Riding High: Pennsylvania`s rodeo tradition Riding High

SEPTEMBER 2014
Riding High:
Pennsylvania’s rodeo tradition
PLUS
Maintain heating efficiency
Quest for batteries
Septemberfest
SEPTEMBER
Vol. 49 • No. 9
Peter A. Fitzgerald
EDITOR
Katherine Hackleman
S E N I OR E D I T O R / W R I T E R
James Dulley
Janette Hess
Barbara Martin
Marcus Schneck
4
KEEPING CURRENT
News items from across the Commonwealth
C ON T R I B U T I N G C O L U M N I S TS
W. Douglas Shirk
L AYOU T & DESI GN
6
E N E R G Y M AT T E R S
Saving energy on entertainment
Vonnie Kloss
A D V E R T I S I N G & CI R C U L A T I O N
Michelle M. Smith
M E D I A & M A R K E T I N G S P E CI A L I S T
Penn Lines (USPS 929-700), the newsmagazine
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8
F E AT U R E
Riding High: Pennsylvania’s
rodeo tradition
14
14A C O O P E R AT I V E
CO N N ECT I O N
Information and advice from your local
electric cooperative
16
T I M E PA S S A G E S
Memories from our members
18
SMART CIRCUITS
Maintain your home’s heating
system efficiency
20
O U T D O O R A DV E N T U R ES
Quest for batteries
22
CLASSIFIEDS
24
COUNTRY KITCHEN
24
Septemberfest
POWER PLANTS
Don’t put those tools away yet
26
27
PUNCH LINES
Thoughts from Earl Pitts–
Uhmerikun!
Board officers and staff, Pennsylvania Rural
Electric Association: Chairman, Leroy Walls;
Vice Chairman, Tim Burkett; Secretary, Lanny
Rodgers; Treasurer, Rick Shope; President
& CEO, Frank M. Betley
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TIME LINES
Your newsmagazine through the years
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© 2014 Pennsylvania Rural Electric Association.
All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in
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8
‘What’s the weather going to be tomorrow?’
27
RURAL REFLECTIONS
Summer soon to be a memory
O N T H E COV E R
David and Tandi Landolfi,
members of Adams Electric
Cooperative, and their daughters,
Kelsey and Kamie, are shown
with two of the family’s rodeo
horses. The Landolfis compete
in rodeo events across the state
and surrounding areas.
Photo by Michelle M. Smith
SEPTEMBER 2014 • PENN
LINES
3
KEEPINGcurrent
2012 ag census provides
snapshot of farm life
The Center for Rural Pennsylvania
has crunched the numbers in the 2012
Census of Agriculture, which was
recently released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistical Service. The census is
conducted every five years. Some of the
center’s findings include:
k In 2012, there were 59,309 farms in
Pennsylvania, a decrease of 6 percent
from 2007. Nationwide, there were
more than 2.1 million farms, a
decrease of 4 percent from 2007.
k Nearly 12,000 of the Pennsylvania
farms recorded annual sales in excess
of $100,000 in 2012, while over 15,000
recorded annual sales of less than
$1,000. The average net cash income
per farm in Pennsylvania in 2012 was
$29,593.
k Potter, Philadelphia and Wayne counties showed the highest increases in
the number of farms during the fiveyear period as each had an increase of
more than 16 percent. Elk, Forest and
Greene counties each had a decrease
of 28 percent or more, making them
the counties with the largest
decreases.
k In 2012, Pennsylvania farms sold
more than $7.4 billion in agricultural
products with 52 percent of the sales
occurring in these seven south-central
counties: Adams, Berks, Chester,
Franklin, Lancaster, Lebanon and
York. Pennsylvania ranked 22nd out
of the 50 states in agricultural sales.
k The highest average market value of
land and buildings (per farm) was in
Chester, Lehigh and Franklin counties
with an average farm market value of
more than $1.2 million. The lowest
average market value was in Elk,
McKean and Warren counties with an
average farm market value of less
than $325,000.
k In 2012, Pennsylvania had 581 organic
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PENN
U.S. Counties with More Cows than People, 2012
Fulton
County, PA
Pop = 14,748
Cows = 18,344
Counties with more cows than people
Data source: Table 11, Inventory/Cattle and Calves, 2012 from the 2012 U.S. Census of Agriculture, USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service; and
Population Estimates, U.S. Census Bureau.
The only Pennsylvania county with more cows than people is Fulton County,
according to the 2012 Census of Agriculture.
FULTON COUNTY RECOGNIZED:
farms (1 percent of all farms in the
state), ranking it fifth in the United
States in total number of organic
farms.
k Pennsylvania farmers were 56.1 years
old, on average, in 2012, more than
two years younger than the national
average age of 58.3.
k Fulton County was the only Pennsylvania county that had more cattle
than people, while nationally, 1,113
counties (35 percent of the nation’s
counties) had more cows than people.
More information about the 2012
Pennsylvania Census of Agriculture is
available at www.nass.usda.gov/pa/.
tors over 2012. The nearby Eisenhower
National Historic Site reported 59,180
visits.
Gettysburg National Military Park
preserves and protects the resources
associated with the Battle of Gettysburg
and the Soldiers’ National Cemetery, and
Gettysburg anniversary brought
people, dollars to town
More than 1.2 million people visited
Gettysburg National Military Park in
2013 (the 150th anniversary of the Battle
of Gettysburg) and spent $73.2 million in
communities near the park, according to
a recent report released by the National
Park Service (NPS). That represented a
7 percent increase in the number of visi-
LINES • SEPTEMBER 2014
TOURISM UP: Visits to Gettysburg National
Military Park were up 7 percent in 2013, the
150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg.
provides an understanding of the events
that occurred there within the context of
American history. More information is
available at www.nps.gov/gett.
Eisenhower National Historic Site
preserves and protects the resources
associated with the presidential home
and farm in order to promote understanding and appreciation of the life,
work and times of Dwight David Eisenhower. For more information, go to
www.nps.gov/eise.
Thousand Cankers Disease
spreading in walnut trees
Four counties have been added to the
wood and wood products quarantine in
Pennsylvania due to the detection of
Thousand Cankers Disease in walnut
trees in Chester County. Chester,
Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties join Bucks County in the
quarantine. The quarantine is an effort
to keep the disease from spreading further into the state. There is no known
cure.
Other states known to have the disease (which also are covered under the
quarantine) are: Arizona, California,
Colorado, Idaho, Indiana, Maryland,
Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina,
Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia
and Washington.
Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture George Greig notes that the disease
poses a significant threat to Pennsylvania’s nation-leading hardwoods industry
as walnut trees produce highly valued
lumber for woodworking and furniture
making. Walnut tree nuts are consumed
by both humans and wildlife.
The disease is caused when walnut
twig beetles tunnel beneath the bark of
walnut trees, causing small cankers to
form. The beetles, which are dark brown
and about the size of a poppy seed, are
difficult to detect. As more beetles attack
the tree, the number of cankers
increases. This eventually starves the
tree of nutrients, causing it to die.
Early symptoms are yellowing of
leaves and thinning of foliage on the
upper crown of the tree. As the disease
progresses, larger limbs die, followed by
the trunk.
The quarantine restricts the move-
ment of all walnut material, including
nursery stock, budwood, scionwood,
green lumber and firewood. It also covers other walnut material, living, dead,
cut or fallen, including stumps, roots,
branches, mulch, and composted or
uncomposted chips. Because of the difficulty in distinguishing between species
of hardwood firewood, all hardwood
firewood is quarantined. Nuts,
processed lumber and finished wood
products without bark are exempt from
the quarantine.
Anyone who suspects they have seen
Thousand Cankers Disease or walnut
twig beetles should contact their county
cooperative extension office or call the
Department of Agriculture hotline at
866-253-7189. More information is available at www.agriculture.state.pa.us
(search Thousand Cankers).
Pennsylvania dove season
expands this fall
Changes in the state’s early migratory
bird seasons will provide dove hunters
an additional three weeks in the field
this fall. The first segment of dove season opened Sept. 1 and will run through
Nov. 15. In past years, the first segment
Dove hunters can take advantage
of a longer season in 2014.
LONGER SEASON:
started and ended in September.
In addition to the longer first segment, two short-season segments will
be retained. They run from Nov. 22-29
and Dec. 27-Jan. 1.
Daily bag limit in each of the dovehunting segments is 15, with a possession limit of 45.
For more information about the migratory bird seasons, hours, and migratory
game bird licenses and duck stamps, visit
the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s
website at www.pgc.state.pa.us. Hunters
are encouraged to report leg-banded
migratory game bird recoveries online at
www.reportband.gov or call 800-327BAND.
