The Coshocton County Beacon April 3, 2019 - Page 28
Royalty crowned at dairy banquet
By Mark Fortune
mark@coshoctoncountybeacon.com
Mark Fortune | Beacon
One of the highlights of the annual Coshocton County Dairy
Service Unit banquet and annual meeting is the crowning
of the Coshocton County Dairy King, Queen and Princess.
Receiving their crowns at the banquet held Friday evening,
March 29 at the Career Center: from left, Allie Norman,
2019 Coshocton County Dairy Queen; Drew Tumblin, 2019
Coshocton County Dairy King; and 2019 Coshocton County
Dairy Princess Dilyn Tumblin.
COSHOCTON – More than one hundred people attend-
ed the annual Coshocton County Dairy Service Unit
Banquet and annual Meeting held at the Coshocton
County Career Center on Friday evening, March 29.
Th e meal of Swiss steak, cheesy potatoes, green beans,
salad, rolls, beverages and brownie sundaes - with or
without nuts - and a cherry on top started the eve-
ning of celebrating the folks that provide the product
that allows us to enjoy milk, cheese, ice cream and
many other nutritious goodies. Marilyn Wyler and the
friendly folks at the Fresno United Methodist Church
provided the meal. And of course, no dairy banquet
would be complete without cheese that was provided
by Pearl Valley Cheese.
Following the meal President Kevin Lowe intro-
duced special guests in attendance and dairy achieve-
ment awards were presented to the 2018 Coshocton
County Fair Dairy Showmen: Dalton Cunningham,
Grace Huff , Lane Huff , Hayden Kitchenman, Brett
Kinzel, Shilol Kinzel, Addison Lahmers, Grant
Lahmers, Kamryn McGinnis, Alexznadria Norman,
Belle Norman, Ashlyn Tumblin, Dilyn Tumblin, Drew
Tumblin, Taryn Tumblin and Sydney Zinkon.
Comments were also provided by David Marrison,
Agricultural & Natural Resources Extension Edu-
cator - Coshocton County. Marrison talked about
his background and upbringing on a dairy farm in
Ashtabula County and read a story that was penned
by he and his two sisters titled, “All We Need to Know
We Learned on our Dad’s Dairy Farm.”
Mike Jacob of the Farm Service Agency told those in
attendance that the new farm bill has some positive
provisions for the dairy industry and that things are
heading in the right direction.
Chuck Ellis talked briefl y about the dairy industry
and the challenges facing dairy farmers particularly
with the manufacturers of alternative “milks” - stat-
ing that milk from a cow has been proven to be more
nutritious than any other sources. Ellis thanked those
that are in the industry for their hard work.
In a special surprise moment, vice president of the
dairy service unit Bill Daugherty presented Secretary
/ Treasurer Maureen Pritchard Sturtz with a gift bag of
goodies for her many years of work serving the dairy
unit of Coshocton County, saying, “I don’t know what
we would do without Maureen.” Th ose in attendance
gave her a standing ovation.
Following the special presentations and speakers
the new 2019 royalty was crowned by the current dairy
king, queen and princess. Allie Norman is the 2019
Coshocton County Dairy Queen, Drew Tumblin is the
2019 Coshocton County Dairy King and Dilyn Tum-
blin is the 2019 Coshocton County Dairy Princess.
SEE BANQUET ON PAGE 29
Being Frank About Fatherhood
A litt le bit of time goes a long way
Noah Gallagher | Contributed
COSHOCTON - Th is story is a true story and takes place on
a hot summer afternoon. My wife, son and I were killing
some time before we had to leave the house to go meet
my parents for lunch for my son's birthday. Joey, my son,
was super excited because he loves spending time with
his grandparents and his family. At this time he was in his
room watching television and playing with some toys. I
told him to put his socks and shoes on and come outside
and put his bike helmet on. Th is of course made Joey
extremely excited because he LOVES being outside and
riding his bike.
