Westmoreland square dancers, rabbits, cheese recognized at state farm show

Fancy footwork and big ears were behind some of the prizes awarded to Westmoreland County residents at this week’s Pennsylvania State Farm Show.

Two teams from the Westmore­land Squares 4-H Club earned blue ribbons for taking all the right steps in their square dancing performances. And a North Huntingdon girl saw two of her rabbits take top honors in the English Lop breed, known for its extra-long ears.

The roughly 50 squares of four couples each that took to the floor of Harrisburg’s New Holland Arena in this year’s dance competition each started with a perfect score that got whittled down by judges for any missteps.

“These are not just simple do-si-dos or promenades,” said Kathy Noel, one of the 22-member club’s adult leaders. “The calls can sometimes be very advanced.”

That includes the “teacup chain,” a complex figure the teams performed flawlessly during the last of the competition’s five dances.

“It’s almost like a kaleidoscope,” said Noel. “They’re going and switching partners constantly. If they would have made a mistake, it would have broken down the whole square.”

Unlike other 4-H clubs, there is no age limit for participating in the Westmoreland Squares.

“It’s considered a community club,” said Noel. “We’ve had adults in the past. It’s whoever we can get together.”

Billy Weimer, 16, who lives on his family’s Loyalhanna Township farm, has shown livestock at local fairs and has been dancing with the Westmoreland Squares for nine years.

“We’re there to have a good time and dance a little bit,” Weimer said of the farm show. “I like hanging out with other kids and seeing friends.”

This year, Weimer’s main dance partner was another teen, but the previous year he was paired with a 5-year-old girl.

“It can get pretty challenging to get everybody to dance at the same level,” he said. “Working with younger kids, you have to help them along with things. It presents a whole new challenge, but it can make it more fun sometimes.

“Our squares are chalked out for each group of kids. If you scuff the chalk line, you get docked points.”

Each year, the Westmoreland Squares regroup in September and start weekly Sunday afternoon practices at Trinity United Church of Christ in Delmont. They usually demonstrate their dancing at the Mt. Pleasant Glass and Ethnic Festival and perform community service at the Delmont Apple ’n Arts Festival on the way to their annual goal: competing at the state farm show.

“It’s a commitment,” Noel said, noting it also keeps members physically active. “It’s a way to get your steps in in one night.”

Ribbons for rabbits

Nine-year-old twins Nick and Nora Roland of North Huntingdon danced with the Westmoreland Squares this week and also exhibited rabbits at the state show. The siblings additionally belong to the Sunshine 4-H Club, which their parents, Jason and Allison, assist as leaders.

Nick’s rabbits didn’t place this year, but Nora’s female English Lop rabbit Ophelia captured the Best of Breed ribbon while her male rabbit, Noggin, took the Best Opposite Sex of Breed honor. The latter award is given to the top entrant of the gender opposite of the Best of Breed winner.

The award-winning duo are among more than 20 rabbits Nora is raising either as pets or for competitive exhibition.

Of the two, Ophelia is more restless and frequently escapes from her cage. “She just wants to move around and go zip,” said Nora.

The show judges were more concerned about the quality of her fur and her ears, which span about 20 inches.

“Her ears are smooth and a good length,” Nora said, noting, “She’s only nine months old.”

Nora keeps her rabbits ready for another type of competition by guiding them to hop over low hurdles. “I get a little bit of lettuce to get them to hop,” she said.

She entered an English Spot rabbit in a hopping contest. But, her dad said, “It was beat out by half a second by another English Spot.”

Still, there will be many more shows to come, including one put on in February in Lancaster by the Pennsylvania State Rabbit Breeder’s Association.

Blue-ribbon brew

Vandergrift’s Allusion Brewing Company enjoyed the fruits of its labor at the state farm show, garnering a first-place nod in the specialty fruit beer category — for its cranberry peach cobbler sour. It’s one of six varieties in the company’s “cobbler” series of craft brews, which also includes a cherry-flavored beer.

Well take a sour beer base and, with fruit and spices added to it, it kind of tastes a little bit like a piece of pie ,” said John Bieranoski, co-owner and head brewer at Allusion.

Timing is everything when determining what beer to enter in the farm show, according to Robert Buchanan, Bieranoski’s partner in Allusion Brewing. He’s helping to prepare a second location in Allison Park that is slated to feature a kitchen, bar and live musical entertainment.

“We have a rotation of beers brewing constantly,” Buchanan said. “The categories for the competition change every year, so it really comes down to: Do we have a beer ready that fits into a category?

“The beer has to be submitted at the end of November, the judging happens in mid-December, and the winner is announced in the first week of January.”

This past summer, Allusion’s American light lager captured first place in the Indiana Brewers’ Cup, held in Indiana state. But Bieranoski said taking a prize at the Pennsylvania Farm Show comes with the added benefit of shining a spotlight on the company’s beverages before a more local audience.

“There is a large population in the state that has an interest in the farm show,” he said. “That gives us a nice local representation.”

This year’s blue ribbon in Harrisburg could become part of a winning tradition. At the 2023 state farm show, Allusion Brewing captured two first-place awards: for its key lime pie cobbler sour and for Dragon’s Thirst, a wheat beer.

Unity cheese honored

Another repeat farm show winner was The Creamery at Pleasant Lane Farms, which won Best of Show this year with its Young Gouda cheese, aged for eight weeks. .

“We were pleasantly surprised,” said Jason Frye, head cheesemaker and partner at the Unity creamery. “It’s a product we’re working hard on for regional use and, hopefully, some national distribution as well.

“We’re going for a very traditional Gouda flavor. We want it to be very smooth and very creamy. just starting to develop hints of caramel and nutty undertones.”

In various cheese categories, Pleasant Lane captured first-place wins with the Young Gouda and with its 1795 Reserve Farmstead Cheddar, along with second-place showings with its 1976 Reserve Aged Gouda and its Jalapeno Habanero Farmstead Cheddar. The two dates refer to the years when Frye’s ancestors began farming in Salem Township and when his family founded Pleasant Lane.

At last year’s farm show, Pleasant Lane achieved second best in show with the 1795 reserve cheddar and took first place in the cheddar, Colby and Monterey Jack category. At the 2022 show, it placed second with a Gouda variety while taking the top spot with its Quark spreadable soft cheese.

The latest awards come as Pleasant Lane is preparing to expand the creamery operations, adding a new brine tank with automatic features and converting a shipping container into an above-ground “cave,” for controlled aging of cheese. The improvements are supported by a grant of nearly $300,000 awarded by the Northeast Dairy Business Innovation Center in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“This will not just bolster our production, it will also ensure consistency of the very best quality cheeses,” said Frye.