Family Tradition Spans 40 Years At All-American
HARRISBURG (Dauphin
Co.) The Shank family tradi
tion of showing purebred Ayr
shires began more than four
generations ago when William
Shank of Hagerstown, Md. began
showing in the mid 19505. Initial
ly, the farm was called Rocky
Spring Farm, and its showstring
of purebred Ayrshires traveled to
Harrisburg to the first All-Ameri
can Dairy Show in 1964.
The Shank Family would
quickly prove their animals were
strong competitors by winning
the junior yearling class at the
1965 show with a homebred ani
mal, Rocky Spring Royal Jonqui
la. From this early show onward,
the Ayrshires of the Shank Fami
ly would be very prominent at
All-American dairy shows.
Continuing in his father’s foot
steps by showing and breeding
remarkable Ayrshires, William’s
son, Ralph Shank, and his bride,
Patricia, purchased an additional
farm in Hagerstown and changed
the Shank farm name to Palmyra
Farm. The change of the farm
name was due to the tradition
that, during and shortly after the
Civil War, farms in this area
were titled by the owners on the
deed of the property.
This piece of property pur
chased by Ralph and Patricia
was known as Palmyra. With this
new farm name for the herd,
three additional generations of
the Shank family would exhibit
Ayrshires. Ralph and Patricia en
A very familiar farm sign invites everyone to visit with
Palmyra Ayrshires of Hagerstown, Md. at the All-American
Dairy Show.
couraged their two children,
Ralph Shank Jr. and Mary
Shank Creek, to become active
breeders of purebred Ayrshires
and show them in FFA and the
Maryland 4-H program.
The Palmyra showstring has
not missed a single All-American
Dairy Show since its inception in
1964, nor has it missed a trip to
the Maryland State Fair since the
early 19405. During their 4-H and
FFA years, Mary and Ralph Jr.
showed their project animals at
the All-American Dairy Show
and were also members of the
dairy cattle judging teams repre
senting Maryland at judging
competitions.
Ralph was a member of the
Maryland 4-H judging team,
along with renowned dairy judge
Dennis Patrick, from the nearby
Ayrshire farm, Maple Dell. Mary
was a member of the 1980 Vir
ginia Tech judging team and won
the overall individual reasons
award in her senior year. Her
team also placed second in the
overall contest. Ralph Jr. and
Mary showed at the All-Ameri
can Dairy Show* as junior Ayr
shire members, and Mary has
judged state and national shows
at the All-American Dairy Show
since her graduation.
Mary Shank married Michael
Creek, and all four of their chil
dren have judged and shown
Ayrshires through 4-H, FFA, and
junior Ayrshire programs. Their
children, Michael, Mark, Evan,
Oak Ridge Bruis Bonnie
and Jordan, are familiar faces in
the show ring and are definitely a
strong part of the successful
Palmyra Ayrshire tradition.
In 1999, the Creeks’ twin sons,
Mike and Mark, represented
Maryland at the Invitational
Youth Dairy Judging Contest at
its All-American, and the team
placed first in the 4-H division.
Mike also received the overall
first-place individual award. Erin
and Ryan, children of Ralph Jr
and wife, Terri, have also partici
pated in the judging and showing
competitions held during All-
American show week.
For many reasons. Oak Ridge
Brvis Bonnie, EX 94 is one of the
families favorite Ayrshires.
Bonnie certainly knows her way
to the champion circle at the
Eastern National Ayrshire Show,
conducted during the All-Ameri
can Dairy Show. She has been
named grand champion three
times 1978, 1980, and 1982,
and was named reserve grand
champion in 1976. Bonnie has
turned out to be quite a brood
cow with many daughters and
granddaughters selected as bull
mothers. She has three daughters
on the “One Elite Cow List” of
the National Ayrshire Associa
tion, and many offspring that
have been very successful in the
show ring. The most recent honor
belongs to her great granddaugh
ter, Palmyra Reno Bethany-ET,
shown by Jordan Creek, who was
selected as the first place junior
2-year-old cow.
In addition to Bonnie’s success
and numerous class placings, the
showstring of the Shank-Creek
families have been awarded the
following championships and
premier breeder and premier ex
hibitor banners: 1977 grand
champion with Palymra Dolmen
Tammy EX-91, 1979 and 1980
reserve grand champion with
Tammy, 1993 grand champion
with Covey Farms CVH Rosetta,
premier breeder in 1977, 1982,
and 1983, and premier Exhibitor
in 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980,
1982,1983, and 1990.