Bay pollution reduced, but more
work still needed
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation and
the Choose Clean Water Coalition have
analyzed select milestones and found
that bay pollution is being reduced;
however, they report some jurisdictions
have not implemented practices that
would reduce bay pollution. The milestones — two-year commitments made
by states — are a key part of the Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint.
The report shows significant
progress in reducing pollution from
sewage treatment plants, with not as
much progress in reducing pollution
from agriculture, and urban and suburban runoff.
States that ultimately dump water
into the bay and the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency set pollution limits
designed to restore water quality in local
rivers, streams, and the bay. Each state
developed a plan to meet those limits,
which included two-year milestone commitments that would show progress
toward the final goal.
The report presented state-specific
findings. The Pennsylvania report
shows the state exceeded its interim
phosphorus goal, but fell short of reaching its interim overall nitrogen pollution
reduction goal. The state exceeded its
goals for barnyard runoff controls,
stormwater infiltration practices, wastewater treatment plants and conservation
plans. It did not meet the goals for forest
buffers, conservation tillage, nutrient
application management, and erosion
and sediment control.
Complete copies of all the state-specific milestone analyses can be found at
www.cbf.org/milestones. l
SEPTEMBER 2014 • PENN
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5
ENERGYmatters
Saving energy on
entertainment
By B r i a n S l o b o da ,
Cooperative Research Network
MANY HOMES boast TVs and sound
systems that can rival any football stadium and many movie theaters. People
can save hundreds of dollars a year by
watching movies at home rather than
going to the local theater. Luckily, there
are simple steps to saving even more
money if you manage the power consumption of your home entertainment
system.
Many of the devices in your home
entertainment system and your computer system use energy when they are
turned off. This is commonly called parasitic load or vampire load. According to
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory,
the average home loses 8 percent of its
monthly energy consumption to these
energy vampires.
Your devices use power when
turned off because the electronics
inside the devices are still working.
What these devices are doing and the
amount of energy used when turned off
varies. It could be that they are remembering the last channel that you
viewed, remembering the language you
speak or trying to turn on faster.
As the research and development arm
of the National Rural Electric
Cooperative Association, CRN pursues
innovative solutions that helQ1FOOTZM
WBOJBelectric cooperatives deliver
safe, reliable, and affordable power to
their consumer-members.
6
PENN
LINES • SEPTEMBER 2014
Devices such as TVs and DVD players
will often have power settings in the
setup menu. Try to find that menu and
adjust the settings to save more power.
Generally this will cause the device to
take a few more seconds to start. Many
manufacturers have power settings
turned off by default.
Microwave
ovens and alarm
clocks, which use
relatively small
amounts of
standby power, are
acceptable to leave
plugged in. A digital video recorder (DVR) uses a fairly
significant amount of power when
turned off, but if you record programs
frequently, you will want to leave it
plugged in, too.
You don’t have to worry about
unplugging items with mechanical
on/off switches, such as lamps, hair dryers or small kitchen appliances like
toasters or mixers ― they don’t draw
any power when turned off.
How do you slay other energy vampires? Try plugging household electronics like personal computers, monitors,
printers, speakers, stereos, DVD and
video game players, and cellphone
chargers into power strips. Not only do
power strips protect sensitive electronic
components from power surges, but you
can quickly turn off several items at
once.
Of course, using a power strip is a
manual process and is an all-or-nothing
option. A variation on the power strip is
the “smart strip.” Smart power strips
allow you to plug devices into a specially
marked section of the power strip so
they will still have power when turned
off. Other devices that can be turned off
safely are plugged into the rest of the
strip. This allows you to turn off parts of
a home entertainment system, such as
the stereo, DVD player, or home theater
audio system without losing the ability
to record programs to a DVR or having
to reprogram the television every time
you want to watch a show.
Of course, there’s always a catch.
Some devices use standby power to
make life more convenient. If you
unplug your television or cable/satellite
receiver box, what happens? When
plugged back in, the TV or box usually
will have to run its initial setup program. Depending on the particular
device, it could take up to 20 minutes for
channels to be recognized or for the user
to reset preferences, which isn’t something most people are willing to do
every day. For these devices, look for the
Energy Star label. If your cable or satellite box doesn’t have it, call your
provider and request a new one. Make
sure they give it to you for free. TV
providers want to keep your business,
and they most likely will not let you
change providers over something simple, such as a new cable or satellite box.
Entertaining doesn’t have to drain
your budget. The money saved by eliminating the energy vampires in your
home may be enough to go out and see a
movie. But it may still be not enough to
afford that extra-large popcorn! l
Brian Sloboda is a program manager
specializing in energy efficiency for the
Cooperative Research Network, a service of
the Arlington, Va.-based National Rural
Electric Cooperative Association. The
Cooperative Research Network monitors,
evaluates, and applies technologies that help
electric cooperatives control costs, increase
productivity, and enhance service to their
consumers.
PENNlines
By Michelle M. Smith
P e n n L i n e s Wr i t e r
SECONDS. Eight to be exact. That’s all it
takes to make or break a cowboy’s bull
ride at any given rodeo across the country.
The results of other rodeo events also
hinge on seconds, as timing is the difference between a good ride and a bad ride.
Kamie Landolfi, a 14-year-old cowgirl
from Dover, Pa., has been racing against
the clock in rodeo competitions since she
could handle a horse.
“I’ve been riding all my life and started
rodeoing when I was 3,” Landolfi says. “It
Kamie Landolfi competes in
barrel racing, a popular rodeo event where a horse
and rider run around three barrels set in a clover
leaf pattern in the shortest time possible without
knocking over any of the barrels.
AROUND THE BARREL:
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PENN
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is kind of bred into me since my mom
and dad also rodeo.”
The younger of two daughters of
David and Tandi Landolfi, members of
Gettysburg-based Adams Electric Cooperative, Landolfi competes in barrel racing, pole bending, breakaway roping, goat
tying, and team roping. She especially
likes team roping since she gets to rope
with her best friend.
“You make a lot of friends through
rodeo, and I love to be around the horses
and cattle,” Landolfi says.
Rodeo’s roots date back hundreds of
years to Spanish cowboys who were
skilled in horseback riding and herding
livestock. Today’s rodeo events arose out of
the working practices of those cowboys
and are designed to test the skill and speed
of the modern-day cowboy and cowgirl.
A farrier by trade, David has been riding horses since before he can remember,
taking after his cowboy father.
“The first half of my life I had a job
just so I was making money to buy more
horses, to pay for more entry fees, and to
put tires on my truck,” David says. “Now
(rodeo) is my entire life. You don’t know
what you would do if it wasn’t a part of
your life.”
JENNINGSRODEOPHOTOGRAPHY.COM
Riding High:
Pennsylvania’s
rodeo tradition
JENNINGSRODEOPHOTOGRAPHY.COM
David last competed professionally
more than a decade ago, but recently
reactivated his professional card status
with the Colorado-based Professional
Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). He
was the Pennsylvania-based American
Professional Rodeo Association (APRA)
tie-down roping champion in 1998-1999.
Despite his own success in the rodeo
arena, David says his greatest rodeo
accomplishment has been helping all
three of his “girls:” wife Tandi, 21-year-old
daughter Kelsey, and Kamie win allaround championships in their respective
divisions.
A family affair
Tandi met her husband at a Pennsylvania rodeo more than 20 years ago and
won the APRA all-around champion
cowgirl award the same year David won
his championship. She agrees that you
don’t really choose to compete in rodeo; it
is something you are born to do.
“You don’t all of a sudden decide to
rodeo,” Tandi says. “It’s something inside
you. You can’t create the desire and you
can’t turn it off.”
Even though they both work full-time
jobs, the Landolfis maintain a five-plusacre farmette where they house and care
for several horses, goats, and cattle. They
have a large arena on one end of the property, complete with proper footing and
cattle chutes so the family can practice
roping cattle and running barrels. To the
Landolfis, it’s a sport like no other sport.
“Rodeo is like soccer on steroids,” he
says. “Instead of soccer balls and cleats
that you have in a closet, you’ve got a
barn full of horses, and cattle in the pasture. There is no down time; it’s your life,
there is no day off. Even when it is a
rainy, cold, and miserable day, you still
need to get out to the barn and feed and
groom the horses. That’s one of their
teammates out in the barn.”
The rodeo circuit keeps the family on
the road many weekends as they travel to
20-plus rodeos a year. The Landolfis
recently returned from Des Moines, Iowa,
where Kamie cinched ninth place in
BREAKAWAY ROPING: Fourteen-year-old Kamie
Landolfi competes in breakaway roping — a rodeo
event where the rider attempts to lasso a calf
that has been released from a chute using a rope
tied to the saddle horn with a piece of string.
