By Colleen Michaels, Features Editor

For the past five years, boys and girls from Saegertown High School have attended a huge event and brought home a blue ribbon for their square dancing expertise. With over 6,000 animals, almost 10,000 competitive exhibits and 300 commercial exhibits, what else could it be but Pennsylvania Farm Show? This year marked the 99th Pennsylvania Farm. From January 10  to January 17 in Harrisburg Pennsylvania massive groups of people visit the agricultural event that features every farm animal you can think of (cows, pigs, horses, chickens, etc…) along with a variety of home show exhibits. This year, Saegertown students danced their way to victory in a square dancing competition where they took first place. The ‘Wild Country Dancers’ have been dancing as a team for five years and have gone to farm show each of these years. This year marks the fifth year in a row that these students brought home a blue ribbon.

Junior Brittany Barr, sophomore Rachel Barner, eighth grader Ben Shelenberger and seventh graders Sam Shelenberger, Nathan Barner, and Emily Barr all traveled to Harrisburg last week to compete. “Other than wearing a skirt, it was great to spend time with friends and it felt amazing to win a blue ribbon…again,” said Brittany Barr. The team practiced once a week for about ten weeks until Christmas. Over Christmas break, they practiced two hours every other day in preparation for the Farm Show competition.

Once they got to the show, they practiced daily, and on Monday, day three of the show, the dancers competed against thirty other eight-person teams. With over 480 dancers and more than 60 teams, it is a hectic evening, but all the practice paid off. The Wild Country Dancers danced five songs, including ‘Gentle on My Mind’ and ‘Calender Girl’ sung by a professional caller, before clinching the blue ribbon. “It was so much fun and I’m already looking forward to next year,” said Emily Barr. To watch the PCN broadcast click here.