84-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, August 31,2002
On Being a
Farm Wife
(and other hazard
Joyce Bupp
Winding down. Wrapping up.
Typing the loose ends. Finished.
Unofficially, that’s what this
Labor Day working-folks salute
has evolved to be about. One last
vacation trip, one last backyard
party, one last picnic before shak
ing off the lingering laxness of
summer, straightening our shoul
ders, putting our heads erect, and
marching forward into fall.
And boy, are most of us ready.
Or, to share an observation from
a friend: “It’s like we’ve been
under siege.”
Holding us hostage, of course,
has been the seemingly endless
onslaught by heat and drought,
dust clouds and wildfires, high
humidity and near-non-existent
rainfall, low commodity prices,
low crop yields, and the spectre
of skimpy feed supplies for the
winter.
Casualties of the siege have
been pastures turned to straw,
gardens shriveled up (if bugs,
beetles, and grasshoppers didn’t
bite into them first), com strug
gling to make ears, skimpy, sad
hay crops, and sparse pickin’s
from many produce patches.
How many years are tomatoes
and squash scarce around here,
for goodness sake?
Through it all, though, there is
one constant that never changes.
New Jersey Open Beef Show
(Continued from Page B 3)
Bootsma.
Best full blooded Limousin 1 Daniel
Pick. 2 Mosher Famil Lenape Limousin 3
James Robison
Champion full blood. Daniel Fick
Reserve champion full blood- Mosher
Famil Lenape Limousin
RED ANGUS
Early senior heifer calf 1 JH Keifer
Farm
SIMMENTAL
Junior heifer calf 1 Shelby Lynn Ranck
2 Sam Case 3 Shelby Lynn Ranck
Champion junior heifer calf Shelby Lynn
Ranck
Reserve champion junior heifer calf Sam
Case
Early senior heifer calf 1 Elena Poliskie
wicz
Champion senior heifer calf Elena Polis
kiewicz
Late summer yearling heifer 1 Elena
Poliskiewicz
Apnl junior yearling heifers' 1 Shelby
Lynn Ranck 2 Sally Peck 3 Sally Peck.
Champion intermediate heifer Shelby
Lynn Ranck
Reserve champion intermediate heifer
Sally Peck
March junior yearling heifer 1 Shelby
Lynn Ranck
Early junior yearling heifer 1 Jesse Po
liskiewicz
‘ Champion junior heifer. Shelby Lynn
Ranck
Reserve champion junior heifer Jesse
Poliskiewicz
Senior yearling heifer 1 Jesse Poliskie
wicz
Champion senior heifer Jesse Poliskie
wicz
Champion grand heifer Shelby Lynn
Ranck
Reserve champion grand heifer Sally
Peck
Cow/calf calf 1 Shelby Lynn Ranck 2
Charles DeLade 3 Jesse Poliskiewicz
Champion grand cow/calf Shelby Lynn
Ranck
Reserve champion grand cow/calf.
Charles DeLade
Junior bull calf 1 Elena Poliskiewicz 2
Jesse Poliskiewicz.
Champion junior bull calf. 1 Elena Polls
kiewicz
Reserve champion junior bull calf. Jesse
Poliskiewicz
March junior yearling bulls 1 Shelby
Lynn Ranck
Champion junior bull Shelby Lynn Rar
ick
Champion grand bull Shelby Lynn Rar
ick.
Reserve champion grand bull Elena Po-
one absolute that never falters,
one standard that can be de
pended upon, regardless of what
ever else is thrown at us.
The weeds are still thriving.
Battling unwanted greenery is
an ongoing process, dry and wet
years. It’s a battle waged in our
yard and garden with mulch,
hoes, hand-yanking, a heavy
duty hand pruner, and a faithfiil
sidekick spray bottle filled with
basic weedkiller.
But during our absence a few
days early in the month, the
weeks absolutely ran amuk. As if
challenged to perform one final,
glorious assault against the broil
ing heat and dryness, ail the er
rant, the unyanked, the missed
seedlings hiding under leaves of
cultivated stuff, bolted into high
gear. Almost overnight, weed
trees dotted the veggie patch,
shaded the annuals, even estab
lished thriving colonies under the
thick, shaded and moisture-sap
ping maple trees, where respecta
ble plants refuse to set root.