Once the calf is roped, the rope is drawn taught
and the string breaks, releasing the rope from the
saddle horn. The rider completing the event correctly with the fastest time wins.
breakaway roping among nearly 100 contestants from the United States, Canada
and Australia at the Colorado-based
National High School Rodeo Association’s
(NHSRA) 2014 National Junior High
Finals Rodeo.
A member of the Pennsylvania High
School Rodeo Association (PHSRA),
Kamie was the 2013-2014 All-Around Junior High Champion. The PHSRA, open to
students from sixth through 12th grades,
promotes western heritage in Pennsylvania, high academic standards and sportsmanship.
While there is risk involved whenever
you sit atop a 1,200-pound animal and ride
that animal at a high rate of speed, the LanSEPTEMBER 2014 • PENN
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9
PENNlines
dolfis take every precaution to ensure their
safety, as well as that of their horses. David
notes they are constantly checking their
equipment, keeping their horses in top
shape and paying attention to the details.
“I always tell my girls that team roping
is notorious for ripping fingers off,” David
says. “When you are dallying the rope
(wrapping it around the saddle horn), and
when in doubt, let go of the rope. You can
win a truck, a trailer, money, and buckles
another day, another year.”
Although the Landolfis admit that it
takes considerable time and resources to
participate in rodeos, it is something they
enjoy and it connects them as a family.
Rodeo life has also brought other benefits.
“Kelsey had always been a very shy,
quiet kid growing up,” David says. “Being
in front of large crowds (at rodeos) has
taught her to be more forthcoming, communicate with people better, and helped
her mature and grow.”
David also reports that while competing
at the National High School Rodeo Finals
her senior year in high school, Kelsey netted a scholarship to a Texas-based college.
Tandi notes that while Kamie has
never been shy, preparing for rodeos has
taught her to organize and balance her
responsibilities between school and the
care of her horses.
“When you’re in school and doing the
more traditional sports, you go to school,
you go to practice or games, and then you
go home,” Tandi says. “Because (rodeo) is
an entire lifestyle, Kamie has had to learn
how to juggle her responsibilities.”
Working toward a college rodeo scholarship, Kamie hopes to become the first
female team roper at the PRCA’s prestigious Wrangler® National Finals Rodeo
(WNFR) in Las Vegas. Of course, if that
doesn’t pan out, Kamie concedes that chiropractic school is another option.
Putting on the show
If there is anyone who knows anything
about putting on a rodeo, it’s the Weller
WARMING UP: Before practicing rodeo events at
her family’s home in Dover, Pa., Kelsey Landolfi
warms up two of the family’s horses. Kelsey and
her father, David, compete professionally in team
roping, a timed event in which two horseback riders attempt to rope a steer. One rider ropes the
steer around the head while the other rider ropes
the steer around the hind legs.
family, owners of the Flying W Ranch in
Kellettville, Pa., which is managed by Dale
and Margaret Weller. The Wellers have
been in the rodeo business for more than
30 years. Billed as “The Greatest Show on
Dirt,” this year’s three-day event in late
July marked the 35th anniversary of the
Allegheny Mountain Championship
Rodeo at the Flying W Ranch.
Nestled in the Allegheny National For-
CROWD GATHERS: Rodeo contestants and spectators arrive at the
35th annual Allegheny Mountain Championship Rodeo at the Flying
W Ranch in late July. Served by Warren Electric Cooperative, the
Kellettville-based Flying W Ranch’s rodeo draws thousands of spectators and nearly 200 contestants during the three-day event.
10
PENN
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est in Forest County, the 600-acre ranch
is served by Warren Electric Cooperative.
Sanctioned by the PRCA and the Colorado-based Women’s Professional
Rodeo Association, the event has grown
into one of the most popular rodeos in
the state. It draws approximately 8,000 to
10,000 spectators, and from 160 to 180
rodeo contestants competing over the
three-day period for a total of up to
$50,000 in prize money.
“Many times we have cars backed up
two miles to get into the rodeo,” says Ron
Weller, rodeo marketing director. “We get
letters all the time from people telling us
how much they enjoyed their time here.”
In addition to the usual rodeo fare of
bull riding, barrel racing, saddle bronc
riding and the like, the rodeo also features a specialty act and a live country
band on the rodeo grounds.
Jen (Weller) Wagonseller, who serves
on the rodeo planning committee along
with other family members, says there
making it possible for them
to come in for one or two
days and run back-to-back
performances, which
allows them to move on
READY TO RIDE: Jake Morehead, on horseback, from Three Hills Rodeo,
quickly
to their next rodeo.
Inc., the stock contracting company for the Allegheny Mountain
“That
is the real attracChampionship Rodeo, assists in getting ready to open the gate behind
tion
for
the
contestants,
which a bareback rider is preparing to ride a bucking horse.
and our rodeo counts
toward (qualifying for) the National
are many spectators who return year
Finals Rodeo,” Wagonseller notes.
after year.
As a fourth-generation, family-run
“(Rodeo) is one of those tough-guy,
business, the Wellers rely upon each
kind of daredevil things that people do,
especially when these guys ride the bulls,” other to successfully plan and execute
each year’s rodeo. Several family memWagonseller says. “It’s an exciting thing
bers also work at the ranch and during
when the athletes try to defeat all odds,
the rodeo – from managing the gift shop
and it is the skill that it takes for all the
to working in the Flying W Restaurant
contestants and their commitment to the
and “Longhorn Saloon.”
sport, that draws people to the events.”
“Because we are a small family busiThe Allegheny Mountain Champiness doing a lot of big things, you have
onship Rodeo draws its contestants by
HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Greg Simas, a
professional rodeo announcer from Danville, Pa.,
serves as the rodeo announcer at the recent
Allegheny Mountain Championship Rodeo. Usually
announcing from horseback, Sima’s job is to keep
the audience informed of what is going on in an
entertaining and informative fashion.
your hand in everything,” Wagonseller
says.
Weller agrees, noting that organization
is one of the keys to the success of a wellrun rodeo.
“A lot of work goes into putting on the
rodeo,” Weller says. “We have to really
work together.”
Part of that organization is provided
by another family member, Dixie Haney
(Weller’s niece), who along with being a
planning committee member, is responsible for making the rodeo information
more accessible to the public through
SEPTEMBER 2014 • PENN
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PENNlines
Three Hills Rodeo, Inc., a family-run
stock contracting company owned by
David and Marla Morehead of Bernard,
Iowa (who are members of Anamosa,
Iowa-based Maquoketa Valley Electric
Cooperative), have provided rodeo services
to the Flying W Ranch for the past several
years. Fifteen staff members from the Iowa
company, which has been in business for
more than three decades, make the ninehour trip to Pennsylvania, using four tractor trailer rigs, hauling in approximately 40
horses, 25 bulls and 20 calves for the rodeo
advertising and on Facebook (Allegheny
Mountain Championship Rodeo).
Planning the following year’s rodeo
begins almost before the current one has
even ended. The rodeo committee lines up
the stock contractors who provide the animals needed for some of the events, and
select the dates for the next year’s rodeo.
Every so often in early December, some of
the family members travel to Las Vegas to
the PRCA’s national finals (the Wrangler®
National Finals Rodeo) to review and
select specialty acts for future rodeos.
events. They also provide the chutes and
holding pens for the rodeo.
The Moreheads will tell you that for
them, the rodeo is really about the fans
and putting on an “edge-of-your-seat,
heart-pounding rodeo experience.”
“The (fans) like the action of it; they
like to see the animals,” David says.
“Everybody from baby on up wanted to
be a cowboy at one point or another.”
Attending a rodeo allows fans to live
out that dream, even if only for a short
time. l
Taking no bull
LISA SOLTNER
When it comes to bull riding, Jason M. Smith has been on
both sides of the bull. As a Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association-carded professional bullfighter, it is Smith’s job to
ensure the safety of a bull rider after he has been bucked off.
Smith hails from Beech Creek, Pa., in Clinton County, a portion
of which is served by Tri-County Rural Electric Cooperative. He
became a bullfighter quite by accident.
“I went to a rodeo with a few friends back in 2000 with the
intention of riding bucking horses, but they didn’t have any
available, so I decided to ride a bull instead,” Smith says. “After
riding bulls for three or four years, I got frustrated with it and
decided to work on the other end of bull riding as a bullfighter.”
