Hoosick Grange met on July 13. It was Dairy Princess Night, and David Schmidt was in charge of the program. David introduced Rensselaer County Dairy Princess, Miss Marilyn Lamb. Marilyn told us she grew up on a farm in Johnsonville. She will be a senior at Hoosic Valley High School this fall. She has been a 4-H member for 10 years. She owns registered Holsteins and shows them at the Schaghticoke Fair.
As Dairy Princess she has attended many events like the tour of Herrington Farms in Brunswick and the parades at Schaghticoke, Troy, Hoosick Falls and Berlin. She attended Dairy Day at the NYS Legislature, was at the Marpe’s Country Store for Ice Cream Month, attended the Rensselaer County Farmers Market in North Greenbush, and, with help from her court, did many school programs. Marilyn introduced Miss Carolyn Cipperly, Rensselaer County Dairy Ambassador. Carolyn helped make a delicious milk punch and serve it. It was cool and delicious. Marilyn reminded everyone to get 3 servings of dairy every day. One way is to “Refuel with Chocolate Milk.” We thanked Marilyn and helpers and David Schmidt for the great program.
At our June 22 meeting we were supposed to go to Mapledale Farm, but it rained hard and that was cancelled. Instead we stayed at grange and worked on the fair booth.
On June 29 we went to the Mapledale Farm for a tour and a picnic. Paul and Gerry Green welcomed us. Gerry showed us 40 calves that were being fed when we got there. The calves were fed milk, grain and water. They were beautiful. Then we went to the barn and saw cows come into the milking parlor, 10 to a side, to be milked. We asked many questions. We saw the giant bulk milk tanks. The first crew of workers starts milking in the morning around 5 am and finishes around 11 am or 12 pm We saw the second crew start milking at 5 pm and were gone by the time they were finished. We saw a sample of what the cows eat, saw tractors and the slurry manure system. After our tour we had our picnic with Paul and Gerry and visited with them. The Greens were great hosts and we thanked them.
Our next meeting is on July 27. Program chairperson is Betty Kipp.
On August 3 Rensselaer County Pomona Grange will meet at Center Brunswick Grange at 7 pm with a covered dish supper.