Farm Equipment

Excess levy rate approved MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - The Berkeley County Board of Education unanimously approved excess levy rates for the 1999 fiscal year Monday night. At a 5 p.m. April 21 meeting at Hedgesville High School, the board will hear and consider any objections before giving final approval. Taxpayers won't face an increase under the proposed rates, which will appear on the May 12 ballot. If passed, the levy will bring in an estimated $10.5 million per year, said James Welton, assistant superintendent and treasurer for Berkeley County schools.

BOONSBORO - The Robert Martz dairy farm seems like a regal outpost along a straight swath of Mapleville Road. A long lane leads up to the house, and barns and outbuildings are spread across the property. This has been his home since 1951, Martz said. He was 7 years old when his family moved here - another generation raised on a farm. "We've been farmers since Adam and Eve," he joked. Now, at the age of 64, Martz has decided to step aside and let his son take over.

WAYNESBORO, Pa. - Watching as Depression-era farm equipment drawn by a team of two horses and two mules was used to cut a field of wheat Saturday, Albert Williams figured his modern equipment saved him two hours in the morning and many more in the evening. But while it illustrated how much more work it used to be to cut grain, the public demonstration at Renfrew Museum and Park also made Williams nostalgic. "They quit this kind of stuff just about the time I was getting started," said Williams, 58, who farms a beef cattle and grain operation in Downsville.

HARRISBURG - Hundreds of thousands of visitors will gather for the 2007 Pennsylvania Farm Show, which opens Jan. 6 at the Farm Show Complex & Expo Center here, Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff said. "The farm show's appeal is broad as it offers something for everyone, while showcasing our state's number one industry, agriculture," Wolff said. "Show exhibitors compete in everything from cows to cooking to floral arranging, with the added bonus of providing an educational experience for visitors who have not experienced life on the farm.

HARRISBURG - Country music recording artist Michael Peterson will perform at the 2007 Pennsylvania Farm Show on Jan. 10, Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff said. Peterson's performance, starting at 7:30 p.m. in the Large Arena, is to include such signature songs as "Modern Man" and "From Here to Eternity," which earned him his first No. 1 hit. Wolff said Peterson also entertains audiences as a motivational speaker. He has been a featured speaker and singer at both the national 4-H dairy youth and national FFA youth conventions, Wolff said.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - The Franklin County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday awarded a $285,410 contract to a Fort Littleton, Pa., construction company to reconstruct a bridge on Etter Road over the Conococheague Creek. George S. Hann and Sons submitted the lowest of the four bids the county received to rebuild the one-lane bridge, according to Assistant County Administrator Kelly Livermore. The bridge is on the boundary between Hamilton and Guilford townships, Commissioner G. Warren Elliott said.

County officials broke ground Tuesday on a second building for the Washington County Rural Heritage Museum. The building will house all of the museum's large farm equipment, a threshing machine and several exhibits, according to Richard Schukraft, fundraising coordinator for the Agricultural Education Center. The museum owns corn shellers, mowers and rakes, corn crackers, plows, planters and many other items that are crowding the museum's single building, Schukraft said. The Washington County Commissioners attended the event and participated in the groundbreaking ceremony.

County officials broke ground Tuesday on a second building for the Washington County Rural Heritage Museum. The building will house all of the museum's large farm equipment, a threshing machine and several exhibits, according to Richard Schukraft, fundraising coordinator for the Agricultural Education Center. The museum owns corn shellers, mowers and rakes, corn crackers, plows, planters and many other items that are crowding the museum's single building, Schukraft said. The Washington County Commissioners attended the event and participated in the groundbreaking ceremony.

SHARPSBURG - About 40 children, with some guidance from parents, planted potatoes the old-fashioned way near here Saturday. The Friends of the Washington County Rural Heritage Museum held its annual potato-planting event. Percheron Draft horses Sam and Molly were loaned to help plow, harrow, furrow and cover over the planted potatoes. The horses are owned by Jamie and Cristi Baker of Big Pool. Also donating to the effort was Wm. Gower & Son, which gave 100 pounds of seed potatoes.

About 80 firefighters from departments in Funkstown, Boonsboro, Williamsport and Halfway responded to a barn fire at 18218 Rench Road south of Hagerstown late Monday, Funkstown Volunteer Fire Co. Chief Paul Hottinger said. With the owner's permission, Hottinger said firefighters intended to let the fire consume the barn. "We're just going to let it burn. I'm sure we'll probably be out here again (Tuesday). I'm sure it will rekindle, but thank the Lord for giving us rain," Hottinger said.