Celebrating 4H at the Troy Fair

TROY - Head, Heart, Hands, Health - was being celebrated Friday at the 135th Troy Fair.

It was 4H day, a chance to celebrate 4H and have fun after most of the shows and competitions were completed earlier in the week, Bradford County 4H Educator Tia Steinfelt said.

4H teens organized the event, she said, which included events throughout the day Friday, including a fair-wide scavenger hunt, a hay bale throwing contest, three-legged race, pie-eating contest and even bowling -- with manure (using shovels, of course).

4H members Bruce Hildebrandt and Amanda Hunt, members of the 4H County Council, were busy organizing the day and running the events. 4H has been very rewarding to them, they said. Hildebrandt said he's been in 4H for nine years, and it's helped him develop people skills and to meet lots of new people. Hunt said 4H teaches responsibility, and being involved with county council teaches how to get involved in the community and how its important to help others.

Attendance at the fair over the first four days is up compared to the same period last year, Troy Fair Treasurer Gary Horning said. Over the first four days in 2010, 30,559 people visited the fair, compared to 27,059 in last year's first four days. Thursday attendance was down from last year, to 7,491 compared to 8,654 in 2009, while Wednesday's attendance of 8,275 was up from 2009's 5106.

Horning said fair officials were very pleased with the turnout so far this year. The weather has played an important part in the increased attendance, he said, but fair officials believe the "Pay One Price" ticket is the "real player here." Horning said the new-for-this-year tickets, which include admission, all the on-grounds entertainment, and rides, are a "real bargain," especially for families with children. "We're very pleased with it (the new Pay-One-Price ticket) so far, and I think our patrons are too, Horning said.

While the exhibits at the fair included many modern agricultural equipment dealers displaying their shiny new tractors and other equipment, there were many pieces of agricultural history on display as well.

Charles Perry of Columbia Cross Roads and Norm Westervelt of Nichols, N.Y., exhibitors at the Troy Fair Antique Tractor Show who help with the show, said there are around 60 antique tractors on display from as far away as New Jersey and New York State.

"It's strange," Westervelt said, "that through the years you see so many makes (of tractors) and very few of those companies are still producing tractors." Though many different companies previously produced farm equipment, many of those companies merged with others, or went out of business entirely.

Russell Bailey of Luthers Mills brought the 1959 Farmall 450 Diesel that he and his wife own for display. The tractor is unusual in that it starts using gasoline, and switches to diesel fuel after the engine warms up, he said.

Another unusual tractor on display was a Worthington G-6 golf course tractor owned by Cathy Barnes. Her father, Emery Barnes of Mansfield, explained that the tractor was used to pull gang mowers on golf courses, and may have originally been used at the Corey Creek Golf Course. Information on the tractor is scarce, he said, and they are unsure of what year it was built, although he's been told it's likely from before 1951, based on the engine configuration.

Westervelt had his 1934 Plymouth tractor on display, which he said was one of only 200 ever built. The tractor was produced under the Plymouth brand for only part of one year, 1934, in Plymouth, Ohio, before a conflict with Chrysler's Plymouth brand of automobiles ended with the tractors being renamed "Silver King," which was kept until the company stopped production, he said. Only around 60 1934 Plymouth tractors remain in drivable condition or in fair enough condition that they could be made operable again, Westervelt said.

The Bradford County 4H/ FFA Breeding Goat Roundup was held on Friday as well, and here are some results from that competition by goat breed: Alpine: Grand Champion: Cricket Slocum, Reserve Champion: Ashley McNeal; LaManche: Grand Champion: Ashley McNeal, Reserve Champion: Ashley McNeal; Nubian: Grand Champion: Janice Jackson, Reserve Champion: Amanda Harris; Saanen: Grand Champion: Emily Rathbun, Reserve Champion: Sabrina King; Mixed breed: Grand Champion: Lauryn Watkins, Reserve Champion: Lauryn Watkins; Boer: Grand Champion: Montana Hildebrandt, Reserve Champion: Amanda Harris; Pygmy: Grand Champion: Kari Ammerman, Reserve Champion: Hannah Kelley. The Master Showman award went to Janice Jackson and Master Fitter was Lauryn Watkins.

The 135th Troy Fair continues today.

Brian Bishop can be reached at (570) 888-9652; or e-mail: bbishop@thedailyreview.com.

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