Ag Day proponents prove the show must go on

BY RICK HIDUK

Correspondent

“Ag Day is too big to be stopped by a snowstorm,” said Jeannette Vannan, assistant administrative assistant for the Penn State Extension, which served as the key sponsor for the event again this year. “It is a tradition on the first Friday of March.”

A powerful nor’easter blew up on the morning of March 2, keeping a number of vendors and visitors away from Elk Lake High School. Nonetheless, the 29th annual Susquehanna County Ag Day proceeded with a modified schedule.

Susquehanna County Dairy Promotion coordinator Evie Goff, who has participated every year, termed this year’s event as “one she will always remember,” as ferocious winds whipped heavy snow into two-foot drifts in the school parking lot. Goff was the top adult winner in the annual pie auction, when her apple, peach, blueberry pie sold to Charlie Clark for $210.

In order to get people back on the road toward home as quickly as possible, the itinerary for the day was condensed. But key elements of Ag Day were accomplished, including the annual legislative meeting of the Farm Bureau, attended by state representatives Tina Pickett and Jonathan Fritz and Susquehanna County Commissioner Betsy Arnold.

Both Susquehanna County 4-H and Dairy Promotion benefit from the proceeds of the pie auction, held shortly before the conclusion of the event. Youth winners and their buyers included: Kyle Bonavita, whose peanut butter pie sold to Sterling Technology for $160; Austin Bonavita, whose banana split pie was purchased by Rep. Fritz for $300; and Ava Hughes, whose lemon cheesecake pie sold to William Goff for $220.

In addition to Evie Goff, adult winners were Melinda Keeney, whose apple crumb pie was purchased by Willie Keeney for $135, and Lori Farley, whose crunch caramel apple pie sold to Earth Armour Mats for $145. Auctioneer Ronnie Sands conducted the sale with assistance from Diary Promotion representatives, including Alivia Hughes.

Vannan has no doubt that Susquehanna County Ag Day will survive Mother Nature’s poor timing this year, and that the 30th annual event can be the biggest ever. The staff of NAPA Auto Parts were taking part in the event for the first time on Friday, Vannan noted, and they were already looking forward to Ag Day 2019 as they left with their pie purchases.