Being a bullfighter is not for the faint of heart as the job of a
bullfighter is to put himself between the bull and the bull rider.
Smith explains that his main tool is his body, using a combination
of moves and yells to distract the bull away from the bull rider.
“If the bull is coming around toward the cowboy in what we
call ‘inside the well,’ it’s my job to prevent that from happening,
whether I got to take the hit for the cowboy and jump in
between them,”
Smith says. “We
are the lifeline of
defense against the
bull. A lot of people
call us ‘cowboy lifesavers.’”
Smith, a 33year-old, first-generation bullfighter,
says his family
always had horses,
but they did not
compete in rodeos.
While they are supTINY RODEO FAN: Hayze Smith, 3-year-old son of
Jason and Prella Smith, is all smiles as he rides a portive of his
choice to fight
horse with his father before the grand entry at a
bulls, they may not
Pilesgrove, N.J., Cowtown Rodeo. Pick-up man,
always understand
Donald "Mouse" Godfrey, helps them on their
the desire.
way into the arena.
12
PENN
LINES • SEPTEMBER 2014
LISA SOLTNER
By Michelle M. Smith
P e n n L i n e s Wr i t e r
HANDS FULL: Bullfighter Jason M. Smith puts his hands on a charging bull in
an attempt to distract it away from a fallen bull rider. As a bullfighter, Smith
does whatever he needs to do to keep the bull from injuring a bull rider
after he has been bucked off.
“Some of my family thinks I am nuts (to fight bulls),” Smith
says with a laugh. “It gets inside your blood. You live it, you
breathe it, you sleep it, it’s hard to get rid of.”
Smith’s wife, Prella, and their 3-year-old son, Hayze, sometimes travel with him to his rodeo gigs. He participates in more
than 20 rodeos per year when not working his full-time job as
a truck driver. Smith notes it is sometimes hard to strike a balance between bullfighting and family life, especially after his
son was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, a life-threatening
genetic disease that affects the lungs and digestive system.
“I am not going to quit (bullfighting) until personally I feel
like I’m done,” Smith says. “If I don’t want to do it anymore or
if I don’t have the drive or the will to do it anymore, or if I get
too old where my body won’t take the hits anymore, then
maybe I’ll walk away from it.”
Although Smith says that while it is the adrenaline rush
that initially hooked him on bullfighting, it is really the connection to his rodeo friends that keeps him coming back for more.
“It’s like a family at the rodeo,” Smith says. “It’s almost like
a reunion when you go to these rodeos. You look forward to
going down the road and seeing your friends.”
His rodeo family supported Smith’s own family by helping
them raise money for a cystic fibrosis cure through the family’s “Hope for Hayze” fundraising campaign. This past June,
the Pilesgrove, N.J.-based Cowtown Rodeo where Smith frequently fights bulls, held an eBay auction for a signed western
rodeo shirt. All proceeds were donated to the Cystic Fibrosis
Foundation in honor of Hayze.
TIMElines
Yo u r N e w s m a g a z i n e T h r o u g h t h e Y e a r s
1974
WE MUST be aware — but not unduly fearful — of the hazards that
daily living exposes us to at home, on the job, at school, on the farm and
on the streets. It’s important to recognize and analyze these hazards for
ourselves, then work out safety precautions.
Too many accidents occur every day due to the simple lack of safety
planning.
September means students are back in school and should, for adults
and children both, mean an intensified emphasis on safety. National safety
reports say about one-third of accidents at school occur on the playground,
an alarming fact considering the relatively short amount of time children
actually spend on the playground. Other typical student accidents involve
swinging doors, unsupervised hallways and personal issues (platform
shoes, long pants with wide cuffs or running in the building).
Home accidents occur in every season. Simple negligence causes thousands of home injuries and deaths every year. Adults should take time to
research the potential perils in their house, plan ways to overcome them,
and carefully instruct children in how to avoid the hazards. Accidents at
home can include fires, electrical shocks, falls and poisonings.
While mobility within a community is necessary, anyone who is out
and about in the community is exposed to a number of hazards, including traffic. Bicyclists are especially urged to be aware of common sense
rules of courtesy and safety.
What can be done about these safety issues? Safety education. It’s important to be aware of hazards and to consider how to safely navigate around
the school, home and community, and to teach children the same skills.
1984 Better times and economic recovery may
have touched many industries, but the family farm
has had little to cheer about lately.
14
PENN
LINES • SEPTEMBER 2014
1994 Many rural residents are finding their private
wells to be polluted at the same time small rural
water companies are drowning in a sea of red tape.
2004 Soaring above troubles facing major air travel
hubs, rural airports like the Brokenstraw Airport in
Warren County provide a boost to local development.
TIMEpassages m e m o r i e s
from our members
(EDITOR’S NOTE: In observance of 50 years of the electric cooperative Youth Tour
program in Pennsylvania, throughout the year Penn Lines will feature personal
accounts of former Youth Tour participants. To share your Youth Tour memories, write
Stephanie Okuniewski at Penn Lines, P.O. Box 1266, Harrisburg, PA 17108 or email
[email protected].)
Youth Tour memories
Siblings Luke Harteis, Jonathan Harteis and Lindsey Harteis participated in Youth Tour in 1999, 2001, and 2002, respectively, representing REA Energy Cooperative. Luke, who attended Shippensburg
University, is an art teacher in Shepherdstown, W.Va. Jonathan, who
attended Penn State University, lives in Rockville, Md., and manages
a building supply company. Lindsey attended Franklin and Marshall
College and Temple University Law School, and now works as a litigation associate at Reed Smith LLP in Philadelphia.
ple and happenings in our country.
Penn Lines: What advice would you give to someone
going on Youth Tour today?
Jonathan Harteis: I would say to have an open mind and
to meet as many people as possible, and to make the most of
the experience.
Penn Lines: What did you learn on Youth Tour that
surprised you?
Lindsey Harteis: I was reminded of the gravity of the sacPenn Lines: How did your Youth Tour experience help
rifices that members of the armed forces have made throughwith your career direction?
out our nation’s history. You can read about them, or watch
Luke Harteis: I am an art educator who works with stufilms and documentaries, but something about the deafening
dents of various skill levels who come from all walks of life.
silence at Arlington National Cemetery makes it the loudest
Youth Tour helped reinforce my belief
reminder of these sacrifices.
Penn Lines: How did
that I work well in a group setting with
your Youth Tour experidiversity. I got to meet and have experience influence your educaences with people from all over America.
tional goals?
This helped broaden my view of our
Luke Harteis: Youth
country and my role in it. It took me
Tour participants tend to be
years to find my calling, but it is experigoal-driven. Up to this point,
ences like Youth Tour that help foster
I had not considered my
personal growth.
Penn Lines: In what ways has your
future educational goals.
Youth Tour experience helped you as
When overhearing my peers
a person?
discussing college options, I
Jonathan Harteis: It helped me to
realized I had some catching
realize that it was important to be conup to do!
Penn Lines: What is your
nected with people, to meet new people
favorite memory from
and to share new experiences.
Penn Lines: What did it mean to you
Youth Tour and why?
Jonathan Harteis: My
to have the opportunity to meet with
favorite part of Youth Tour
your congressional representatives?
Lindsey Harteis: As someone with a
was getting to meet other students from across the United
keen interest in government, it meant so
States. It was interesting and
much to me to be able to see and hear
fun to meet and spend time
from U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum in person.
with different people from
It was one of those larger-than-life expedifferent areas of the country.
riences — meeting him on the steps of
Luke, Lindsey and Jonathan Harteis.
Penn Lines: How would
the Capitol — that you never forget.
Penn Lines: How has the opportuyour life be different today
had you not gone on Youth Tour?
nity to meet people from all over the country influenced
Lindsey Harteis: I would have missed out on making so
you?
Luke Harteis: It helped build a connection to locations I
many friends, having countless laughs and having the opportunity to see so many national landmarks in such a short
had never visited. Now I can align a place with the face of a
person I met on Youth Tour. I became more empathetic of peo- period of time. l
16
PENN
LINES • SEPTEMBER 2014
SMARTcircuits
by James Dulley
Maintain your
home’s heating
system efficiency
HEATING and cooling a home contribute
to the majority of utility bills for most families. Doing a simple heating system tuneup yourself improves its efficiency, resulting in significant annual cost savings.
Since central air conditioning uses the
same air handler (blower and ducts) as
the heating system, maintaining your
heating system for winter often also
reduces cooling costs during summer.
Unless your furnace is malfunctioning in
a significant way or making strange noises,
you cannot tell if it is operating at peak
efficiency. One way to tell is to compare
your current utility bills to previous years.
