4 H Club

Four young women will compete in the Carroll County Farm Queen contest on Aug. 2 -- opening day of the county 4-H/FFA Fair.The winner will serve as an ambassador for agriculture in the county in the coming year and will be eligible to compete in the state contest Aug. 29 and 30 for a $2,000 scholarship.Candidates will be judged on their poise and knowledge of agriculture, said contest coordinator Jane Wolfe of Woodbine.Mrs. Wolfe said she met Tuesday with the candidates to discuss issues facing farmers today, such as property and water rights, animal welfare and the use of pesticides.

In a little over two weeks, tens of thousands of people will converge in West Friendship to enjoy the Howard County Fair. They will check out the livestock, visit the exhibits, have fun on the rides and partake of all the traditional foods - fried dough, snowballs, hot dogs and french fries. Most are too busy having fun to give any thought to what it takes to put on the eight-day event scheduled Aug. 2-9. Fair organizers, 4-H Club members, vendors, farmers and community groups spend countless hours getting everything ready.

Christina Schulze, known as Chrissy, really enjoys 4-H. Her participation in the Poplar 4-H Club, of which she is a two-term president, has won her a state 4-H Clover award for leadership and a seat representing Howard County on the State 4-H Teen Council.Members of Teen Council provide leadership for the State 4-H Teen Focus conference and for 4-H promotional activities at the Maryland State Fair. Chrissy began a two-year term at the 1995 State 4-H Teen Focus last week at Washington College in Chestertown.

County recreation planners will make an appearance in Linthicum today to soothe a community that has been fighting to preserve its equestrian center, reassuring them that the renovated site should reopen by March.Tom Angelis, director of the county's Department of Recreation and Parks, said he will speak at a "celebration" at the Andover Equestrian Center this afternoon to update the community on the $400,000 in work on the center.Neighborhood and 4-H Club leaders in Linthicum lobbied Angelis not to close the center permanently in January, after he announced in November that it would be shut temporarily while the county evaluated its operations.

TANEYTOWN resident Angie Rasche is this year's Carroll County Farm Bureau's Farm Queen. "It's a huge honor and I take a lot of pride in it," said Angie, the daughter of Mary and Bill Rasche. "I know the title will give me a lot of opportunities." The 17-year-old was named Farm Queen during the Carroll County 4-H/FFA Fair last month. She became involved with 4-H when she joined Rolling Clover 4-H Club nine years ago. Initially, Angie was involved in crafts, baking and photography. The past four years she has been involved with livestock.

More than 70,000 people are expected to attend the annual Harford County Farm Fair from Thursday through Sunday at the Harford County Equestrian Center on North Tollgate Road in Bel Air.The fair, in its eighth year, has become increasingly popular, transforming the Harford 4-H Club from a struggling group to one of the fastest-growing 4-H clubs in the state.Last year, 4-H'ers had about 2,200 exhibits, and the number is up this year, said Elke Neuberger, chairwoman of the 4-H fair committee.

AS 4-H ENTHUSIASTS, the Howard County Fair Board and eager exhibitors prepare for the 1996 Howard County Fair, the Maryland State 4-H leadership honored several area 4-H dynamos.Jennifer Bly and Susan Luchansky will attend the National 4-H Youth Conference in Memphis, Tenn., this fall. They won trips to the event by submitting outstanding record books and being interviewed about their work in 4-H.Jennifer carries projects in beef, sheep, and swine. She tenaciously maintains record books for all three projects and combines them into a fourth book for an agriculture project.

WITH THE Howard County Fair just three weeks away, the Biegel family is busy preparing animals for the competition. Three of the family's four children are raising livestock to show at the fair under the auspices of the Dayton 4-H club. The Biegels, who live near the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in North Laurel, are veterans. They've been a 4-H family for five years. Paula Biegel says it all started with her oldest son Matt's interest in rabbits. Having joined the Dayton 4-H, he raised and bred a few. But the big push toward animal husbandry came when Paula noticed that the family's 2-acre back yard looked a bit weedy and was full of ticks.

THE HOWARD County Fair is a festival, a competition, a place to learn about agriculture, a marketplace and a forum. It is also an exhibition and a wonderfully informal social gathering.On Saturday, midway rides and concessions open. Exhibitors bring their animals, plants, baked goods, crafts and much more for judging and display. Judges begin to award ribbons.On Sunday, grand opening day, you can see contests all day and enjoy a parade at 2 p.m. Stay for more contests and attractions such as a precision performance by the Spur and Stirrup Club's 22-member Mounted Drill Team at 6: 30 p.m. and 7: 30 p.m. Joan Bosmans coaches this group.

Dairy cooperative plans annual meetingThe Waynesboro and Central Maryland locals of Atlantic Dairy Cooperative's District 10 will sponsor their annual dinner meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the New Midway Fire Hall in Woodsboro.Taneytown dairy farmers Karl D. and Bonnie L. Wantz will receive a quality premium award for qualifying for the cooperative's quality milk bonus all 12 months of the 1992-1993 fiscal year.James S. Fraher, the cooperative's economist and the dinner's speaker will report on the cooperative's 1992-1993 fiscal year and dairy industry issues.