National History Day Regional
Competition Selects Champions
CENTERVILLE (Lancaster
Co.) Approximately 300 sixth
to 12th grade students from Lan
caster and surrounding counties
showed off their history skills
and knowledge at National His
tory Day’s regional competition
on April 6. The Heritage Center
Museum coordinated the compe
tition at Centerville Middle
School, Lancaster.
Recipient of the local history junior award is Rebecca
Stumpt, who receives her award from Kim Fortney, direc
tor of education for the Heritage Center Museum.
Farm Accident Victim Will Speak At Somerset Farm Safety Day
SANDRA LEPLEY
Somerset Co. Correspondent
SOMERSET (Somerset Co.)
This year in Somerset County,
farm kids will have an opportuni
ty to participate in Farm Safety
Day Kids Camp from 10 a.m. to
2 p.m. Saturday, April 20, at the
Berlin Community Grove.
In 2000, Farm Safety Day was
held at Scheffel Equipment in
Somerset and focused on farm
ers. This year the emphasis will
be on a child’s role in safety on
Planners for the Farm Safety Day Kids Camp in Somer
set County discuss the event scheduled for. Saturday,
April 20, at Berlin Community Grove. Bill Blough, left, a
local farmer and chairman of the Somerset Farm Safety
Coalition, explains how a simple mistake cost him his arm
in a farm accident. With Blough are Miguel Saviroff, Som
erset County extension agent with Penn State University,
and Connie Oshop, field inspector with Schneider’s Dairy
in Pittsburgh.
“Revolution, Reaction, Reform
in History,” was the theme for
this year’s competition, in which
students’ works were judged by
teams of professionals worldng in
history-related fields. The stu
dents entered individually or in
teams of two to five and chose
from one of four categories for
their entries: historical paper, ex
hibit, documentary, or perform-
the family farm. The event was
not held last year.
“When you stop and think
about safety, many, many times
it is an adult involved in an farm
accident, but it is more than like
ly a child will find that adult,”
reasoned Connie Oshop, field in
spector for Schneiders Dairy in
Pittsburgh, event sponsor. “Most
farm kids are running heavy
equipment at a young age so they
are definitely at risk.”
Somerset Farm Safety Coali-
<if JCorne r*>.
ance.
In creating their entries, stu
dents follow detailed rules and
perform all research and prepar
ation themselves, without any
adult assistance.
“The young people who partic
ipate in History Day devote
months to researching and devel
oping their entries,” says Kim
Fortney, who, as the Heritage
Center Museum’s director of edu
cation, coordinated the regional
event. “Much like the Science
Fair, the regional competition of
National History Day provides a
forum at which the students can
present their work for objective
review.”
Award winners in first, second,
and third place in each category
will advance to the state competi
tion, to be held at Penn State
University on May 8-9.
Capping the awards program
was a special award for the Best
Local History Entry in the junior
and senior divisions, sponsored
by the Oxford Foundation and V.
Ronald Smith, respectively. Stu
dents were eligible to receive this
award if their entry related to the
history of one or more of the
three counties in the district:
Lancaster, Lebanon, and Berks.
Local history topics this year in
cluded Thaddeus Stevens, the
Underground Railroad and the
Fulton Opera House.
tion and Penn State Cooperative
Extension in Somerset are also
program sponsors.
According to Miquel Saviroff,
extension agent in Somerset
County, each year in the U.S.,
children experience fatal and
nonfatal injuries associated with
production agriculture. Primary
causes of these injuries include
tractors, farm machinery, live
stock, building structures and
falls, Saviroff said.
Children are also exposed to
many of the same environmental
hazards as those experienced by
adult workers, including pesti
cides, fuel, noxious gases, air
borne irritants, noise, vibration,
zoonoses and stress, said Saviroff.
In 2000, 25 percent of farm-re
lated fatalities in Pennsylvania
affected children ages 19 or
younger, according to Penn State
statistics.
