Pennsylvania – Valerie's Voice

Dairy Farming

Last week we were in Pennsylvania. Gary, my husband, is from Lancaster County and we flew there to attend a family reunion. He’s is from the scenic part of the state, Amish Country in southeastern Pennsylvania. There are rolling hills dotted with small farms, with cattle and corn and hay fields.

This original painting of the farm where Gary grew up hangs in our hallway. I had it painted for him, as a surprise, about 1980 or so, by one of the ministers at the church he attended with his parents.

Gary grew up on a dairy farm, helping his family milk cows the traditional way, by attaching a milking machine individually to each cow. They milked about 45 cows, twice a day.

The family farm was sold in 1986 to a young family who continues to milk cows. However, the herd has grown and the operation has changed. The new owners tore down the original barn in the 1990’s and built a state-of-the-art milking parlor in which ten cows were milked at one time, in modern facilities with computer-controlled machines that tracked what each cow produced.

The welcome sign and a layout of the farming facility Gary visited in PA.

Like everything, farming continues to change. This year when we were in Pennsylvania, Gary went to an open house for a 2023 state-of-the-art milking parlor and I asked him to describe it here:

Rohrer Dairy Farms near Mountville, PA began as a small farm with 20 cows in 1956. Fast forward to 2023 and the second and third generation Rohrer Dairy Farm families now have a 60 cow rotary milking parlor to milk their 1,780 cows. This highly automated system is attended by only three employees. The cows enter from holding lanes unto a slot on the carousel as the carousel continuously rotates. Each slot has a milking machine and a control module with a digital screen.

The first worker preps the cows (washes the udder) and the second worker attaches the milkers. The milking machine automatically disconnects when the milking is complete. When the cow reaches the exit point, a water spray at her head encourages her to back off the carousel. Unless there is a hiccup, the carousel does not stop. It rotates very slowly and each cow’s ride on the carousel is about ten minutes.

It is an amazing sight. There is an upper level gallery with office, conference room, meeting room and viewing area where one can watch the whole operation behind large windows.

They milk three times a day and each milking takes 5 ½ hours, thus there is more milking parlor time available to expand the herd.

This is a partial view of the Rohrer Dairy farm.

In addition to the 1,780 milking cows, they have about 1,500 heifers and calves. The large cow barns have automated feed systems, slotted floors with manure pits underneath, and a fire sprinkler system.

Both of Gary’s sisters are dairy farmers. We did visit both farms, and here I am feeding a calf at one of them.

It is hard to comprehend. The small family farm is indeed rapidly disappearing, but I believe they both can co-exist. I am hopeful because my sister’s son and his wife, both of whom are college graduates, are taking over their parent’s dairy farm. They milk less than 100 cows in a traditional milking barn. Good for them!

All Creatures

All Creatures Great and Small is a delightful PBS series featuring the true stories of a veterinarian, James Herriot, in Yorkshire England in the 1930’s and 40’s.

Abigail, Zacchaeus, Barnabas (hidden behind his brother) and Nanita.

The stories come from four books James Herriot wrote years ago. I enjoyed reading the books, and still owned them until recently I gave them to the Northfield Hospital Auxiliary fundraiser event. The books were filled with wonderful tales about the vast and interesting experiences James Wight (James Herriot is his pen name) had in the beautiful, rural area of Yorkshire, in northern England.

There have been several renditions of these stories in films and television series, but the latest series (began 2021) on public television is a favorite of mine. There have been three seasons to date, with plans for another season. YAY!

I thought of James Herriot when I arrived at the farm where I help out occasionally. The friendly, and hungry creatures (pictured above) were ready and waiting for me to feed them: 2 horses, 2 donkeys, 2 goats, 8 chickens, 4 cats and one dog.

I enjoy helping feed these fine animals, but do realize this is fun for me because I do it once in a while, while farmers do this daily – actually two times a day. This is the extent of my farm experience, while my husband, Gary, knows all about the daily work having grown up on a dairy farm in Pennsylvania.

