing the horses at the rodeo,
but the barrel event is her favor
ite competition.
At the Rockingham County
Fair, Carenda shows lambs and
registered Shorthorns in both the
junior and open shows. This will
be her third visit to the Farm
Show. She says she is really look
ing forward to it.
“I like looking at how the ani
mals are clipped. They are
clipped differently there,” said
the showmanship winner and fu
ture veterinarian hopeful.
Blair, her 12-year old brother,
participates in the junior division
of livestock judging and shows
hogs at the county fair. He thinks
being in competition is a good ex
perience for the younger kids,
who learn from watching older
kids.
Besides the fascinating display
of machinery at the Farm Show,
Blair is intrigued by the control
he sees experienced exhibitors
maintaining over their animals
with many people around.
When asked about tasting new
foods at the Farm Show, Blair
declared his preference for good
old American cheeseburgers and
French fries keeps him from sam
pling delicacies like emu.
“(The kids) aren’t very adven
turous,” their mother said.
middle of the night, I have to be
there to help her.
“One time I even had to stay
home from school to help take
care of (lambs). It is usually my
mom who looks after the lamb
ings while I am at school.
“My favorite lambings are
those that occur when I am not
here. I come home, the lambs are
here and nursing and I don’t
have to worry about them. But,
that doesn’t happen often,” she
said.
“We’ve seen it all here. We’ve
had a successful set of triplets
and we had a set that we lost as
well as the mother. That was
hard.”
The daughter of Robert and
Missy Dull, Kayla has been
showing sheep for seven years.
“It started when I was only
five and a friend made me a wool
Pennsylvania Farm Show Features Dairy
HARRISBURG (Dauphin
Co.) The Pennsylvania Dairy
Promotion Program (PDPP) and
American Dairy Association and
Dairy Council (ADADC) Mid
East invite all dairy farmers to
visit the dairy checkoff booth, lo
cated in the main exhibition hall
of the Farm Show Complex in
Harrisburg, during Farm Show
Week.
The checkoff exhibit is cospon
sored by the Mid-Atlantic Dairy
Association and is educational
and informative. Games will
challenge the knowledge of kids
about the benefits of dairy prod
ucts. Moms and dads can get ed
ucational materials to learn about
the great benefits of including
dairy products in their family’s
diets. Checkoff staff will also be
on hand to visit with farmers
about the checkoff program.
Carenda Strawderman,
14, displays a plaque re
ceived for the Junior grand
champion Shorthorn at the
2000 Rockingham County
Fair, as well as the banner
for the grand champion
heifer in the open show.
Jane Burgess, Isaac and Paul’s
mother, said she is impressed by
the numerous breeds of animals
at the Farm Show.
Because the Burgess family
show steers at the county fair,
they find the annual Farm Show
a great place to note tips about
grooming animals for competi
tion.
Isaac, a high school junior, is
the chapter treasurer and Paul,
assistant parliamentarian in the
Broadway FFA Chapter.
Carenda Strawderman said
she would like to see Green
mount 4-H expand its concentra-
outfit to walk in the leadline at
the Bedford Fair,” she said. “I’ve
been interested in sheep ever
since.”
Last summer, Kayla captured
first place in the standard class of
the Bedford Fair leadline compe
tition wearing a solid black wool
dress.
Kayla’s sheep project is shared
with her younger brother. Beau.
Actually, it’s all a family affair.
The sheep bam in the back yard
was built by her dad and extend
ed family members. The hay is
grown on her grandfather’s farm.
It’s a picturesque setting, with a
hunting dog and two cats com
pleting the family.
A member of the Young Shep
herds and Young Stockmen’s
4-H Club, Kayla has shown
sheep at the Bedford Fair for the
past two years. Last year, she
Again this year, PDPP,
ADADC Mid East, and Mid-At
lantic Dairy Association are
sponsoring the butter sculpture
and, as always, the display is
kept a secret until the unveiling.
However it is known that it will
be based on a patriotic theme.
The butter sculpture is a high-
Blair Strawderman, 12,
shows ribbons he received
for his grand champion
Shorthorn bull in the Junior
show at the Rockingham
County Fair.
tion on animals. She spends hour
upon hour working with her Suf
folk sheep.
The Strawdermans raise some
25 registered beef Shorthorns and
have a commercial sheep opera
tion of 75 ewes and five rams.
“We graze as much as we can
and feed hay,” Sandra said.
Sandra hopes weather inform
ation won’t throw a cog in Farm
Show travel plans as it did the
previous time when an ice storm
in the forecast caused a debate on
whether or not to go.
“I hate that responsibility,” the
leader said.
placed fifth in Pennsylvania State
Farm Show competition.
For the 2002 show, Kayla will
be showing her wethered cross
bred she bought at the Somerset
County Fair. Her total flock con
sists of 14 Dorsets and Suffolks.
All of the ewes are expecting
lambs.
“We bred the Dorsets with our
own buck,” she said.
Her plans for the future are
uncertain, but definitely include
college. She believes her interest
in sheep could lead her to any
thing from shearing to becoming
a vet.
Kayla also belongs to the
Chestnut Ridge FFA, plays soc
cer, runs on the track team, and
enjoys hunting.
This deer season she bagged
both a doe and buck and helped
turn them into deer bologna.
light for many Farm Show visi
tors.
The cheese carving contest will
return again this year, with con
testants sculpting a 10-pound
block of Cheddar cheese. A
cheese display will also highlight
the many different cheeses pro
duced in Pennsylvania.
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