Penn State University
324 Henning
Building
University Park, PA 16802
Welcome Back Picnic - September 2003
How do you start what you hope will be one of the best school years ever? Well in our club you start it with FOOD. The Penn State Block and Bridle Club had a welcome back picnic at Sunset Park on September 11th to start the year off right, which did not allow anyone to go away hungry. We had over 100 people at the picnic between the returning members, incoming freshman, transfer students, as well as a few others we convinced to come check the club out. The club served hotdogs, hamburgers, and drinks. The rest of the covered dishes, salads, and deserts came from the returning members. This was the first activity of the club for the school year, so it was very important that we showed our new friends and possible future fellow members that not only do we work hard, but we play hard as well.
Fall IM Sports – September 2003
For the 2003 fall semester, the Block and Bridle Club fielded two intramural football teams, a co-ed team and a men’s squad. For the first game of the season, the co-ed team had a turnout of 31 players. While not everyone had played football before, or any other team sport for that matter, everyone saw a good deal of playing time and above all had a good time. The post season hopes quickly vanished, but both teams represented the club in an admirable fashion.
Keystone International Livestock Exposition – October 2003
Every fall semester Block and Bridle members help out with the Keystone International Livestock Expo, which means getting up bright and early to head down to Harrisburg. Each year a Collegiate and 4-H/FFA Livestock Judging contest is held at KILE and Block and Bridle helps for the day. This contest allows members to gain experience working with livestock and learn how to facilitate judging events. Acting as group leaders, moving and holding livestock, running cards and tallying scores are just a few of the duties the club members help to perform during the contest. The event ran smoothly thanks to the support and dedication of the Penn State Block and Bridle club.
Karaoke Fun Auction – October 2003
The 2003 Karaoke Fun Auction was held at the Ag Arena on Friday, October 17th. This year’s auction kicked off to a good start with a free meal provided by the Penn State Meats Lab, local grocery stores, and the club. The Fun Auction is a traditional event held each fall as the primary fundraiser for the Little International Livestock Exposition. The auction sold over 75 items ranging from a hand crafted gliding chair to nearly $500 in tools, not to mention over 30 services provided by club members from lawn care, farm work, to car detailing. Many of the items were donated by local businesses and members. This was a first for the auction to have this grand total of items; however, this isn’t the only change for the auction it also nearly doubled the total amount raised from the previous years, making a little over $3000.
Fall Meat Sale – November 2003
This past fall the B&B club members joined together to have a very successful meat sale. This is the biggest fundraiser that the club does every year, and it occurs in both fall and spring semesters. Last year the club was able to offer their meat products throughout the University Park campus by placing orders on the Internet, and this year the order form web page was a bigger success. The club hopes to offer this feature in the future in order to inform students, faculty, and staff about the Penn State Block and Bridle club and the meat sale. The profits from this year’s meat sale will go toward National Convention, B&B annual scrapbook, and Little I.
Heifer Project International – November 2003
During the fall semester, members of the Block and Bridle Club decided to take a collection for this cause. Members had the honor of presenting their donation in person to Heifer Project International Mid-Atlantic Regional Office Representative, Umaru Sule, at a February meeting. Mr. Sule spoke about his personal experiences with Heifer and thanked the club for making a difference in someone else’s life.
Winter Semi-Formal – December 2003
This was truly an enchanting night. As the Block and Bridle and Dairy Science members got gussied up for the evening the snow began to fall bringing along the magic of the Christmas season. The annual Holiday Semi Formal was held at the Tussey Mountain Ski Resort. The snow made for a majestic scene while we enjoyed dinner and the good company of friends and faculty, followed by a boot stompin’ good time. The night would not have been complete without a delightful visit from Santa Clause, who brought goodies and toys for a few selected girls and boys. The night ended early in hopes that everyone would make it home safely through the blizzard. As Santa laid a finger aside his nose with a nod of his head up the chimney, he rose, calling out Merry Christmas and safe travels to all.