I’m thankful for ALL creatures, great and small…and for farmers!

Matchbooks

I’m slowly going through our “stuff” in an effort to declutter. My latest task is going through the antique Mason jars sitting on top of the kitchen cupboards. It was a nice place to display them…they were not tucked away in some cupboard, but were on display – yet out of the way. I decided to either put them to use, or get rid of them.

The jars on top of the kitchen cupboard.

So one by one I am taking them down. As I pulled the first antique jar down – a blue Mason jar with a glass lid – I noticed I had matchbooks stored in it. At one time we collected matchbooks from different places. Businesses do not give away matchbooks with their logo anymore – but they used to, and the matchbooks were easy to collect. I do remember going through our matchbooks before, and keeping only a few special ones. I forgot that I kept these few in the Mason jar.

Here is a list of the matchbooks that I found in the jar, and where they came from:

The Old Spaghetti Factory: This was a restaurant in downtown Minneapolis, and the place where Gary and I had our first date in 1976. It closed in August 2019.

Mardi Gras: The cruise ship we took for our honeymoon, a Caribbean cruise in 1978. Along with the matchbook, there was a champagne cork in the Mason jar, also from the cruise. I remember our table-mates had a bottle of Bollinger Champagne they shared with us, and told us keep the cork. That was the first time I heard of Bollinger champagne…too bad the winery was not the same Bollinger family as the one I had just joined when I married Gary! HA

There were two different matchbooks from National Parks we had camped in: Zion, Bryce Canyon and the north rim of the Grand Canyon (we visited in July 1992) were together on one matchbook called The Sanctuaries. The other matchbook was from Glacier National Park (this must have been our 1989 visit). I would say these were our favorite national parks overall.

Boca Raton Resort and Club: This was the most luxurious resort Gary and I stayed at in Florida (February 1992). It was for a work convention. We were with friends from work and enjoyed the beautiful accommodations, the lush landscape and grounds, the ocean and ocean views from our hotel balcony, and the service…o my.

Hotel Uzwil: a hotel Gary stayed in several times when he took business trips to Switzerland. It was located in the village of Uzwil, east of Zurich.

One matchbook was from Cargill, the first company Gary worked for after he graduated from college.

Another had the Greek letters for the fraternity, Delta Theta Sigma, which Gary belonged to in college.

The Orion Room: I hardly remember this restaurant, but it was on the 50^th floor of the IDS center. In 1972 the IDS center was built in downtown Minneapolis. In 1974 the restaurant opened. It is no longer there, but it was considered an excellent dining establishment in its day.

Good ‘n Plenty Family Style Eating: A family-style Pennsylvania Dutch restaurant in Lancaster County Pennsylvania, the area where Gary grew up in Pennsylvania. It was my first introduction to the Amish in his hometown.

These two jars now hold epsom salts in our bathroom.

Once again, it was fun to go down memory lane. Now, after writing about these matchbooks, perhaps I can use them up. I wonder what I’ll find in the other jars on top of the cupboard?

An Assignment

Recently, in my writing session, I learned about a new (to me) writing pattern… syllables crescendo up and then decrescendo back down. In my poem that follows, I started with two syllables in the first line, and worked up to seven syllables, then repeated seven, and worked back down to two.

The house my dad built in northeast Minneapolis, where I grew up.

The prompt: Describe a day in the life of your childhood.

Get up. 
Eat breakfast. 
Do a few chores.
Go outside and play. 
The neighborhood gang waits. 
Play until it’s time for lunch,  
then go out to play some more. 
Go inside for supper. 
Go out until dusk. 
Then in, once more 
Go to bed. 
Repeat.

Obviously, this is exaggerated, but I do look back with fondness and gratefulness for my childhood. Which was so very different than my husband’s, who grew up on a farm in Pennsylvania. His was a happy childhood, too.

An Assignment

I’ve posted some short essays from my writing sessions before. I’m amazed where writing prompts lead, and I’m often surprised. For this assignment, the question was: “What object in your home have you been surprised to love more and more over the years?”

It took a little while before something shimmered to the top for me. And then it did. It is a photo of my two boys running through a farm field when they were younger. I had to look up date the photo was taken. It was 1988, and the boys would have been 6 and 4. I framed this photo back then, and have had it hanging in my house since. A few years ago, I went up to St. Olaf’s print center and had another color copy (8”x10”) made of the original because the first picture I had in the frame started to fade over the years.

I have the photo hanging in a hallway and I see it often. To me it represents some of the best years of my life, when my two wonderful young sons were little boys, healthy and happy, and growing and loving. I’m nostalgic for those times, those hugs, those gone-by-too-fast days when we were all together. I’m so thankful for the memories we made together as a family, and for photos I have of those times.

This picture was taken on the family farm in Pennsylvania. The boys are full of energy, runny and healthy, carefree, and so happy together. I think that best describes their childhood.

The photo is precious and makes me smile, time after time, and has become a treasured belonging in my home.

How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity. Psalm 133:1 (NASB)

Queen Esther

“For such a time as this” is, to me, the mantra of the book of Esther, in the Bible. The phrase means we are in this moment, at this time, for a reason…for such a time as this. I have stated this phrase several times over the years, in different situations.

I was excited to have the opportunity to go see the play Queen Esther at the magnificent Sight & Sound Theater, near Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

In front of the Sight & Sound Theatre in Pennsylvania,.

This theater performs Biblical plays in an amazing venue using extensive set designs and costumes, and professional actors/actresses, with wonderful music and singing. We always plan to attend a production at this 2,000 seat theater when we visit Pennsylvania. They opened another theatre in Branson, Missouri in 2008, and we have seen a few productions there also.

The theater was started by Glen Esheleman, a former member of the church where Gary grew up in Lancaster County. He initially started out by showing nature photographs set to beautiful music in a surround-sound setting. I remember going to one of these first productions called, The Living Waters, back in the 70’s. The theater is still in the family, and has grown into the successful and grand venue it is today.

Although Glen has retired, his family is still involved in the theater.

We enjoyed the tale of Queen Esther, along with our brother and sister-in law, and our friends from New Hampshire. It lived up to the theater’s reputation…a grand production of one story from the Bible. Afterwards, we went out for dinner at a small Amish-run diner for a delicious meal. It was a delightful afternoon/evening.

A Polo Match

The area we visit in Pennsylvania has a lot of dairy farms, therefore we see a lot of cows grazing in the meadows. We see horses pulling buggies, but not many in the fields, so I was surprised to see a sign posted along the road stating, “Polo Match Today 2:30 pm” with an arrow showing which direction to go. I said out loud, “I want to go to that”. When I told the others, we all (4 of us) decided to go to watch the polo match that Saturday afternoon.

Daryl (Gary’s brother) and Gary knew about “Forney Field” where the polo match was to be held. The land was donated by their great uncle…their grandmother’s brother, Benjamin Forney. Since the game of polo is usually played on Sunday afternoons, Ben Forney was considered a “black sheep” of the family for promoting the sport (Sunday is a day of rest). It was fun to learn a little about Ben and know the polo club he started back in the 1930’s is still going strong today.

We arrived at “Forney Field” and my brother-in-law mentioned we were family so they let us in for free. We sat in the general admission section, at a front row table under a tent. It was great viewing.

The announcer was nearby so Gary and Daryl went to talk with him and he was interested to hear a bit more about Ben Forney. Then he announced to the audience that the nephews of Ben Forney were in the audience. It was quite comical, but we had a lot of fun.

We learned a little about the game too, from the announcer who was an ex-polo player and enthusiastic promoter of the sport. He filled us in on a few details of the game…like the time periods are called “chukkers” and the team’s goal post changes after each score, to allow fairness with wind and sun distractions.

We were watching a tournament game. All the payers in this game were women, ages 13-47. The players are amazing to watch…galloping with the horses while reins in one hand and a long handled, mallet in the other, trying to hit the “ball”. There are four players on each team.

We had been to a polo match in Minnesota, years and years ago, and I have always wanted to go watch the majestic game again. Never did I think I would go to one in Pennsylvania, a couple miles from my brother-in-law’s house.

The horses after the game, behind the scenes.

Lancaster County

Lancaster County Pennsylvania is a unique spot in the US. My husband grew up on a small dairy farm in the rolling hills of this southeastern county of Pennsylvania, surrounded by more small dairy farms. It is very picturesque. There are a lot of Amish, Mennonites and Brethren that have farms and businesses and add to the uniqueness of this county in Pennsylvania.

Beautiful small (and large) farm markets are everywhere and we saw teams of mules in the fields, and horse and buggy’s on the streets. There are covered bridges, immaculate gardens, and narrow roads. And many, many beautiful old buildings and barns and houses.

Erb’s historic covered bridge (1887), on the backroads of Lancaster Co., PA.

One of the many farmer’s markets we saw on our drives.

A hard way of doing farm work, but looks charming.

On Sunday the family gathered at Gary’s sister’s farm. It was fun to be together and visit with one another (and I love all food at a potluck). Gary’s sister and her husband are dairy farmers, and they live in the house her husband grew up in. It is a lovely, old limestone house, well maintained, and the engraved wall plaque dates it to 1788.

Wall plate imbedded into the limestone wall…1788.

Each time we visit Pennsylvania we go see the farm where my husband grew up. A Mennonite family bought it thirty years ago. They have electricity, but are not allowed to drive cars…so they get around with the horse and buggy.

They are kind folks, and always welcome us into their home and invite us to look at all the changes they’ve made around the farm. They have a modern milking parlor, but do not make use of the data collection feature because they do not have a computer.

A previous photo of Gary’s childhood farm. photo by gb

Another farm we visited this year was a farm that had four generations of Bollinger’s living on it, from 1855 to 1998. The farm house and buildings were bought by a local man who restored the home and barn to its original appearance, and it is stunning.

The restored barn that once was owned by four generations of the Bollinger family. We know the barn was built prior to 1830.

It was wonderful to see all he had done. For example, the brick house had been painted with three layers of white paint and it was stripped to the original brick, and repointed (grout redone).

The beautifully, restored house next to a creek.

Another example is the inside of the barn. It was refurbished and they added a restroom and have family gatherings and church events in it. We are grateful he and his wife are enjoying this historic place, and at times with their 41 grandchildren!

Inside the old, restored barn…a wonderful event space for the family,.

Repainted barn door with original, iron hardware.

The barn is also re-landscaped on the outside.

There is so much history in the area. Gary likes researching his genealogy, and has traced his roots back to Rudolph Bollinger who arrived in Pennsylvania from Switzerland around 1720.

Julius Sturgis Pretzel Bakery, founded in 1861, is the first commercial pretzel bakery in America, in Lititz, PA.

The Lititz Inn and Spa, built in 1764, an historic inn in Lititz, PA.

An old church near Linden Hall, an all girl’s school, founded in 1746, in Lititz, PA.

We enjoyed seeing friends who drove down from New Hampshire and joined us for a couple of days. It was fun showing them around.

It’s always proper to eat some local fare when visiting this area, such as shoo-fly pie, tomato pie, and lots and lots of ice cream from the local dairies. Not too hard to do!

Another restored door on the old Bollinger barn.

50th Class Reunions

We’ve been busy traveling the last few weeks…to the north shore and then to Pennsylvania. My husband grew up in Pennsylvania and it’s always fun to go to visit. Our last visit was in 2018 to attend a nephew’s wedding.

This year the big draw was his 50^th high school class reunion…actually his 50+1 since it was scheduled for last year (class of 1970) but was canceled due to the pandemic. It was rescheduled for October 2, near Ephrata, PA. He graduated from Ephrata High School – EHS.