As I went outside I grabbed a wrench from the tool
drawer in our kitchen. I made it outside before Joey did
and got his bike. As I was picking up Joey's bike, Joey came
out of the door and said, “What are you doing touching my
bike?” I responded with, “You will just have to wait and
see.” I pulled the wrench out of my pocket and bent over
his bike. At this point Joey saw that I had the wrench in
my hand and I was starting to do something to his bike.
“What are you doing to my bike daddy? Why do you have
the wrench in your hand?” At this point I can hear Joey
starting to panic in his voice. “Daddy you better not be
removing my training wheels!!! You know that I can't ride
my bike without the training wheels daddy!!!” I said, “Yes
Joey, I am removing your training wheels. I am going to
teach you to ride your bike without them.” “But you know
I can't ride without my training wheels. YOU'RE TRYING
TO KILL ME!!!” screamed Joey. “You just have to trust me
on this Joey, I am not going to do anything that is going to
hurt you or kill you.” Joey then looked at his mom who had
28 THE BEACON
come outside to see what was going on and said, “You're
not going to let daddy take my training wheels off are you?”
My wife looked at Joey and said with a grin, “Yes daddy
is taking your training wheels off and daddy will NOT let
anything bad happen to you.” Th is calmed Joey down
quite a bit and made him realize that his mother and I
were not going to do anything to hurt him or kill him.
I took Joey out to the sidewalk and explained what I
wanted him to do. He was to sit on his bike and push
his bike along using his feet. I said, “It's just like you are
running and sitting on your bike at the same time. When
you get some speed, lift your feet up off the ground but
don't put them on the peddles. Th is allows you to feel what
it is like to balance your bike without your training wheels
and have your feet down to catch yourself when you feel
like you are going to fall.” Joey did this up and down our
sidewalk which is about 50-75 yards for about 2-3 minutes.
I then had him put his feet on the peddles and I ran
along side him holding onto his seat as he peddled. Th is
allowed him to feel what it was like to propel his bike for-
ward using his peddles. I can remember as a young child,
my father running along side of me and holding onto the
seat as a peddled and then letting go when I go going too
quick for him to run next to me. Th is was the same thing
that I did to Joey. When he got the bike moving to quick for
me I let go. Th e fi rst time he panicked and quit peddling
the bike and put his feet down. I went and talked to him
and let him know that the key to balancing his bike is to
keep his peddles moving. I again got him started and was
running next to him holding onto his seat. I let him go
and he zoomed the length of the sidewalk. He rode by his
mother who was recording all of this on her phone. As he
www.coshoctonbeacontoday.com
zoomed by my wife he hollered, “Look mommy I'm really
riding my bike. Th is is AWESOME!!!!”
I then showed him that to get his bike going he just needs
to push his feet along the ground to get his bike moving.
When he gets his speed up all he has to do is put his feet
up on the peddles and start to peddle. Joey had this skill
mastered in about 5 minutes. Now I would say that Joey is
a master at riding his bike and DOES NOT need training
wheels. It took him and I working together a total of 10
minutes from the time I walked out the door to the time he
was zooming up and down the sidewalk on his bike with
no help and no training wheels.
I share this story to remind us as adults that all it takes is
a little bit of time. A little bit of time to teach our child how
to ride his/her bike. A little bit of time to play a board game
with our children in the evening. A little bit of time to read
our children a good night story.
If we as parents take a little bit of time each day to spend
time with our children, our children will learn many
things. By taking a little bit of time we show our children
they are important to us and that we love and care for
them. I know Joey likes it when he gets a new toy, but he
enjoys it so much more when daddy takes a little bit of time
and hangs out with him. Hanging out with my son can
be things as simple as having a Nerf gun battle, playing
a board game with him, or just chilling with him and
talking about his school day. A little bit of time is all our
children want us to do. So lets take a little bit of time each
day to show our children they mean the world to us, and it
will make a world of a diff erence in our world.
Editor’s note: Noah Gallagher is a volunteer with the Co-
shocton County Fatherhood Initiative.
APRIL 3, 2019