National Safety Council statis
tics show that tractor rollover,
truck-related injuries, machinery
entanglements, and drowning are
the leading causes of death for
agricultural workers under age
25.
“Our primary purpose is to
avoid accidents and create
awareness in children, an atti
tude of prevention,” stressed Sa
viroff. “It can happen at any mo
ment to anyone. Children must
have respect for the equipment,
follow safety measures and man
uals and abide by the safety rules.
Our ultimate goal is to reduce the
number of accidents on the fami
ly farms and even if one child is
saved, then this event was worth
it.”
The program workshops will
include the following topics:
Accidents That Can Happen,
first-hand accounts from local
Gerald Huesken, senior winner of the local histoiy
prize, displays his exhibit for Judges at the National His
tory Day, Centerville.
farmers; Bicycle Safety by the
Berlin Police Department;
Electrical Safety, Rural Electric
Association (REA) and Pennsyl
vania Electric; Farm Chemicals,
Melanie Barkley of AgriKing;
Grain and ATV Safety, Randee
Ankeny, Department of Health;
Life Saving Knowledge, Berlin
FFA; Machinery Entanglement,
Scheffel Equipment; Med-Star
(helicopter), Conemaugh Hospi
tal; Personal Protective Equip
ment, Miquel Saviroff, extension
agent; Power Takeoff (PTO) En
tanglement, Bill Blough; Skid
Steer Loader Safety, Scheffel
Equipment; Sun Safety, Colleen
Muscho, Department of Health;
Tractor Rollover, Jim Harvey,
Penn State University; and
Smoke House, New Centerville
Fire Department.
Parents will be expected to ac
company the children to Farm
Safety Day. There will be a pizza
party and ice cream afterwards.
According to Dr. Dennis Mur
phy, professor of agricultural en
gineering in Penn State’s College
of Agricultural Sciences, 44 peo
ple died in accidents on Pennsyl
vania farms in 1996.
Annually, injuries serious
enough to cause lost work time
occur on about 10 percent of
Pennsylvania farms. About two
percent of these injuries leave the
victim permanently disabled.
Penn State is running farm
safety coalitions in three counties:
Somerset, Huntingdon and Juni
ata counties. Penn State contin
ues to be an educator of farm
safety issues, mainly through Dr.
Dennis Murphy, who is known
on an international basis, and
also through strong interest from
the state’s Department of Agri
culture.
Penn State has several farm
safety demonstrations to exten
sion offices and ag high school
classrooms. Penn State in collab
oration with Pennsylvania De
partment of Agriculture also runs
a FFA and 4-H farm safety quiz
bowl competition with the entire
group competing at Ag Progress
Days and the runoff competition
at the Farm Show in January.
“Too many times, we show
kids how to use equipment or
chemicals and we expect them to
understand because it is second
nature to us,” said Connie Oshop
with Schneider’s Dairy, “how
ever, it takes only a simple mis
take to change everyone’s lives
on the family farm. That is why
this will be an education day for
everyone.”
For Bill Blough of the Jenners
town area, a simple mistake on
his family farm in 1967 radically
changed his life forevtf*.
“It could have bed worse but
the power takeoff daft pulled
my arm in up to the shoulder,”
Blough said. “It was a cold day,
Dec. 16, and the shaft was frozen
fast to the cover when I put my
hand on it.”
That simple mistake caused
Blough to lose his right hand and
he now uses a hook to maneuver.
“It takes only a second,” said
Blough, who will give his account
of his farm accident at the Kids
Camp event on April 20. “In the
past when I serve as speaker for
these events, I have asked kids to
make a peanut butter and jelly
sandwich with one hand. They
soon realize it’s almost impossible
and it makes them think. We
hope to make an impact on every
child who attends this year’s
Farm Safety Day and if we cause
just one to stop and think before
they make a mistake, then it was
well worth the time.”