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‘Come for the experience’

Farm Show exhibitors find lessons in the work

Alicia Lane of Valcrest Vue Farm in Williamsburg brushes her 5-week-old Angus calf Marilyn at the 103rd Pennsylvania Farm Show in Harrisburg on Saturday. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

HARRISBURG — Exhibitors at the 103rd Pennsylvania Farm Show range from “rookies” to seasoned veterans.

Alicia Lane, 19, Williamsburg, a 2017 graduate of Williamsburg Community High School, said she has attended the show ever since she was in a stroller, but is exhibiting for the first time this year.

Lane, of Valcrest Vue Farm, is showing an Angus calf in the late summer class and an Angus cow in the 4-year-old division.

“There is a lot of competition and I like to meet new people. It gives me a better opportunity to get my name out there and to sell my animals,” Lane said.

Mason Guyer, 20, of 4G Registered Herefords of New Enterprise and a 2016 graduate of Northern Bedford County High School, is exhibiting for the final time.

He is showing Herefords — two heifers and a bull.

“I’ve been coming here ever since I was 8 years old. I enjoy it and it teaches a lot of life lessons. You can see your reward at the end of the day. You see some friends and meet a lot of people,” Guyer said.

Bryar Rankin and Kiersten Baker are both farm show veterans.

“I have been here four different years. I like the experience and getting to meet different people. I make new friends. It gets me to do other things I am not used to doing, talking to other people from outside the area,” said Rankin, 18, of Blairs Mills, a senior at Southern Huntingdon County High School, who is showing a shorthorn heifer and maintainer heifer.

“I’ve been coming here since I was 8 years old. I come for the experience. It is my hobby and I enjoy it. This helps me gain responsibility and leadership. It helps me with what I want to do in the future. I want to go to Penn State and do something in the ag department,” said Baker, 15, of James Creek, a freshman at Tussey Mountain High School, who is showing a market steer and breeding heifers.

The nation’s largest indoor agricultural exposition, which continues through Saturday, honors agriculture’s rich heritage and promising future with this year’s theme, Inspiring Pennsylvania’s Story.

The theme, which will be represented throughout the weeklong event, includes related events like a daily story time for children, interviews with Pennsyl­vanians working in agriculture and opportunities for attendees to engage and tell their own stories.

“Each year, the Pennsyl­vania Farm Show uses a theme to communicate our vision for the future of agriculture, and this year’s theme speaks to the importance of using our voices to champion our industry, to be the storytellers expressing our mission and our purpose,” said Pennsylvania Farm Show Executive Director Sharon Altland in a statement. “I encourage Pennsylvanians from across the commonwealth to come to Harrisburg this January, tell their stories and celebrate our shared sense of community at the 103rd annual Farm Show.

The show features 12,000 competitive exhibits, more than 5,200 of which are animal competitions, plus 300 commercial exhibitors.

The Pennsylvania Farm Show began as a three-day exhibition in 1917 to provide farmers an opportunity to discuss issues, opportunities and challenges. It is estimated that about 5,000 people attended the first show in a three-story building in downtown Harrisburg. Today, the show lasts eight days and attracts more than a half-million visitors to the Farm Show Complex, which offers 24 acres of exhibition space under one roof.

The show will be held from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. through Friday and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. Admission is free, and parking is $15 in farm show lots.

Mirror Staff Writer Walt Frank is at 946-7467.

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