Make sure to compare the actual
amount of energy used (kilowatt-hours,
gallons of oil, cubic feet of gas, etc.), not
just the dollar amounts of the bills. Adjust
the amounts for the severity of the
weather measured in heating degree days
(www.degreedays.net).
Don’t skip your regular scheduled professional maintenance calls just because
you have done your own heating system
mini-tune-up. There are many areas
within a heating system that only a qualified technician can evaluate and adjust
properly. A rule of thumb when doing
your own tune-up is, if you are not
absolutely sure what a part or adjustment
screw does, don’t touch it.
The first items to check are for safety.
With a gas or propane furnace, put several drops of soapy water on any gas-line
fittings you find. If the water bubbles at
all, there are leaks. Leave your house
immediately and call your gas company to
have it repaired. With a heat pump, check
to make sure the insulation on all of the
external wiring looks correct. You can
inspect potential “bad spots” — damaged
18
PENN
LINES • SEPTEMBER 2014
or frayed areas — more carefully once you
turn the circuit breaker off.
Turn off the electric power to the heating unit at the circuit breaker panel.
Remove its side cover to gain access to the
blower. Using a vacuum cleaner brush
attachment, clean any dust deposits off
the blower. You may find bearing oil cups
on the blower motor of older systems. Put
a drop of oil in each cup.
If you can find the fan control switch,
adjust the temperature setting lower.
Common settings are on at 135 degrees
and off at 100 degrees. You might try
using 110 and 90 degrees. This may cause
a slightly chilly draft when it starts and
stops, but it will extract more heat from
the system. If you have trouble identifying
the fan control switch, call a certified technician and wait for assistance.
Replace the cover and make sure all
the cabinet screws are tight. While you
have the screwdriver or wrench in your
hand, check the tightness of any cabinet
screws you can find. Having the cabinet
well-sealed improves efficiency by maintaining the proper air flow through the
coils or over the heat exchanger surfaces.
With a heat pump, also check the cabinet
screws on the outdoor condenser unit.
Set up the thermostat so the furnace
starts. Hold a stick of lighted incense near
all the joints in the ductwork, both return
and supply air ducts, to check for air leaks.
If you find leaks, wipe dust off the surfaces
and use mastic around the leaking joints.
This is a good time to change your furnace filter or clean a central air cleaner
element. Consider installing a more effective filter element than the low-cost fiberglass ones that many systems use.
Check the accuracy of the wall thermostat. You may actually be keeping your
house warmer than you realize. Tape a
bulb thermometer on the wall next to
your furnace. Check the thermometer
reading when the furnace shuts off and
note the difference between it and the
thermostat setting. Now you will know
where to set the thermostat to get the
indoor temperature you desire. If it is
inaccurate, replace it with a new electronic setback model. l
Have a question for Jim? Send inquiries
to JAMES DULLEY , Penn Lines, 6906
Royalgreen Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45244 or
visit www.dulley.com.
OUTDOORadventures
Quest for
batteries
SOMEWHERE, in some outof-the-way nook or cranny, in
nearly every room of my
home, you will find a flashlight or a lantern or both. In
the living room, next to the
raised fireplace mantle,
there’s even a Coleman
lantern that converts into
four individual flashlights.
In my home, we tend to
carry preparedness a bit far,
particularly when it comes to
power outages, which loom
larger than life for a household with well water and septic tank both electrically powered, but always seem to be
first noticed when the lights,
television, and computers go
off.
We’ve experienced only
one or two short outages
annually in recent years, but
an unusual, multi-day Halloween outage of a few years
back colors our perceptions
and makes us realize that
Mother Nature can deal even
the best-run utility a bad
hand.
At our house, we love our
electrical service and we are
is
is outdoor and nature
writer at PennLive.com,
the website of The Harrisburg, Pa., PatriotNews. He also writes for
a range of magazines
and websites, and has
written more than two dozen books. For more
of his writing, visit www.marcusschneck.com.
MARCUS SCHNECK
20
PENN
by Marcus Schneck
reluctant to endure even a
few moments of sitting in the
dark or stumbling and tripping into the next room to
find a flashlight or lantern. In
our decades of camping, the
portable source of light was
always among the most
essential of creature comforts, and that attitude seems
to have followed us home.
You’ll notice that my references are “we,” “us” and
“our,” which I use because
not all of this enforced-darkness phobia is of my making.
It is very much a joint project.
On the other hand, there
is something very “Quest for
Fire” in not wanting to be left
in the dark. Maybe you
remember the 1981 flick starring Ron Perlman and Rae
Dawn Chong, in which a trio
of prehistoric men go in
search of a new source of fire
to replace the source of heat
and light lost by their tribe. If
not, there you have the whole
movie pretty much summarized. Along the way they are
menaced by saber-toothed
cats, mammoths and cannibals.
While no one speaks anything other than made-up
caveman languages in the
movie, opening title lines
explain, “80,000 years ago,
man’s survival in a vast,
uncharted land depended on
the possession of fire. For
those early humans, fire was
an object of great mystery,
since no one had mastered its
creation. Fire had to be stolen
from nature; it had to be kept
LINES • SEPTEMBER 2014
alive, sheltered from wind
and rain, guarded from rival
tribes. Fire was a symbol of
power and a means of survival. The tribe who possessed fire, possessed life.”
As campy and unrealistic
as “Quest for Fire” may have
been, it also may have gotten
to the heart of something
very primitive in our shared
human discomfort and
uneasiness in the dark of
night. While some may fight
agreement in defense of their
manly image, at some level all
humans fear the darkness.
The ability to generate and
harness fire, and the light
that comes with it, are part of
what defines modern
humans. Discoveries by
primitive humans in the technology of fire led to the abil-
ity to cook and preserve a
wider variety of foods, stay
warm in more disagreeable
climates, hold the wild things
at bay, and chase away at
least some of the things that
go bump in the night.
I think I’ll make a check
on the batteries in the flashlights and lanterns around
the house. And, maybe add
some wood to the stack by
the fireplace. One never
knows when one might need
it, because it’s a sure thing
there will be more storms in
Pennsylvania. And we also
know that no matter how
hard the line crews work, it’s
inevitable that some of those
beautiful, big tree branches
that we so admire will fall
onto the power lines and
leave us in the dark. l
PENNLINESclassified
ISSUE MONTH:
AD DEADLINE:
Penn Lines classified advertisements reach more than 165,800 rural Pennsylvania households!
November 2014. . . . . . . Sept. 17
Please note ads must be received by the due date to be included in the requested issue month. Ads
December 2014 . . . . October 17
received beyond the due date will run in the next available issue. Written notice of changes and
cancellations must be received 30 days prior to the issue month. Classified ads will not be accepted
January 2015 . . . November 18
by phone, fax or email. For more information please contact Vonnie Kloss at 717$233-5704.
CLASSIFIED AD SUBMISSION/RATES: Please use the form below or submit a separate sheet with required information.
Electric co-op members: $20 per month for 30 words or less, plus 50¢ for each additional word.
Non-members:
$70 per month for 30 words or less, plus $1.50 for each additional word.
Ad in all CAPITAL letters: Add 20 percent to total cost. ‰ Please print my ad in all CAPITAL letters.
PLACE AD IN THE MONTHS OF:
.
WORD COUNT:
‰ I am an electric co-op member. Attached is my Penn Lines mailing label. Name/Address or Mailing Label Here:
Enclosed is payment in the amount of $
.
‰ I am a non-member. Address is noted or attached at right.
Enclosed is payment in the amount of $
.
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2
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19
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21
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25
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27
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.
Additional words; attach separate sheet if needed.
FREE Headings (Select One): ‰ Around the House
‰ Business Opportunities
‰ Employment Opportunities ‰ Gift and Craft Ideas
‰ Livestock and Pets
‰ Miscellaneous
‰ Motor Vehicles and Boats ‰ Nursery and Garden
‰ Real Estate
‰ Recipes and Food
‰ Tools and Equipment
‰ Vacations and Campsites ‰ Wanted to Buy
SPECIAL HEADING:
. SPECIAL HEADING FEE: $5 for co-op members, $10 for non-members. Applies
even if heading is already appearing in Penn Lines. Insertion of classified ad serves as proof of publication; no proofs supplied. SEND FORM
TO: Penn Lines Classifieds, P.O. Box 1266, Harrisburg, PA 17108. Please make CHECK/MONEY ORDER payable to: PREA/Penn Lines.