A forest of ragweed, ladeh with
sneeze-starting pollen, towered
over the perennial border. One
comer prettily abloom with roses,
daylilies, and black-eyed Susans
revolted into a rebel pack of
lanky lambs’ quarters and ram
pant foxtail. Mile-a-minute vines
liskiewicz
Sussex County special. 1. Sally Peck. 2.
Charles DeLade. 3. Sam Case
N.J. special: 1 Sally Peck 2. Charles
DeLade
Best three head-1. Shelby Lynn Ranck.
Best five head-1. Shelby Lynn Ranck. 2
Jesse Poliskiewicz.
Breeders herd four head, one bull and
three heifers: 1. Shelby Lynn Ranck 2.
Jesse Poliskiewicz
Pair of calves; 2. Charles DeLade 3.
Elena Poliskiewicz
Pair of yearlings- 1. Shelby Lynn Ranck.
2 Sally Peck.
STEER
Lightweight 1. Gwen Wagner 2. Sally
Peck. 3. Sam Case.
Champion lightweight- Gwen Wagner
Reserve champion lightweight: Sally
Peck.
Middleweight light: 1. Paul Wagner 2
Jay Underhill 3 Cody Gertach
Champion light medium. Paul Wagner
Reserve champion light medium- Jay
Underhill
Middleweight heavy-1. Gwen Wagner 2
Shelby Lynn Ranck. 3 Melanie Sinon
Champion heavy medium. Gwen Wag
ner
Reserve champion heavy medium- Shel
by Lynn Ranck.
Light heavyweight-1 Courtney Moms 2
Megan Lawlor 3 T.J Banght
Champion light heavy Courtney Morns
Reserve light heavy- Megan Lawlor.
Heavyweight: 1. Jon Petry 2 Sean
Sinon 3. Timothy Snook
loiKisler
Farnimi's
Classified
Ms Set
Results!
raced through the blueberries,
curled like puppies at the feet of
the dogwood tree and scattered
off into the snowball bushes.
And pokeweed poked its rub
bery stalks and wide leaves into
everything. It sprang up among
fern in the greenhouse and bego
nias on the front porch. It nestled
up to the black-eyed Susans and
dug its way up through thick
clumps of daylilies. After knock
ing down a handsome, three-foot
pokeweed “hunk” hanging
around the zinnias, its clones
popped up from the tomato
patch to the chrysanthemums
and took to sunning with the
sunflowers.
In defense of the weeds, how
ever, at least one variety proved
to have a positive side through
this brutal summer. Just about
the time the first melon hills in
the garden row had softball-sized
fruits on them, the vines began to
shrivel and die, attacked by the
beetles which spread a wilt fatal
to the plants. Diligent efforts in
that part of the garden had kept
it relatively weed-free.
Other melon plants farther
along in the row, despite my ef
forts, spotted some thriving red
root weeds too big to pull without
uprooting everything. But the
rough leaves of the weed seemed
to attract the melon beetles. They
dined on the weeds’ leaves
which appeared non the worse
for wear and left the melon
vines to yield their tasty fruits.
So while Labor Day weekend
represents a salute to working
people, a last vacation or picnic
fling, return of school buses and
football season, it also signals one
more thing around here.
Lifespan of our lush, lanky
weeds is limited.
And they’ll take the bugs with
them when they go.
Champion heavyweight: Jon Retry.
Reserve champion heavyweight: Sean
Sinon.
Champion Class 13: Gwen Wagner.
Reserve Class 13; Shelby Lynn Rar
ick.
Pair of steers (same farm): 1. Gwen Wag
ner. 2. Courtney Moms 3. Kelly Von der
Lieth.
Sussex County special: 1. Jon Retry. 2.
Timothy Snook. 3. Mark Van Boerum.
