Lancaster Extension Gathers For Fun, Fellowship retired: Glenn Shirk, dairy agent, and Susan Smallhoffer, office e LA. staff, each with more than 40 S Lan years of service. John Yocum, honoreo Landisville Research Center, re last week tired in September after more al meeting. than 40 years of service to Penn Chet Hu t State Extension. I tension livestt Ressler noted that the county ored for 20 yt generates more than $960 million . Michelle Rodgei in farm receipts. One in five jobs vi K tor of cooperav in the county are ag-related. Leon Ressler, extei Ressler pointed to the book was honored for mark included with handouts to Jfe-PS work with cooperativi those who attended the meeting. Staff receiving hono. The bookmark includes a survey or more years of serv, for those who rely on extension, Nancy Wiker, Lori Lift. addressing different program XH Katina Showman. areas. The staff was honored a, In the annual report, there was i annual extension meeting, wh a listing of 2002 accomplish featured food provided by ft ments. The extension office pro county’s many commodity or vided 16,693 different types of in mizations. Represented were dividual assistance, with 7,213 Lancaster County dairy pro- types of assistance by volunteers, s, poultry industry, fruit Extension listed 285 newspaper % pork producers, and articles written, 13 radio broad anizations. casts, 10 TV programs, 267 writ ten, regional wine ten newsletters, and 81,315 edu aecialist/extension cational publications distributed, d information on There were 1,068 meetings con aroducers in the ducted by staff with an attend- Pennsylvania ance of 19,976. The number of wines and Master Gardeners is 62 with a adent vine- posting of 3,365 Master Gardener volunteer hours, exten- Glenn Shirk provided some ' out- comments about the passing of city Jay Irwin, longtime extension n, agent through the 1980 s. Irwin died unexpectedly on July 30 last year. Lancaster County poultry producer representatives crack a few eggs at the omelet table last week. From left, Andy Bradford, Greg Martin, and Brent Landis. Judi Chien, right, assists at the Penn State Cooperative Extension table last week. Master Gardener Coordi- Lancaster Dairy Princess nator Shirley Wagner, left, Kari Martin, left, assists receives a Dedicated Serv- Dale Smith at the county Ice Award from Scott Mar- dairy table during the ex tin, Lancaster County tension meeting last week. Youth Intervention Center. Mike Kauffman with Chet Hughes, left, and Joanna Kauffman represent Leon Ressler were honored the Lancaster County fruit for many years of service to growers at the extension county extension. All photos by Andy Andrews, editor ANDY ANDREWS Editor LANCASTER (Lancaster Co.) Lancaster County agents were honored for outstanding service last week at the extension annu al meeting. Chet Hughes, Lancaster ex tension livestock agent, was hon ored for 20 years of service by Michelle Rodgers, regional direc tor of cooperative extension. Leon Ressler, extension director, was honored for 15 years of work with cooperative extension. Staff receiving honors for five or more years of service were Nancy Wiker, Lori Little, and Katina Showman. The staff was honored at the annual extension meeting, which featured food provided by the county’s many commodity or ganizations. Represented were the Lancaster County dairy pro ducers, poultry industry, fruit growers, pork producers, and other organizations. Mark Chien, regional wine growing specialist/extension agent, provided information on the wine grape producers in the county and region. Pennsylvania is home to 74 branded wines and more than 100 independent vine yards. Greg Martin, poultry exten sion agent, spoke about the out reach program to inner-city schools in the “pizza” program, which examined how a food such as pizza is produced from the farm to the table. For some students, it was the “first time they’d ever seen a greenhouse or handled plants,” said Martin. “For some, it was the first time they had been near a cow.” Tim Elkner, horticulture agent, spoke about the Master Gardener Program. He also noted that the statewide sweet com integrated pest manage ment (IPM) program provides $l3 million in economic and en vironmental benefits to the state. Elkner also reviewed the pump kin and seedless watermelon va riety programs that have proven successful and helpful for many county growers. Mary Beth Grove, extension agent dairy/environment, noted that “Lancaster County has more dairy cows per square mile than anywhere else in the coun try.” There are 1,840 dairy farms in the county. Grove reviewed the many ways in which Penn State provides tools for the dairy producers. There are 50 organic dairy farms in the county, and many workshops provide ways to help the dairy industry re main profitable. That includes Dairy Day - the county dairy day program hosted 200-300 producers. Chet Hughes, county livestock agent, spoke about the success of the Pork Quality Assurance (PQA) Program. He noted also the work of the Beef Quality As surance (BQA) efforts and the Trucker Quality Assurance (TQA) programs well under way in the county. One TQA pro gram included five workshops and involved more than 200 drivers. Nancy Wiker, family living agent, reviewed various food and nutrition programs, in addition to food safety certification and others. Included was an over view of the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program by Stacey Hutchison. Katina Showman, 4-H pro gram coordinator, spoke about the benefits of the 4-H program to county youth. She noted that the 4-H Benefit Auction is scheduled for the Farm and Home Center on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 9:30 a.m. Leon Ressler, extension direc tor, noted the work of two long time staff members who recently Said Shirk, “Jay has enriched our lives with so many precious memories. His life was a living testimony of what he taught and believed.” Irwin, who grew up on a dairy farm in Blair County, was gradu ated from Penn State in 1949 with a bachelor’s degree in agri cultural economics. After serving with the navy in the South Pacif ic aboard a submarine during World War 11, Irwin managed Farm Bureau cooperatives in western Pennsylvania for 15 years. In 1967, Irwin and his family moved to Lancaster County, and Dairy treats are served at the Lancaster Extension an nual meeting. From left, Becky Ashley, Liz Ackerman, and Mary Beth Grove. Representing the Lancaster County pork producers are, from left, Doris Wenger, Ann Swartzbaugh, and Gene Wenger. Lloyd Hess, Hess Barbe cue, finds the weather downright tropical at the annual meeting of Lancas ter County Extension. Irwin began his extension career as an agent. He worked closely with the poultry industry. Through the years, Irwin intro duced various youth and adult programs and participated in Penn State international pro grams in Poland, Zimbabwe, and Swaziland. Irwin wrote the “Now Is The Time” column for Lancaster Farming as extension director beginning in 1981. He retired from extension in 1991. Irwin was renowned for his work with the poultry industry during the avian influenza crisis of the mid 1980 s. He was hon ored as Pennsylvania’s Broiler Industry Man of the Year and received the coveted George C. Dclp Award from the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce and In dustry. Irwin also was recog nized with the Lancaster County Farm Bureau Award, the Ameri can Dairy Association’s Ag Com municator Award, and the Penn State Master Educator Award for outstanding business and leadership training. Shirk said, “Jay, you have en riched our lives in so many ways, and we shall continue to remem ber you by the wonderful legacy you have left with us. Thank you so much!”
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers