SUMMIT STATION - The Schuylkill County Fair on Wednesday celebrated 100 years of 4-H clubs in the state with a visit from the first lady of Pennsylvania, cakes and towers of ice cream.
"We used nine three-gallon containers to make this one," Victoria Daubert, 22, of Pine Grove, said Wednesday night. With streams of chocolate syrup, Sarah Palerino, 14, of Schuylkill Haven, decorated the vanilla castle, which was quickly melting in the 80-degree heat.
They were among the representatives of Schuylkill County Dairy Promotion who distributed 30 gallons of vanilla ice cream donated by Turkey Hill to hundreds of people.
Boyer's Food Markets donated nine cakes to celebrate 4-H, which were cut up by fair volunteers and local dignitaries, following a special presentation at the M&T Stage.
State and county government officials were on hand to salute local 4-H programs and greet Susan Corbett, wife of Gov. Tom Corbett and a Pine Grove native.
Fair President Paul T. Kennedy invited Susan Corbett to the fair earlier this year and received a confirmation from her office Tuesday.
"I want to congratulate the 4-H group on their 100th anniversary," Corbett said before a crowd of 300.
Growing up in Pine Grove as Susan Manbeck, she graduated from Pine Grove Area High School in 1968. While she wasn't a member of a 4-H group, she said she was very aware of them and she has made numerous visits to the Schuylkill County Fair, which began in 1983.
Briana L. Shealer, Penn State Extension 4-H youth development coordinator, gave the crowd a quick introduction to the 4-H program in the county.
"We're celebrating 100 years of 4-H in Pennsylvania and Schuylkill County. Our theme this year is 'Rural Beginnings and Global Success,' which is what 4-H is all about," Shealer said.
According to 4-h.org, A.B. Graham started a youth program in Clark County, Ohio, in 1902, which is considered the birth of the 4-H program in the United States. The first club was called "The Tomato Club" or the "Corn Growing Club."
Jessie Field Shambaugh developed the clover pin with an H on each leaf in 1910, and by 1912, they were called 4-H clubs.
"And now we are a global success. We are more than just pigs, cows, horses and dairy. We are moving on to rocketry and other programs, like computer science and technology. We have evolved," Shealer said.
The 10 4-H Clubs in Schuylkill County, which are for children ages 8 to 18, are: Nature Explorers 4-H Club, 4-H Cloverbuds, Schuylkill Coal Crackers 4-H Horse Club, Bridle Wild 4-H Horse Club, Schuylkill County 4-H Program, Blue Mountain 4-H Livestock Club, Grassy Meadows 4-H Club, Schuylkill Stampede 4-H Livestock Club, South Schuylkill 4-H Dairy Club and West Penn 4-H Community Club.
"We have approximately 200 members in our 10 clubs; however, we reach more than 2,000 children in our school systems. And without our dedicated leaders, parents and the support system that you see up here on our stage, we would not be here for the past 100 years," Shealer said.
Among those in the crowd were representatives of local 4-H Clubs, holding up banners and wearing their colors.
To celebrate 100 years of 4-H, Shealer and 4-H volunteers have been working on a project to provide 30 fleece tie-knot blankets to nursing homes in Schuylkill County, according to Kim Morgan, vice president/secretary of Foundation for Agriculture and Resource Management, the parent organization of the Schuylkill County Fairgrounds.
"We do community service projects in our clubs. It's one of our goals, and we are doing a service project county-wide here at our fair. It's called 'Tying The Generations Together.' Our clubs and our community here at the fair are doing just that at the 4-H Building by tying blankets that we will donate to citizens around the county," Shealer said.
Shealer invited Corbett to tie a knot on one of those blankets.
In her speech, Corbett offered the crowd greetings from the governor.
"He asked me to tell you how proud he was to sign House Bill 761, which is a legislation that eliminates the inheritance tax on family farms and allow farmers to pass their land onto next generations without taxes that require they sell part of their properties. We were very proud to do it. It's a really important part of saving our farms," Corbett said.
As she strolled around the fairgrounds with her deputy chief of staff, Ashley Chunko, Harrisburg, Corbett noticed the numerous food vendors and the towers of ice cream being served up by the dairy promotion volunteers.
"The governor and I made the mistake of starting a diet on Monday, so I'm going to be challenged. So I think, since he's not here, I might be able to sneak a few things in. I'm definitely going to buy a 4-H T-shirt before I leave and see some of the exhibits," Corbett said.
She arrived at 5 p.m. and stayed until 8:30 p.m., Kennedy said.
"She very much enjoyed her visit and saw a lot of people from her past and enjoyed being here. She even visited the Civil War Road Show. She thought that was great," Kennedy said.
The Schuylkill County Fair will continue through Saturday. For information on the schedule, log on to www.schuylkillfair.com.