82-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 19, 2002
Late Night At The Farm Show
What Happens After The Crowds Go HomeT
MICHELLE KUNJAPPU
Lancaster Farming Staff
HARRISBURG (Dauphin
Co.) Did you ever wonder
what goes on after hours at the
Farm Show?
As you may suspect, with a
large gathering of people and an
imals, the Farm Show does not
really sleep. After the crowds
leave, there’s bedding to be
changed, animals to wash, feed
ing and watering to do, and
best of all socializing with
other exhibitors.
Lancaster Farming stayed a
little later in the evening to see
firsthand what goes on after the
crowds go home.
9:30 p.m. Once the throngs
Yes, this is a Farm Show scene. Although is looks more
like a living room, the boots and sleeping bag give it away
as a setup in the dairy barn. The stand is done by Trindle
Farm, Mechanicsburg.
Exhibitors take time to take a boots-on nap in the eve
ning.
By early evening Kyle Whitebread, 12, York, has al
ready set up his sleeping arcangementsfor the night.
of people have left the alleyways
of the barn, work can commence.
Exhibitors pushing large wheel
barrows move straw and manure
outside, radios continue broad
casting, and animals, as always,
are in the wash rack.
By now most of the beef ani
mals are tied outside, as owners
take advantage of the fresh air
and cool breezes of the tie-out
area behind the barn. The ani
mals spend the evening deep in
the straw of. their makeshift
sleeping accommodations.
The stands of organizations
and businesses are now quiet, as
standholders left for home at 9
p.m. The space of the now-empty
stands can serve as host to the
cots that will occupy them later
in the evening.
By this time of the evening,
Kyle Whitebread, 12, York, has
already set up his sleeping ar
rangements for the night. A ham
mock made by his mother serves
as his bed every evening, he said.
The hammock is easily removed
in the morning for the next round
of cattle fitting. Now in his sec
ond year at the Farm Show, Kyle
brought a Black Angus steer to
exhibit in Wednesday’s competi
tion.
Kendy Gable, 17, New Enter
prise, from Snider Homestead
Farms, used the evening hours to
wash one of her Guernseys for
the next day’s competition.
Dressed from head to toe in rain
gear, she protects herself from
the water flying in streams and
misting about the room. “I’m a
wimp,” she laughed.
Chris Snoots, 10, reclined in a
lawn chair in the late hours, but
“probably won’t ever sleep,” he
said. Snoots, who attended the
Farm Show to help his cousins
exhibit dairy animals, planned to
rise at 1 a.m. and begin to wash
animals for the upcoming compe
tition.
In the large arena, exhibitors
play a pick-up game of football
on top of the grids already in
place from the evening’s square
dancing.
There’s no reason to miss Monday night football, even
during Farm Show week. Julie Cope, Danville; Dan Kena
mon, Mifflinburg; and Steve Bowers, Milton; take time to
relax and watch a little television.
10:00 p.m. The large arena is
still alive, with exhibitors taking
the opportunity to acquaint their
horses with the feel of the arena
before competition. From a slim
pony and small girl to the danc
ing paces of the dressage horses
to the slick black Percherons, the
horses were put through their
paces during the temporary
peace of the large arena.
Janitors pick up the trash in
the hallways, and then begin
work among the seats of the
Large Arena. The Food Court,
once teeming with hungry Farm
Show attendees, is now quiet and
getting swept and ready for the
coming day.
A market steer, spooked by the
unfamiliar horses in the arena,
gets away from an exhibitor and.
causes excitement as he runs
around the hallways and is
quickly roped in.
10:30 p.m. As the evening
advances, rollaway beds, cots,
sleeping bags, and even lawn
chairs begin to fill the hallways,
comers, and alleys of the dairy
bam.
Not all exhibitors bothered to
bring out their beds, however.
“Tomorrow morning is the show,
so I’m watching all night to keep
them clean,” said Aaron Gable,
also an exhibitor for Snider
Homestead Farms, New Enter-
Jason Mowrey, Nick Burket, and Scott Fisher, Hard
Core Farm, New Enterprise, take the time to re-bed their
cows every evening.
******** *****'* 4 *****««.*t i 4'
Kendy Gable, 17, New Enterprise, takes advantage of
the quieter evening hours to wash one of her Guernseys.
She often shows up at the wash rack dressed in rain
gear. “I’m a wimp,” she laughs.
prise. “We play cards, and sit
around and talk,” said Mike
Creek, who also shows for the
farm. “Most people have some
one that stays up all night to feed
and keep the cows clean,” he
said.
At 11:00 p.m. Michele Reasner,
of Jemi Jerseys and Holsteins,
wraps up her day by relaxing
with beef barbecue from the
crockpot, an appliance that is
found among many of the Farm
Show families’ stakeouts. Reas
ner appreciates the employees
who work through the night and
allow her and her husband to get
a little sleep at the hotel during
the night.
The employees “stay up and
feed our cows and just keep an
eye on things,” she said. The Re
asners brought along a special
Ayrshire to keep an eye on dur
ing the week. The cow proved to
be an attraction during the week
as she calved during Farm Show
week.
In the large arena, a Farm
Show employee drives around a
large piece of equipment which
evenly waters the arena surface
to decrease dust.
11:30 pan. Jason Mowrey,
Nick Burket, and Scott Fisher,
Hard Core Farm, New Enter
prise, take the time to re-bed
their cows in the evening. “We
re-bed everything every night,”
said Fisher. “You can’t do that
with the public and the rule is
that you have to have everything
cleaned up and ready for the
public by 8 a.m.”
Since it was a show night,
“we’re giving them a little extra,”
he said. “We usually figure a bale
per head with the pack jjr' al
ready.”
Many of the other exhibitors,
said Fisher, clean the stalls at 4-5
a.m.
By this time the bam has qui
eted, but there will be action all
night as exhibitors awake to feed
and water, then go back for a
quick nap before the next round.
Although sleep may be in short
supply, friends, crackpot food,
and friends are not.
Soon, in the small hours of the
morning, the bam will again be
buzzing for another Farm Show
day.