AROUND THE HOUSE
SPECIAL OFFER — BOTH COOKBOOKS FOR $12. “Country
Cooking,” Volume 2 — $5, including postage. “Recipes
Remembered,” Volume 3 — $7, including postage. Both of
these cookbooks are a collection of recipes from men and
women of the electric co-ops of Pennsylvania and New
Jersey. Payable to: Pennsylvania Rural Electric Association,
P. O. Box 1266, Harrisburg, PA 17108. Write Attention:
Cookbooks. Volume 1 of “Country Cooking” is SOLD OUT.
We carry COAL FURNACE PARTS including kidneys, firebrick
and grates for Hunter, Lennox, Luxaire, Armstrong. We carry
parts for boilers such as National, Burnham, American
Standard and many more. We also carry new, old-style coal
furnaces. 814-236-0720. www.curwensvilletruevalue.com.
SEARS KEROSENE HEATER with blower, 75,000 BTU plus a
250 gallon oil tank. Pick up at camp in Houston Township,
Penfield, PA. $200. Call for more information 412-466-4140.
BUILDING SUPPLIES
STEEL ROOFING AND SIDING. Over 25 years in business.
Several profiles - cut to length. 29 and 26 gauge best quality
residential roofing – 40-year warranty. Also, seconds, heavy
gauges, accessories, etc. Installation available. Located northwestern Pennsylvania. 814-398-4052.
FACTORY SECONDS of insulation, 4 x 8 sheets, foil back. RValue 6.5 per inch. Great for pole buildings, garages, etc. Also
prime grade A foil bubble wrap insulation. 814-442-6032.
BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
PIANO TUNING PAYS — Learn at home with American School of
Piano Tuning home-study course in piano tuning and repair. Tools
included. Diploma granted. Call for free brochure 800-497-9793.
22
PENN
LINES • SEPTEMBER 2014
LADIES GET in on this ground floor opportunity with a new
company, only three reps in PA. Low investment. Beautiful
diffuser jewelry with colorful scented beads or add your
own perfume or essential oils. Be on a winning team. 570220-3817. www.Vesselscentsofstyle.com Stylist #100144.
[email protected].
ESSENTIAL OILS
TRANSFORM YOURSELF into a healthier more vibrant you with
100% therapeutic grade essential oil. 570-220-3817. Email me
for your FREE kit with sample oils. [email protected].
Website www.angelofhealth.vibrantscents.com.
CHURCH LIFT SYSTEMS
EQUIPMENT RENTAL
Make your church, business or home wheelchair accessible.
We offer platform lifting systems, stair lifts, porch lifts and
ramps. References. Free estimates. Get Up & Go Mobility Inc.
724-746-0992 or 814-926-3622.
AVAILABLE FOR RENT: Daily, weekly, monthly – refrigerated
trailer, 7’ x 12’, 10 to 50 degrees digital control. Runs on 115
volts, available with generator. 814-329-0408 or
[email protected].
CONSULTING FORESTRY SERVICES
FENCING
NOLL’S FORESTRY SERVICES, INC. performs Timber
Marketing, Timber Appraisals, Forest Management Planning,
and Forest Improvement Work. FREE Timber Land
Recommendations. 30 years experience. Call 814-472-8560.
HYDRAULIC POST DRIVER FOR RENT. Easy hookup and
transportation. Safe, simple operation. Convenient, costeffective alternative for setting wood posts by hand. $200
for first day, $175/additional day. 1-800-KENCOVE.
CENTRE FOREST RESOURCES. Forest Management Services,
Wildlife Habitat Management, Timber Sales, Appraisals.
College educated, professional, ethical foresters working for
you. FREE Timber Consultation. 814-571-7130.
CRANE SERVICE
NEED A LIFT? Crane service for all your lifting needs.
Experienced, fully insured, Owner-Operated and OSHA
Certified. Precision Crane, Linesville, PA 814-282-9133.
DRINKABLE AIR
No More GROUND WATER WOES, pure water at last! Home,
office machines, residential, commercial, industrial. KGM
Distributors Drinkable Air. 570-869-3040.
GIFT AND CRAFT IDEAS
SPECIAL OFFER — BOTH COOKBOOKS FOR $12. “Country
Cooking,” Volume 2 — $5, including postage. “Recipes
Remembered,” Volume 3 — $7, including postage. Both of
these cookbooks are a collection of recipes from men and
women of the electric co-ops of Pennsylvania and New
Jersey. Payable to: Pennsylvania Rural Electric Association,
P. O. Box 1266, Harrisburg, PA 17108. Write Attention:
Cookbooks. Volume 1 of “Country Cooking” is SOLD OUT.
Call Nancy at 717-953-2461 if you need: Vinyl Lettering for
walls and a variety of signs; favorite verses or sayings are
painted on finished boards. Different colors and sizes.
Remote Controlled MODEL AIRPLANES – gas or electric. 35
to choose from. Located near Meadville, PA. 814-425-7271.
PENNLINESclassified
HEALTH AND NUTRITION
MOTORCYCLE-SNOWMOBILE INSURANCE
Tired of all those medicines — Still not feeling better? Do
you want to feel better, have more energy, better digestion,
less joint stiffness, healthier heart/circulation and
cholesterol levels? Find out how to empower your own
immune system — start I-26 today! It’s safe, affordable, and
it works. Call 800-557-8477: ID#528390. 90-day money
back on first time orders or call me 724-454-5586.
www.mylegacyforlife.net/believeit.
For the best INSURANCE RATES call R & R Insurance
Associates from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 800-442-6832 (PA).
HEALTH INSURANCE
DO YOU HAVE THE BLUES regarding your Health Insurance?
We cater to rural America's health insurance needs. For
more information, call 800-628-7804 (PA). Call us regarding
Medicare supplements, too.
HUNTING
CUSTOM HAND MADE to order or in-stock wooden turkey
calls of various woods and sizes. 814-267-5489 leave
message for Precision Unlimited Inc., Berlin, PA.
INFRARED SAUNAS
Removes toxins, burns calories, relieves joint pain, relaxes
muscles, increases flexibility, strengthens immune system.
Many more HEALTH BENEFITS with infrared radiant heat
saunas. Economical to operate. Barron’s Furniture,
Somerset, PA. 814-443-3115.
LANDOWNER INCOME OPPORTUNITY
OUR SPORTSMEN will Pay Top $$$ to hunt your land. Call for
a Free Base Camp Leasing info packet & Quote. 866-3091507. www.BaseCampLeasing.com
LAWN AND GARDEN EQUIPMENT
HARRINGTONS EQUIPMENT COMPANY, 475 Orchard Rd.,
Fairfield, PA 17320. 717-642-6001 or 410-756-2506.
Lawn & Garden equipment, Sales – Service – Parts.
www.HarringtonsEquipment.com
LIVESTOCK AND PETS
PEMBROKE WELSH CORGI Puppies — AKC, adorable,
intelligent, highly trainable. Excellent family choice.
Reputable licensed breeder guaranteed “Last breed you’ll
ever own.” 814-587-3449.
NURSERY AND GARDEN
WANTED TO BUY
SEED GARLIC organically grown in Bradford County, PA.
Varieties include: Romanian Red, Music, and Metechi. $17.50
per pound plus postage. 570-364-5509. Please leave message.
CARBIDE – Paying cash/lb. – Some examples of items that
have carbide pieces at their tips for cutting or drilling are:
coal mining machinery – roof bits – road bits – gas/oil/water
well drill bits – machining inserts as well as many others.
We will pick up your materials containing carbide pieces. We
will extract the carbide item from the part in which it is held
in most cases. 814-395-0415.
PROBLEM WATER
HARD WATER, High Iron, Bacteria or Slow Producing Wells?
We have fixed water problems since 1974. Daniel J. Carney
Inc. Water Treatment. Call 800-498-0777.
REAL ESTATE
LOG HOME with guest house. Five bedrooms, three baths,
two kitchens, two wood burners, six-car garage, fully
furnished. Near Blue Knob Ski Resort and State Game Land.
Call 301-739-1981. $475,000.
RECIPES AND FOOD
SPECIAL OFFER — BOTH COOKBOOKS FOR $12. “Country
Cooking,” Volume 2 — $5, including postage. “Recipes
Remembered,” Volume 3 — $7, including postage. Both of
these cookbooks are a collection of recipes from men and
women of the electric co-ops of Pennsylvania and New
Jersey. Payable to: Pennsylvania Rural Electric Association,
P. O. Box 1266, Harrisburg, PA 17108. Write Attention:
Cookbooks. Volume 1 of “Country Cooking” is SOLD OUT.
USED PORTABLE Sawmills and COMMERCIAL Sawmill
Equipment! Buy/Sell. Call Sawmill Exchange 800-459-2148.
