812-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 8, 2003
Nonfarm Teen Pursues Ag Interests By Choice
LOU ANN GOOD
Food And Family
Features Editor
ANNVILLE (Lebanon Co.)
Lebanon County Dairy Princess
Laura Blauch doesn’t live on the
farm, but that doesn’t keep her
from being a farm girl. She raises
a calf in her back yard and keeps
five heifers at her cousin’s farm.
“I grew up watching my cous
ins work with cows on the farm
and at shows,” Laura said of her
fascination with bovine animals.
When she was 10 years old,
Laura convinced her parents to
let her raise a 4-H calf. That calf
is grown now, but each year
Laura gets another 4-H calf that
she raises in a hutch in the fami
Lebanon County Dairy Princess Laura Blauch keeps a
record of promotional duties. She also won the outstand
ing speech award at the state pageant competition.
Although she is an accomplished pianist and musician,
Laura chooses to pursue history studies at college.
ly’s backyard in rural Annville.
Laura has five heifers that she
raises at her cousin’s farm.
“I have mostly Brown Swiss,
which I love. They are so unique
and interesting.”
Laura also helps with unload
ing hay and straw on the farm
and with occasional feeding and
milking.
“I especially enjoy feeding the
cows. My cousins have about 60
head, mostly Holsteins,” Laura
said.
“It’s nice to be able to work on
the farm without being tied down
to it everyday,” she said.
Laura’s first introduction to
dairy promotion happened when
she was in eighth grade. She
knew the county dairy princess
who asked her to assume the
dairy maid role. As a dairy maid,
Laura helped with promotions by
handing out recipes, cheese, and
milk punch samples.
“I enjoyed that experience, so
when they ask me to run for
dairy princess, I did,” she said.
As a 17-year-old senior, Laura
contemplated how she could
come up with the required speech
to convince people to consume
more dairy products. In a conver
sation with her mom, they dis
cussed the fact that many people
have misconceptions about the
dairy industry. That subject be
came the basis for Laura’s
speech. She selected eight com
mon misconceptions and pres
ented the truth.
“It was sort of a last-minute
panic,” Laura said of polishing
the speech to give before a pag
eant audience and judges.
The speech was well accepted.
When she presented the speech
at the county level, it helped ca
pitulated her into the position of
county princess, which enabled
her to advance to state competi
tion. Last September at the state
pageant, Laura’s speech was one
of two selected from all compet
ing county princesses as the most
outstanding.
Some of Laura’s family mem
bers also have ties to the dairy in
dustry. Her dad, Eric, is a feed
salesman, and her brother Chris,
IS, raises Jersey calves and is a
member of the Lebanon County
dairy bowl team. Her mom Con
nie enjoys buying and decorating
with farm-related antiques.
Laura was a former member of
the 4-H dairy bowl team, but is
busy with dairy promotion. Most
of the promotions are at the
county level, but her favorite was
helping at Lancaster County’s ice
cream fest last July. She escorted
the Turkey Hill mascot, handed
out cheese sticks to the crowd,
and answered curious questions
from the nonfarming public.
She said, “Again and again I
am asked three questions; ‘How
old do cows get? Does it hurt
cows when cows are milked, and
how much does a cow weigh?”’
According to Laura, the oldest
cow reached the age of 25 years,
but most are much younger. It
doesn’t hurt the cow when she is
milked, and the average cow
weighs 1,400 pounds.
Another favorite promotion
was a barn party at Terry
Shuey’s Lebanon County farm.
Students from several local
schools and a school from New
Jersey attended the event. Laura
answered questions about cows
and help chum homemade ice
cream a big hit with the visitors.
Laura also enjoyed visiting the
commissioners at the county
courthouse, where she handed
out cheeseball samples and milk
punch to all courthouse visitors.
This is the sixth calf Lebanon County Dairy Princess
Laura Biauch has raised in her backyard as a 4-H project.
A senior at Annville-Cleona
High School, Laura studies phys
ics, calculus, English, writing lab,
and speech.
“I’m much more into academ
ics than athletics,” she said.
Her high school peers view her
status of dairy princess positively.
They were excited that she re
ceived the state speech award
and like to see her at promotions.
“I also participate in every
music group the school has,” she
said. An accomplished pianist,
Laura continues lessons she
began in second grade.
Although she has the ability to
pursue a music career, Laura said
that she plans to study history at
either Ursinus or Gettysburg Col
lege. After graduation, her goal is
to enter the Peace Corps and
teach in Mongolia, which is north
of China, for two years.
She considers her experience
as dairy princess as contributing
toward that goal. “The dairy
princess position has built confi
dence in me as a public speaker,
and will help me with teaching.
Also, I’ve worked with different
age groups, which will help me in
teaching, and I learned to be
knowledgeable in the dairy in
dustry,” Laura said.
The threat to world peace and
of moving to a remote area near
northern China doesn’t particu
larly concern Laura. She said, “1
have a lot of faith in God. I can
sit here and worry it doesn’t
change the situation.”
She considers she might as well
offer her services in a construc
tive matter, and is impressed
with Peace Corps’ contribution to
world peace.
Laura helps teach a preschool
Sunday school class at her
church.
She describes herself as hard
working and said that she tends
to take on more than she can
handle sometimes.
“But I think once you commit
yourself to an activity, you
should finish what you start and
not quit,” she said.
Here is Laura’s favorite dairy
recipe, which her Uncle Bill de
vised. It is very rich, so the
Blauchs only serve it for holiday
dinners or special occasions.
UNCLE BILL’S
MUSHROOMS WITH
SOUR CREAM
2 cups chopped onions
Vi pound butter, divided
2 pounds fresh mushrooms,
washed, quartered
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon salt
A teaspoon pepper
1 cup heavy cream
8 ounces sour cream
Vi cup shredded cheddar
cheese
Saute onions in 'A cup butter in
large skillet until soft. Add mush
rooms and saute 5 minutes long
er. Sprinkle flour, salt and pep
per over mushrooms and stir
until well blended. Add heavy
cream and sour cream. Cook on
low until mixture bubbles. Pour
into 8-cup shallow casserole dish,
sprinkle with cheddar cheese.
Drizzle with 'A cup melted butter.
Bake at 350 degrees for 20 min
utes or until cheese melts and
sauce is set. Serves 6-8.