National Convention – February 2004
The 84th National Block and Bridle Convention was held in San Antonio, Texas and was hosted by Texas A&M this year. Thirty-six students attended from the Penn State chapter to see that “The Stars at Night are Big & Bright Deep in the Heart of Texas.” Saturday evening at the banquet Penn State received several honors for our hard work throughout the year. We placed 1st in the yearbook category, 3rd in scrapbook, and 5th in the webpage division. Burke Neely was 3rd overall Outstanding Junior and Jennifer Flinchbaugh was 1st place Outstanding Senior overall. We tore it up that evening on the dance floor, and showed those Texans that easterners sure like a good party. Everyone knows what it means when we say National Convention is a great time!
NESA – February 2004
This year’s NESA competition was hosted by the Maine Animal Club of the University of Maine from February 27-29th. Thirty two students from both Block & Bridle, as well as Dairy Science club attended the trip with advisors Dr. Dan Kniffen and Mr. Dale Olver. Friday and Saturday we competed in the judging contest, quiz bowl, and paper presentations. Of 42 teams, Penn State placed 1st in the quiz bowl, and also had 5 other teams place in the top 10. Of our 7 competitors in the paper presentations, Penn State took home awards for 1st, 2nd, and 4th, with Burke Neely leading the way. After a tough loss to UCONN overall last year, Penn State proudly returned home with the 1st place trophy and restored it to its rightful place in Henning Building.
Meat Canning – February 2004
The Central Pennsylvania World Hunger Association once more welcomed the Mennonite Central Committee’s meat canning project to the area. In February of 2004, members of the Penn State Block and Bridle Club once again volunteered their time to help cut, cook, and can the meat. On two consecutive evenings, clusters of B&B students could be found, donned with aprons and hair nets, eagerly working alongside other volunteers to make the process run smoothly. The assembly line of volunteers enjoyed the opportunity to gain a sense of community and satisfaction of knowing their labors would be helping many in need.
Stockman’s Club Pizza Social – March 2004
The Penn State Stockman’s Club hosted its annual pizza social at the Block and Bridle business meeting. Duff George, the current president of the Stockman’s Club, gave a brief, yet entertaining, presentation on the history and current status of the PSSC. The Stockman’s Club is the alumni organization of Block and Bridle. There were more than 90 members and guests of Block and Bridle Club present at the meeting, and all were encouraged to stay after the meeting for pizza and soda provided by the current Secretary/Treasurer of the Stockman’s Club, Jana Peters. Several other members of the PSSC were in attendance and they mingled and conversed with the B&B members during the social following the meeting to answer any questions.
Spring Judging Contest – March 2004
Once again PSU hosted the Annual Spring Judging Contest at the Penn State Ag Arena on March 20th. The competitors included Junior Beginner, Junior Advanced, Collegiate Amateur, and Collegiate Professional. Approximately 250 students competed in this year’s contest, judging six classes of animals each. This year we had not only 4-H and FFA from across the state compete in the junior level, but we also had some individuals travel from out of state to see how Penn State B&B Judging works. Many B&B members assisted in making the contest run smoothly throughout the day. We look forward to the same success in next year’s competition.
Little International – April 2004
On April 17, 2004, Block and Bridle members hosted the 87th Little International. Students from across the University are invited to come learn and experience preparing livestock and horses for exhibition. Competitors draw university animals and work hard with these projects for several weeks to prepare them for our big day. This year we had excellent participation numbers resulting in a highly competitive show. The day ran very smoothly thanks to the student managers Andrea Warfield and Tupper Sverduk. Congratulations to our champion showmen Kitty Peters and Burke Neely!
Blood Drive – April 2004
The 2003 Block and Bridle “Beef Up the Blood Supply” Blood Drive once again went off without a hitch. Many thanks go out to the Pennsylvania Cattleman’s Association, South-Central Cattleman’s Association, Tom Herr of Office Plus, and the Pennsylvania Beef Council for their generous contributions. With everyone’s help, we were able to collect an impressive one day total of 127 usable units for the American Red Cross. Donors, as well as the staff of the American Red Cross repeatedly thanked us for our dedication and hard work which contributed to a smooth, efficient blood drive. Of course, the blood drive is never complete without the presence of “Patty Melt” and “Bloodhound.” Their recruitment efforts never go unnoticed!
As you can see this past year was quite busy for the Penn State BnBers! Continuing our tradition of excellence, Block and Bridle remained a strong presence on Ag Hill here at Penn State. We are proud of the family that we built for students to work with, laugh with, and most importantly, to create lasting memories with. We are Penn State!