USA and Canada. www.sawmillexchange.com.
SHAKLEE
FREE SAMPLE Shaklee’s Energy Tea. Combination red, green
and white teas that are natural, delicious, refreshing, safe.
For sample or more information on tea or other Shaklee
Nutrition/Weight Loss Products: 800-403-3381 or
www.sbarton.myshaklee.com.
TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT
ANTIQUE 1958 FORD Diesel Tractor with highlift and backhoe
– Jubilee Model – Uses Parts – Restore or best offer. Phone
814-587-3677.
VILLAGE RESTORATIONS & CONSULTING specializes in 17th and
18th century log, stone and timber structures. We dismantle,
move, re-erect, restore, construct and consult all over the
country. Period building materials available. Chestnut boards,
hardware, etc. Thirty years experience, fully insured. Call
814-696-1379. www.villagerestorations.com.
INTERNATIONAL DIESEL 3800, 6 cylinder, backhoe, big
bucket, 4x4. Minor mechanical work. Two seater, Allison
transmission, 18 and 24 buckets, hydraulic. Sitting idle two
years, needs glow plugs, powerful bucket, standard
equipment intact. 814-739-2265.
Medicare insurance does not have to be confusing! And one
plan does not fit all! Going on Medicare soon? Already on
Medicare and confused? We have the answers. CATHERINE
BURNS INSURANCE SERVICES offering Medicare Supplements,
Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug Plans, Pre-Paid
Burial, Life and Final Expense Insurance, Annuities, assistance
qualifying for Pace/Pacenet. No charge, no obligation, no
pressure! Call 877-327-1598 or email: [email protected].
MISCELLANEOUS
UNLOADING
OUR SECOND
FRIDGE HELPED
US STOCK UP
ON GROCERIES.
SAWMILLS
LOG CABIN RESTORATIONS
MEDICARE INSURANCE
NEW LOG CABIN on PA Allegheny Front. Audubon important
bird area. Bald Eagles, Golden Eagles, Raptor migration from
the front deck. Hunting, hiking, skiing, fishing. Rental six
people maximum. 814-754-4512.
That old, empty beast was
TRACTOR PARTS – REPAIR/RESTORATION
costing us money on our
ARTHURS TRACTORS, specializing in vintage Ford tractors,
30-years experience, online parts catalog/prices, Indiana,
PA 15701. Contact us at 877-254-FORD (3673) or
www.arthurstractors.com.
electric bill, so we kicked
it to the curb for recycling.
Find out what you can do
VACATIONS AND CAMPSITES
Think PENN STATE FOOTBALL! 50 minute drive to stadium.
House Rental. Sleeps 11, four bedrooms, table for 12, two
new satellite TVs, two full baths, two half baths,
linens/towels provided. Minimum two nights. Call 814-9316562. Visit www.laurelwoodsretreat.com.
BECOME AN ORDAINED MINISTER — Correspondence Study. The
harvest truly is great, the laborers are few, Luke 10:2. Free
information. Ministers for Christ Outreach, 7558 West Thunderbird
Rd., Ste. 1 - #114, Peoria, Arizona 85381. www.ordination.org.
NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Florida condo rental. Two bedrooms,
two baths, pool. 200 yards from beach. $500 weekly, $1,800
monthly. NA January – February. Call 814-635-4020.
Would an extra $3,500 per month make a difference in your life?
I will show you an honest/ethical way that will make that happen.
Jim 314-614-6039. Go to WWW.BLESSEDARETHERICH.COM.
The camping/cabin season is here! Come and discover the
wonders in these beautiful mountains and flowing rivers.
Check out this free LAUREL HIGHLANDS Package.
www.freecampingpa.com.
at TogetherWeSave.com.
T O G E T H E R W E S AV E .C O M
SEPTEMBER 2014 • PENN
LINES
23
COUNTRYkitchen
by Janette He ss
Septemberfest
IN Southern Germany, Oktoberfest is celebrated from midSeptember through the first weekend in October. Start celebrating any time this month with hearty Oktoberfest Baked
Ham, Sauerkraut Soup or German Chocolate Dessert Bars.
Oktoberfest Baked Ham starts with a salt-free rub and
finishes with an extra tasty ham in savory pan juices.
Although you and your family will want to gobble down
every slice, remember to reserve a portion for your batch of
that perfect fall concoction, Sauerkraut Soup. Note that neither recipe calls for added salt, because cured meats
already contain enough to get the job done.
Just for fun, bake a batch of German Chocolate Dessert
Bars. According to culinary lore, the original German
Chocolate Cake has absolutely no connection to German
ethnic cooking, so, by extension, neither do German Chocolate Dessert Bars. But these bars are a delicious combination of chocolate, pecans, and coconut, and
they deserve to top off any festive meal, German or not. l
A trained journalist, JANETTE HESS focuses her writing on interesting
people and interesting foods. She is a Master Food Volunteer with her
local extension service and enjoys collecting, testing and sharing recipes.
OKTOBERFEST HAM
1/2 fully-cooked, bone-in, smoked ham
(8 to 10 pounds)
2 teaspoons dried marjoram
2 teaspoons caraway seeds
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika
Place ham, cut side down, in shallow roasting
pan. Rub seasonings onto
ham. Cover loosely with aluminum foil. Bake
at 325 degrees for 20 minutes per pound, or until internal temperature
of ham reaches 135 to 140
degrees. Remove from oven and baste with pan
juices. Re-cover with foil
and allow ham to “rest” for at least 15 minut
es before carving.
If desired, reserve pan juices to drizzle over
ham slices. Skim fat before
serving. If too salty, dilute with hot water.
GERMAN CHOCOLATE DE
SSERT BARS
1 boxed brownie mix (approximat
ely 18 ounces), mixed according
to package instructions
2 ounces sweet “German” chocolat
e OR semi-sweet chocolate
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup finely chopped pecans
1 1/2 cups sweetened, flaked coco
nut
Prepare 9- by 13-inch glass baking
dish with oil or cooking spray. Spre
ad
brownie batter in pan. Bake at 350
degrees for 15 minutes. While brow
nies
are baking, melt chocolate and butt
er together over very low heat or
in
microwave oven. Cool slightly and
then combine with remaining ingr
edients. Carefully spread over brownie
layer and return to oven. Bake an
additional 35 minutes, or until topp
ing is set and toothpick inserted into
center comes out clean. Cool befo
re cutting. Store in refrigerator. Mak
es
18 to 24 bars, depending on desired
serving size.
Note: Homemade brownies may be
used in place of a mix for the first
layer.
Select a recipe that normally results
in an 8- by 8-inch pan of brownies
.
SAUERKRAUT SOUP
1 medium onion, diced
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 tablespoon butter
1 32-ounce bag sauerkraut, well drained
with excess juice pressed out
4 cups chicken stock
1 pound fully cooked sausage (such as kielbasa), sliced
1 generous cup ham cubes
2 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 teaspoons dried dill
Freshly ground pepper
1 cup cream or evaporated milk
. Cook on high setting
Place carrots, celery, onion and butter in slow cooker
e heat to low
Reduc
milk.
or
cream
except
ients
ingred
all
Add
hour.
for 1
hot. Makes
serve
and
milk
or
cream
Add
setting and cook for 6 hours.
soup.
of
cups
12
y
imatel
approx
24
PENN
LINES • SEPTEMBER 2014
POWERplants
Don’t put
those tools
away yet
AFTER ENDURING the hot
and steamy weather of
August, we welcome September and its promise of milder
weather. We feel more comfortable, and with the first hint
of fall rains and waning temperatures, the perennials suddenly perk up, the blowsy,
spring-blooming shrubs begin
to stand taller, the roses rebloom, and the annuals push
for a last-gasp, grand showing
before the killing frosts.
Heat-loving plants like the
old-fashioned flowering
tobacco, the loud, garish canna
lilies, and even the common
marigolds are spectacular in
September’s golden light.
Always among my favorites,
the wildly twining and vining
morning glories are indeed
glorious this time of year, having grown from tiny seedlings
to luxurious lengths and still
blooming profusely.
Meanwhile, our favorite
native dogwood trees have
begun dropping a reddened
leaf here and there, the ornaBARBARA MARTIN ,
who says she began gardening as a hobby “too
many years ago to
count,” currently works
for the National Gardening Association as a horticulturist. A former
member of Gettysburg-based Adams Electric Cooperative, her articles appear in magazines and on the internet.
by Barbara Martin
mental grasses are blooming,
and we can see the acorns
swelling on the oaks. Such
sure signs of what’s coming
soon; there is a briskness to the
early morning air, we can once
again mark the hour by when
the yellow school buses pass
by, just as we see the angle of
the sunbeams moving lower
day by day. The bees and butterflies are not as thick now.
