Published: August 20, 2008 10:32 pm      

Busy dairy bar keeps 4-Hers on their toes

MEYERSDALE — The 4-H members at the Somerset County Fair are seeing dairy products from their beginnings in a bucket to what may be their most important end – ice cream.

Christy Lambert of Berlin spent Wednesday morning showing her Holstein, Hope.

“It’s stressful, but it’s fun,” she said. “You have to get them clipped and ready.”

After she showed her dairy cow, she headed to the 4-H Dairy Bar along with five or six other 4-H Milksquirts, who were taking their turns at manning the ice cream and milkshake stop outside the barn showcasing the 4-H program. The shop brings some revenue to the county’s clubs.

Amid shouts for sundaes and milkshakes, 16-year-old Lambert said she has worked her way up to working behind the register, a privilege for those youths who take on the responsibility year after year.

Not far away, the dairy cows were resting on beds of hay from a morning of shows. Sheep yawned, goats scratched themselves against chain-link fences, and paired pigs cuddled in their pens.

It’s Lambert’s seventh year with the group, which exposes youngsters to life on the farm.

“It’s one of the most exciting things,” said Lambert, as another girl scooped vanilla ice cream and handed it to 12-year-old Elizabeth Martz, who was working up front.

Martz spend Wednesday afternoon running back and forth among the customers, the register and the ice cream scoopers. It was her second year on the job.

“It’s challenging, and busy. This is nothing compared to how it gets at night,” she said, running back to a waiting, hungry family.

The fair continues through Saturday. A schedule is available at www.somersetcountyfairpa.com.



What’s on at the fair

Thursday

9 a.m.: Breeding sheep judging

10 a.m.: Youth Horse Show

2 p.m to 5 p.m.: Supreme Showman Competition

3 p.m.: Farm tractor pull

8 p.m.: Supreme Showman Finals

Friday

1 p.m.: Pet parade

3 p.m. Family Games

6:30 p.m.: 4x4 truck pull

8 p.m.: Woodcarving auction

Saturday

9 a.m.: Horeshoe pitching contest

10 a.m.: Jr. livestock sale

6 p.m.: Jack Fullerton Destruction Derby