My 1971 high school class reunion was scheduled for October 9, 2021 so we made sure we were back to Minnesota in time to attend my reunion. I graduated from Edison High School – EHS.

We were both reluctant to sign up for our reunions. It was the first time attending a high school reunion for both of us. As we looked at our year books we both had trouble remembering the many folks we knew so well fifty years ago. We both wondered why we were going. But we both followed through, and were glad we went.

Ephrata High School 1970 classmates at the 50th reunion.

Gary’s class was about 220 and 46 had died. He had about 60 classmates come to the reunion.

Someone from Gary’s class put together a nice display of all those who had passed away from the class of 1970.

Ephrata’s event went well…a good social hour and dinner, and then a two-piece band that played oldies from those high school years. People were dancing …including us (for a couple of songs). Unfortunately, there were no nametags at his reunion…I did not understand that decision!

My nametag. Nametags helped a lot when greeting people.

My class was about 480 and 60 had died. There were about 120 classmates that came to my reunion. The nametags for our event featured our senior class picture.

This was a display with the names and photos of the classmates who have passed away from Edison’s High School class of 1971.

The Edison class reunion also had a nice social hour and a good dinner. The alumni marching band marched in and played a few tunes. There was a short program, and there was a roll call; we stood up when our name was called. I appreciated that – it was a good way to know who was in attendance.

The Edison High School Alumni Marching Band.

The funniest thing for me was we were reminded of “Weiner Winks” a food we had in the lunch line back in the day. It was a hotdog wrapped in bread and cheese and baked in the oven.

I reconnected with several people and was surprised how many I knew (after looking at their nametag!)

There was a DJ (a classmate) playing oldies and taking requests, and some people danced.

There was a raffle…I bought one ticket, and won a beautiful hand-made travel bag.

Both of us commented on how the folks at the reunions looked old…as do we. HA!

I had decided if ever I was going to attend a reunion the 50th would be the one…I’m glad I did. I learned this will be the last organized reunion of my class.

I am reminded of a quote by Walt Whitman that seems applicable to our reunion stories….“We were together. I forget the rest.”

A small group of some classmates together, all through Kindergarten to 12th grade.

We were both glad we showed up at our reunions, and we were together again with folks who were once a big part of our lives. We’ll forget the rest.

Sight & Sound Theatre

While in Pennsylvania, visiting my husband’s family, we often take in a show at the Sight & Sound Theatre in near-by Lancaster.

The founder of Sight & Sound Theatre, Glen Eshelman, grew up on a dairy farm and attended the same country church that my husband attended in his childhood. Glen started painting landscapes when he was a boy and then started taking photographs to paint and then photography became his passion.

This passion prompted Glen to start showing nature slides set to music, to church groups, and this is how Sight & Sound began back in 1964.

The Thursday night performance we attended was sold out. Wednesday night was our first choice when we ordered tickets before we left on our trip, but that performance was already sold out. The theater holds 2,000 seats.

Today the theaters (there are two: one in Lancaster PA, and one in Branson MO which opened in 2008) feature full-length Biblical story productions with professional actors and actresses, outstanding costumes, professional musicians, live animals, all performed with realistic time-period backdrops and props on a 300-foot panoramic stage. The performances are so elaborate they continually perform the same show for a year. It is difficult for me to describe the brilliance of these productions.

It was unbelievable how believable they made the water look on stage. The disciples were in an actual boat on stage…and the wind was blowing throughout the audience in their seats. Throughout the performance animals were on stage and in the aisles, and doves flew overhead.

This year we saw the production Jesus. I love this description from the brochure:

“What you are about to experience is not a history lesson on the most famous person ever to walk the earth. It is not even necessarily a story of Jesus’ life. It’s a story of Jesus’ love, which we believe, is life.”

The production was over-the-top wonderful.

Click on this link to learn more about this incredible theater experience.