I always want to linger in
the fall sunshine, and September has some solid working
hours to it. We can still make
good progress on any number
of projects now, and the
urgency of the season’s turning gives us a renewed sense
of purpose.
We might have a big project
to tackle or wrap up, perhaps
one of the heavier jobs, such as
installing a patio of pavers or
bluestone, or preparing a
brand new garden space and
lugging in load after load of
compost to improve the soil.
Perhaps a new fence is in
order, and be assured that digging the post holes deep past
the frost line is heavy, hard
work. Correcting any grading
or drainage issues on the property and installing or repairing
retaining walls, for example,
are improvements well tended
to now and will pay big dividends over the years to come.
This is the prime season for
major lawn renovation work,
as well as for performing a little
lawn TLC — core aeration, top
dressing with compost, overseeding, soil tests and so on.
Also, sharpening the edges
between beds and lawns, con-
trolling weeds before they seed
down for their fall growth
spurt, and general tidying are
all solid choices. Some of the
routine chores seem more
pressing now. Give the compost a last good turn, top up
the mulch in the shrub beds,
rake and weed the gravel pathway. Think ahead to what
your winter view will reveal
and hop to any chore that will
keep things looking tidy
through the winter when the
green leaves are down.
For those lucky — or should
I say hard-working enough —
to be totally up-to-date on
chores, we have less routine
tasks to tackle: Organizing the
garden shed before we bring in
all the paraphernalia of the
growing season. Planning for
the next round of bulb planting. Scanning the new inventory at the plant nursery just in
time for fall planting, and of
course scouting the property
and revisiting the established
areas to consider changes and
improvements, and perhaps
measuring and taking photos
SEPTEMBER IS FOR GARDENING:
Cooler temperatures provide the
incentive to get some major projects
done before winter sets in.
to jog the memory during next
winter’s planning sessions.
The adventurous may want
to experiment with late plantings of cold-tolerant vegetables
such as spinach and garlic, or
attempt to extend the season
and possibly even overwinter
some greens under a makeshift
cold frame. And why not pot
up some chives and start a few
tip cuttings from your favorite
tropicals for the windowsill
this winter, and gather (and
label!) those special non-hybrid
seeds you wish to save for
planting next year.
If you are out of ideas, why
not tour a botanical garden or
other displays for inspiration
and real-life demonstrations of
what a well-planned and executed fall landscape can be.
Sometimes it seems there is
no end to the gardener’s work,
and that’s just the way I like it.
Don’t you? l
SEPTEMBER 2014 • PENN
LINES
25
PUNCHlines
Thoughts from
Earl Pitts,
UHMERIKUN!
‘What’s the weather
going to be tomorrow?’
Social commentary from Earl Pitts —— a.k.a.
GARY BUR BANK , a nationally syndicated
radio personality —— can be heard on the
following radio stations that cover electric
cooperative service territories in Pennsylvania:
WANB-FM 103.1 Pittsburgh; WARM-AM 590
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton; WIOO-AM 1000 Carlisle;
WEEO-AM 1480 Shippensburg; WMTZ-FM 96.5
Johnstown; WQBR-FM 99.9/92.7 McElhattan;
WLMI-FM 103.9 Kane; and WVNW-FM 96.7
Burnham-Lewistown. You can also find him at
Earlpittsamerican.com.
26
PENN
LINES • SEPTEMBER 2014
Here’s what’s drivin’ me nuts today
— your TV weather. My wife, Pearl, had
some big plans for this weekend. She
said, “Let’s watch the weather tonight
and see if it’s gonna be nice.”
I will submit to you that you can watch
the whole dang seven-minute TV weather
forecast — and still have no honkin’ idea
what’s gonna happen the next day.
This is how come you get your weather
from the radio. Radio weather makes
sense. How hot is it gonna get? Is it gonna
rain? And what’s the current temperature?
That right there is a 15-second meteorological gold mine. Everything you could ever
possibly need to know about the weather.
Fifteen seconds into a TV weather
forecast, and the weatherman is still
warming up his satellite maps.
Now your TV weather forecast is
gonna get delivered nightly by one of two
people — it’s either a guy that thinks he’s
a comedian. Or it’s a real good-lookin’ gal
— a gal I like to call “weather eye-candy.”
On the first one, you don’t notice the
weather because he’s tryin’ so hard to be
funny that you ain’t payin’ attention to the
details. And the weather girl, you don’t
notice the weather because you’re paying
way too much attention to lookin’ at her.
And then, they seem to take a lot of
joy openin’ the weather report showin’
you pictures of how beautiful it was at
someplace where you’re not.
Then you watch dancin’ satellite
footage from outer space. A map of the
weather in the entire United States, even
though you live in one county in one
state. Then they’ll give you weather history. Like it was a record 101 on this date
in 1932. I’m not sure how we’d function
without that piece a’ knowledge.
Fifteen minutes later, Pearl goes,
“What’s it gonna be like this weekend?”
I have to admit, “I have no idea.”
So she says, “That’s OK; he gets it
wrong all the time anyway.”
Wake up, America. Now, why didn’t
she mention that before she made me sit
through a forecast where I didn’t learn a
thing?
Sometimes I have to work overtime
so’s Pearl doesn’t cost me my job, if you
get my drift.
Anyways, she brung home the groceries from the store last night, an’ I was
helpin’ her put them away when I pull a
package of pecan sandies out of the bag.
I say, “What the heck is this?”
An’ she says, “What’s wrong with
you? Them’s cookies, Earl! We can have
some tonight, an’ you can take some to
work tomorrow.”
Now, I gotta tell you, there’s no way I
am takin’ pecan sandies to work. Let’s
just say that I would get laughed out of
the breakroom. Cause, accordin’ to them
guys, there’s only two acceptable cookies
— chocolate chip an’ Oreos.
If you take any other kind of cookie in
to work with you, people start to whisperin’ about how you think they are better
than they are. I remember one time we
worked with a guy who brung in Pepperidge Farm Milanos for his lunch. What
was he thinkin’? We ribbed him so hard he
quit his job, and I heard he had to move to
a new town. I ain’t gonna be makin’ that
mistake.
For the record, your pecan sandies,
fudge stripes, sugar wafers, ginger snaps
an’ any cookie like them do not go into
work. Peanut butter cookies are OK, but
only if they’re obviously homemade. Now,
don’t get me wrong, any of these cookies
are fine to eat at work if someone happens to bring them in to share and you’re
just bummin’ a couple. You just can’t have
people think you brought ‘em.
Wake up America! Oh yeah, I gotta
point out that you got your experimental
variations of your acceptable cookies.
This can get confusing. Double Stuf
Oreos, chocolate or mint-filled Oreos an’
special anniversary Oreos are OK. Chocolate chip cookies with M&Ms instead a’
chocolate chips — no, they’re too fancy.
Hey, don’t look at me. I don’t make the
rules — I just live by them.
I’m Earl Pitts, Uhmerikun. Like me
on Facebook. And you can catch my
new blog at Earlpittsamerican.com. l
RURALreflections
Summer soon to be a memory
THE DAYLIGHT hours are growing shorter and soon
the leaves will begin to change colors, but for now, the
grass is green and the days are still warm, so enjoy the
final weeks of summer even as you begin to prepare for
autumn.
Rural Reflections has four categories of photos — most
artistic, best landscape, best human subject and best animal subject — so amateur photographers are encouraged
to send in their best photos in each category. At the end of
the year, a winning photo will be chosen in each category,
plus an “editor’s choice.” Each lucky winner will receive a
$75 prize and winning photos will be published in Penn
Lines.
Send your photos (no digital files, please) to: Penn Lines
Photos, P.O. Box 1266, Harrisburg PA 17108-1266. On the
back of each photo, include your name, address, phone
number and the name of the electric cooperative that
serves your home, business or seasonal residence. (The
best way to include this information is by affixing an
address label to the back of the photo. Please do not use
ink gel or roller pens to write on the photo.)
Remember, our publication deadlines require that we
work ahead, so send your seasonal photos in early. We
need winter photos before mid-September. (Save your
spring, summer and fall photos for the 2015 contest.) Photos that do not reflect any season may be sent at any time.
Please note: we will return photos if you include a selfaddressed, stamped envelope. l
Laura Stout
Somerset REC
David Albert
Claverack REC
Robert Clear
Northwestern REC
Anthony Wambaugh
Bedford REC
SEPTEMBER 2014 • PENN
LINES
27