Farm Show features vets, sculpture

(Check out our online slideshow of the Farm Show) It's not often that Penn and the phrase "Meat goat competition" can be reasonably mentioned in the same breath. From Jan. 11 to Jan. 18, however, at the 87th Annual Pennsylvania Farm Show in Harrisburg, Penn was represented both by an official delegation from the School of Veterinary Medicine and through graduates of the school who, pursuing careers in raising, breeding or caring for animals, made it a point not to miss the nation's largest indoor farm show. The permanent Farm Show Complex housed educational presentations, vendors' booths, livestock competitions and a rodeo arena on its 1 million square feet of floor space. An 800-pound butter sculpture, ironically depicting a dairy cow, also greeted visitors entering the main exhibition room. "I'm particularly gratified just to see kids staring at it," Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Press Secretary Steve Wagner joked. Last year, in honor of the tragedies of Sept. 11, the butter sculpture represented rescue personnel, including a soldier, policeman and fireman. Though gradually fading into the past, a Sept. 11 theme ran thick through many vendor's wares. Some featured the number 93 superimposed over eagles or American flags in remembrance of the flight that crashed in rural Pennsylvania. "There is a new awareness, a constant reminder that we could be right in the middle of it," Wagner said. Sept. 11 worked its way into the University's booth, as presentations on its walls featured Penn veterinarians working with rescue dogs during search-and-rescue operations at Ground Zero. Promoting Penn, or at least differentiating the University from Penn State, was one of the delegation's primary objectives. "Everybody in Philadelphia knows who we are.... People out here don't," said Jeanie Robinson-Pownall, communications coordinator at the Vet School's New Bolton Center. "And then there's always that confusion between the University of Pennsylvania, known as Penn, and Penn State.

"People think Penn State has a veterinary school, and it doesn't," Robinson-Pownall continued. "We're the only one in Pennsylvania. "It's tough for us to be known along the entire eastern seaboard and have this confusion in our own state." Pennsylvania's Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, Christian Herr, felt that Penn's reputation didn't need any help. "Penn Vet is tops," he said. "For vet school, there really isn't anywhere else to go." Robinson-Pownall also expressed a desire to interest the younger members of the crowd in careers in veterinary medicine. "These are practical kids, nice kids with good manners," Robinson-Pownall mused, glancing at the booth's carpet, "even though they've got manure on their boots." Even if they never become doctors of veterinary medicine, animal-savvy youths have a number of career options. "They can be farriers, do technician work, nuclear medicine," Robinson-Pownall explained. "There's a lot of different things that can be done." Although security was high, especially as part of the complex will be used to house incoming Governor Ed Rendell's inaugural ball, the show ran smoothly. Indeed, even though the event broke attendance records, attracting 150,000 people on opening day, fair-goers remained peaceable and orderly. "About 10 lost kids a day" was how State Trooper David White summed up his security duties. Another face from the New Bolton Center, Associate Dean Bruce Rappoport, also participated in the show's draft horse competition. Julie Staver, a graduate of both the College and the Vet School -- as well as a member of the bronze medal-winning U.S. women's field hockey team during the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics -- was in attendance with her sheep. "The farm show captures a way of life... you forget about when you're in Philadelphia," she said.

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