Dale Butcher was in the Troy FFA in his high school days and located his picture in the FFA display. Ricky Benson visited the Sale Barn on Saturday. He used to pen calves during sales. Ally Allen danced with Pam Dillon. Pat Barrett taught Ag. in Troy for a few years. Paul Starkey belonged to the FFA in Mansfield in 1950 and brought his "blue jacket" to the Sale Barn event. Tricia Hojnowski and Casey Baxter of the Troy FFA with their historical display at the Sale Barn. Ben Engel with the Canton FFA display.
Jack Huffman was a student of Prof. Guillaume at Troy High School and the memorabilia from those days brought back memories, including the time Mr. Guillaume used a practical lesson in static electricity to "shock" a sleeping student awake! Signs such as this once were common around Pennsylvania but few can be found today. This Troy sign is in the Sale Barn. It says that Troy was named by Churchill Barnes, Esq. who was a native of Troy NY. That Troy was named for the ancient city in Asia Minor. On October 18 the Troy Sale Barn was host to an event celebrating the history of the Future Farmers of America in Troy, Canton and Bradford County, and present FFA members from Troy, Canton and Athens took part with historical displays and explanations of their current programs. A highlight of the day was when members of FFA from years gone by provided recollections of their days in the organization. The many guests enjoyed hot sausage sandwiches and hotdogs prepared by the Bastion family, and many people enjoyed browsing through the FFA displays and some exhibits highlighting the history of the Sale Barn and area farms. There also were some video tapes of some Ted Mack Amateur Hour broadcasts from the 1950s featuring performers from Troy. Bill Bower served as Master of Ceremonies, and at eleven o'clock he began the program by expressing admiration for the skills of the FFA teachers, who "taught the best farming methods." He then introduced three local FFA teachers, who explained a bit of their backgrounds and the current programs at their schools. Nathan Schanbacher of Troy was raised on a farm in Liberty and is in his third year of teaching at Troy High School. The Troy FFA program was founded in 1913, and is the oldest continuously run Ag program in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. "This is a testimony to this town's commitment to agriculture," Mr. Schanbacher said. "There is a huge tradition of agriculture and agricultural education here, which go hand-in-hand." The program continues to thrive, and has served 144 students in the past year. "Agriculture is not what it once was, but it still is strong," Mr. Schanbacher said, "The number of farms is down but there are still many careers in agriculture. I am proud to teach in Bradford County…this barn is a place to display our history. We want to make sure agriculture and the FFA continue in the future, and held in high esteem." Tom Hojnowski, FFA teacher at Canton, was born in Hamburg, PA and said he worked on farms as a young man. "I made hay where Cabela's stands today.," he said. He gave a brief history of the FFA chapter in Canton. It started in 1935 as the Harry Gates Chapter, and the club is searching for history of Mr. Gates and his involvement in the birth of the chapter as well as other information about the program under Kermit Hess, who taught at CHS from 1934 to 1968 and began the FFA program there. Mr. Hojwoski said that the Canton FFA chapter stopped in 1998 but was revived in 2002. "We are one of the smaller programs, with only 35 to 40 students, so we run the students thin because there is so much to do. A lot of our Ag students are not 'farm students'." He said that they understand the value of Genetically Modified Organisms, and stressed, "We need farmers, and want to make sure we get young people into farming. We have a growing population and we have to feed them." Dave Steinfelt, FFA teacher at Athens, grew up on a dairy farm in Little Marsh and attended school at Cowanesque. He graduated from Penn State in 2002 and has been at Athens ever since then. "Bradfford County FFA is really active, he said, "With multiple state officers from Northeast and Canton, and now Mara Tate of Athens serves as a state FFA officer. Mara is a "city girl," and Mr. Schanbacher has dubbed her "the First Street Farmer." "We appreciate all the support we get from the county," he told the audience, and added a pitch for the FFA Fruit Sale, which is something all the local chapters are participating in at the present time. Bill Brasington of the Historical Society unveiled the Sale Barn thermometer, showing the progress of donations. "All we need is one person to buy a sausage sandwich for $300,000, and we will be at our goal," he joked. The thermometer was made by THS student Grace Monroe. Mr. Bower then mentioned the legendary Ag teachers from Canton and Troy, including Prof. Guillaume and Sam Davey from Troy and Kermit Hess from Canton. Dilmon Dunbar earned the Keystone Farmer Degree in 1946 under Mr. Guillaume. Mr. Bower remembers the first time he was asked by Mr Davey to speak at an event - which turned out to be to the entire student body. "I would have rather faced four drunken jacklighters than to have spoken to so many people," he said. He introduced Mary Berryman, Sam Davey's daughter, who said a few words. "I came to the Sale Barn with Dad. The FFA boys were our protectors. Dad was a born teacher. He visited farms every summer, and he loved Ag and the FFA, He was very dedicated. I hope that today's teachers will become the This is the design for the Sale Barn renovations. In addition to an auditorium area and some historical exhibits, the building will be rented for dances and other public events. Mary Davey Berryman 'Sam Daveys' of the future," she said. Mr. Bower remembers the many times that the FFA boys helped with duck boxes, with stream clean up and other tasks, including moving heavy picnic tables at Mt. Pisgah Park. As it turned out both Donny Fitzwater and Mr. Bower ended up getting chucked into the lake by the FFA boys. When Mr. Davey found out he started to get upset, but Mr. Bower assured him it was all in fun and that ended the matter. Several men spoke about Mr. Davey, "including Loren Roy, who graduated in 1954. "It was a great pleasure to know Sam." Mr. Roy explained how the FFA turned roosters into capons, and also recalled Neal Mack, who taught Ag Shop in Troy for many years. Mr. Roy said, "I earned the American Farmer Degree in 1957, and I am still milking cows…I milked them this morning!" Glenn Dunbar also graduated in 1954, and recalled, "Loren was the best farmer in our group. Mr. Davey was a fine man. He did get red in the face once, when he caught me running across the table tops, but he sent me to detention for a week." Charles Allen recalled the sheep and lamb sales in the Troy Sale Barn. "We had one sale a month, October, November and December, and a man from the state would grade the lambs. The sales were done over the telephone by conference call, and I was the weighmaster. Mr. Allen also warned the American Farmer degree, and traveled to Kansas City with a fellow from Mifflinburg and their pregnant wives. After an adventuresome trip in his 1951 Ford, the were put up in a Kansas City hotel, where his wife went into labor. They made it home before she gave birth, and that girl, Penny Allen, became Bradford County Dairy Princess eighteen years later. Mr. Allen told the FFA students, "You are members of one of the greatest organizations. Wear that Blue Coat with pride." Bill Brasington remembered Mr. Davey and his FFA boys digging holes for shrubbery at the Croman school. "When you see the trees on that island in the parking lot, think about Mr. Davey and his boys." Dean Jackson, THS class of 1980, also had praise for Mr. Davey, "He got the shyest boy in Bradford County to get up and make a speech…I won the regionals." "We had eight Keystone Degree winners in 1980. Sam was a class act. [You students] don't know what a smart decision it was to join FFA." Atty. Pat Barrett also once taught Ag at Troy, and remembered "writing passes for kids to come down to the Sale Barn or for kids to go to the banks to cash their checks. This barn was very important. It brought a lot of money into this community. Now the FFA teaches as many women as men. It was 99% men in my day." After the speakers were finished and photographs taken, raffle winners were chosen. Bill Bower was organizer of the FFA event. Loren Roy Glenn Dunbar Charles Allen Dean Jackson