One of the most memorable
trips to the All-American Dairy
Show was in 1980 when Palmyra
Farms won grand champion with
Oak Ridge Brvis Bonnie and re
serve grand champion with
Palmyra Dolmen Tammy. When
asked how that felt, Mary Shank
Creek smiled and responded,
“Well, it was a good day.”
Ralph Jr. And Mary both
agree that they enjoy the quality
of the Ayrshire show at the All-
American Dairy Show and felt
that the competition has been
strong since its inception. Mary
remarked, “The premiums have
always been generous to the ex
hibitors but recently have been
quite helpful when keeping a full
showstring on the road.” She also
believes the facilities are exhibitor
friendly and they appreciate a
Penn State Beef Sale Set
UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre
Co.) Renewing a time-honored
tradition, Penn State’s College of
Agricultural Sciences this fall will
hold a beef cattle sale.
The first sale at Penn State
since 1990, the event will be an
educational experience for stu
dents, a fund-raiser and an op
portunity to share Penn State ge
netics with other beef producers.
Angus breeders from across
the East are expected to attend
the “Penn State Proud! Beef Cat
tle Sale,” which is open to the
public. Starting at noon on Nov.
7 at the Beef-Sheep Center off
Orchard Road, approximately 50
cows will be sold, according to
beef unit manager Don Nichols.
The family of Palmyra Aryshires. From left, the Creek
family, Mark, Mike, Mary, Evan, and in front, Jordan,
(great granddaughter from Oak Ridge Brvis Bonnis) Palm
yra Reno Bethany-ET, and the Shank Family Ryan,
Terri, and in front, Erin.
Rocky Springs Royal Jonquila, the original first-place
junior yearling winner for Palmyra Ayrshires at the All-
American Dairy Show in 1965.
quality national show so close to
their farm.
When asked if any other trips
to Harrisburg that stand out,
Mary sighed and said that the
flood, which occurred in 1975,
will never be forgotten. She said
trailers just pulled up one after
another and loaded many farms’
animals and took off as soon as
possible.
Then another trailer would
come and get the next load. It
was common for many exhibitors
to have their showstring on nu
merous trailers. She was just re
lieved to have all their animals
transported safely and get home.
She will never forget the over
whelming hospitability offered
and arrangements the All-Ameri
can Dairy Show personnel gave
to the exhibitors during the dan
gerous moments of the high
flooding. The concern for the
safety of all exhibitors and their
cattle was well appreciated by ev
eryone involved. She and her
brother, Ralph, laugh about the
conditions now, but they said
they were unsure of where the
Many of the cows will have
calves at their side and heifers
will have been bred to top A.l.
sires. Very few bulls will be sold.
Although the sale is expected
to generate more than $lOO,OOO,
Nichols believes the biggest bene
fit is to students.
“We are developing students
who will be qualified to merchan
dise cattle,” he says. “They will
learn marketing techniques and
the subtle things we do to prepare
animals for sale. This will teach
them something that they can
take home. They’ll meet people
in the business and hopefully
make merchandising contacts
that might help them later.”
flooding was worse, in Harris
burg or at home in Hagerstown,
where the nearby Antietnam
Creek flooded their farm and the
cattle trailer almost did not make
it to the barns.
Four generations, with more
than a dozen members, of the
Shank-Creek Family have been
more than just participants at the
All-American Dairy Show. It is
exhibitors like this family that
make the All-American Dairy
Show the best national show for
youth, adults, and quality cattle.
It is a top quality dairy show
where exhibitors from all over the
U.S. and Canada bring their cat
tle to complete with other elite
dairy animals.
The Palmyra Ayrshire Family
will be one of the six farm fami
lies to be honored at the 40th An
niversary celebration of the All-
American Dairy Show Sept.
21-25 at the Pennsylvania Farm
Show Complex in Harrisburg.
For more information, contact
the All-American Dairy Show of
fice (717) 787-2905 or e-mail aad
s@pa.state.us.
For Nov. 7
Nichols hopes this year’s sale
will be the first of many, held at
regular intervals at Penn State.
“Sales help us to control our
cattle inventory, and they allow
us to offer our genetics to other
Angus breeders throughout the
country,” he says.
“With the number of cattle we
have and the long-range plan, we
should get back to having sales
every two or three years. It is
something that we have to build
on. Sales attract students and
help the breeders.”
For more information about
the beef sale, call (814) 863-0831
or visit http://das.psu.edu/
beefsale/ on the Web.