9 and under'l. Charlotte Case. 2. Kayli
Sinon. 3 Christopher Snook. awg
10 to 11 years old: 1 Elena Po- ■
liskiewicz 2. Paul Hund. 3. Melanie I
Sinon I
12 to 13 years old: 1. Jay Under
hill. 2. Sam Case. 3. Cody Getlach.
4 to 14 years old: 1. Kachme
Dixon. 2. Courtney Moms. 3. Kyle
Jorntsma.
15 to 16 years old: 1. Hannah
Case 2 Bradley Klemm. 3. Mat
thew Von der Lieth.
17 to 21 years old: 1. Jennifer
Hower. 2. Jesse Roliskiewicz. 3.
Cathy Levan
Over 21 years old- 1. Deidra
Sinon 2. Kenianne Ranck. 3. Gwen
Wagner.
Stainless Steel #
|r Flower Bed edging^
7*o 7" x 10 ft. Sections
f $3.50/section
( Can be Shipped UPS )
Glenwood Metals, LLC
265 €. Meadow Valley fid
~ Lititz.Pfl 17543
717-626-9674
Wm 800-804-0402
ALU BREED COMPETITION
SUPREME CHAMPION FEMALE
Heather Hoffman
SUPREME CHAMPION BULL
Durham Valley Farm
SUPREME CHAMPION COW/CALF
Shelby Lynn Rarick
SHOWMANSHIP
t-^x]
3 i
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*mrn '
3
3 •:
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Back To School,
Dads And Sports
When I asked one of the men
in my office what he thought of
when I mentioned “back to
school,” he immediately shouted
“football!” He had played foot
ball in high school and been an
avid fan when his sons had
played.
While many of you may not
have been high school jocks,
sports have played a part in de
fining who you are if you grew up
in the U.S.
Today, organized sports are
bigger than ever. Your children
will have the option of participat
ing in some sort of sport almost
from birth. For many families,
“back to school” means after
school practices and Saturdays
and sometimes Sundays at the
fields. If you have multiple chil
dren, it can require the skill of an
air traffic controller to schedule
transportation, observation time
and food issues revolving around
these games. It can be downright
exhausting! But it can also be
fun.
Dads play a pivotal role in de
veloping a healthy attitude to
ward sports. With the obesity epi
demic that has surfaced even
among America’s children, no
' one can deny that sports are an
excellent way to schedule physi
cal activity into a day. Of course,
no one has to play on two soccer
teams a week to be fit. Dads have
traditionally been the ones to en
courage children to practice
sports skills between games, toss
ing balls in the back yard, or
shooting hoops.
Little children love this inter
action with their fathers. If or
ganized sports are not your thing,
activities such as hiking or biking
can also be family activities.
Participation in sports has the
potential to be a negative experi
ence, depending on the atmos-
5
Notes To Dad
by
Fran Alloway
Family Living Educator
Delaware County
phere of the program and pres
sure felt by the child. My
coworker expressed the concern
that fathers can try to relive their
own experiences through their
children, putting pressure on the
child to excel. A child who is ex
posed to repeated failures and
who receives criticism without
useful feedback is unlikely to
thrive in a sport. As children
grow up, their relationship with
their dads will change the role of
the parent in sports.
During the preschool and ele
mentary years, helping children
develop basic skills such as run
ning, jumping, kicking, and
throwing is important. Sports
should be focused on “coopera
tive” games involving every team
member. The emphasis should be
on fun, not competition. I re
member the T-ball games where
every player got on base and the
score didn’t matter.
As children grow, dads should
continue to guide their children
toward greater skill achievement
through encouragement to prac
tice skills or being a positive rple
model, some participating in
sports themselves. Some dads
even take on coaching. Parental
involvement usually decreases in
adolescence as children move
onto school teams and a desire to
be with their Mends. Parents can
still be supportive by attending
sporting events and giving posi
tive encouragement.
According to Daniel Perkins,
professor of family/youth resilien
cy and policy at Penn State Uni
versity, the primary goals of
youth sports are to foster the de
velopment of general physical
competence and to promote
physical activity, fun, life skills,
sportsmanship, and good health.
Find some time in “back to
school” to keep active with your
kids. Dads, don’t let the “soccer
moms” have all the fim!