HEADLINES:
Chili Cook Off –Auction Successes
Library Offering Book Newsletters
Green Side UP Apple Tree Basics
ALA Offers Free Radon Test Kits
Susky Fire Dept.150 Club Winners

Chili Cook Off –Auction Successes

The 6th annual Chili Cook off and Auction generated great Heat at the Seat’ on March 18 at the County Seat Tavern, Montrose. Noni Way, proprietor of the County Seat together with her staff, did a terrific job hosting the crowd of over one hundred fifty people who came to sample the Chili and bid on the various arrays of auction items.

The auction was managed by Richard Trucker, Dr. Thomas Pascoe, Gary Schultz, Paula Catlin, Nicole Stone, Angela Mooney and Hospital C.E.O Rex Catlin. Larry Kelly served as auctioneer.

The many varied and valuable items donated by area businesses and friends were auctioned with bargains ranging from $3.00 to $300.00. Among the items fetching the highest bids were two garden benches, an original painting by local artist Joe Weldon and a NFL New York Giants jersey autographed by Chris Snee. Raffles and door prizes took place throughout the day, with gas cards, gift cards, restaurant gift certificates and more for the lucky winners.

Accompanying the action is the increasingly famous 30 local chef’s competing for trophies and serving up the best chili to be found.

The 30 chiefs who participate were judged by a panel of five. Winners received trophies, medallions and bragging rights. The winners were as follows: Best Beef Chili – 1st Place - Tom Clark, 2nd Place - MaryAnn Warren, 3rd Place - Carl Buffard; Best Meatless Chili – 1st Place - Sandra Seeeger, 2nd Place - Emilea Clark; Best Non-beef Meat Chili – 1st Place- Jason Bennett, 2nd Place -Jill Kerr.

Pam Fisher was the winner of the best presentation award (pictured). Tom Clark was named as the Grand Champion of the 2006 Heat at the Seat Chili feast.

Free sampling began 5 p.m. Roadhouse Bluegrass was provided by Richard Grace and Friends,

All proceeds from the Auction and Chili Cook Off are donated to Endless Mountains Medical Care Foundation, an organization whose sole purpose is to accumulate funds to be used by the local hospital and clinic, Endless Mountains Health Systems, providing health care for the public. The committee thanks those who participated.

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Library Offering Book Newsletters

The Susquehanna County Library is now offering ten "Dear Reader" monthly email newsletters highlighting new titles. You can sign up for one or more of these newsletters to get a taste of some of the new books coming through. Each monthly newsletter will feature 3 or 4 titles, including a picture of the book jacket, the publisher's description, and reviews, so that you can get a flavor of the book and decide if you'd like to read it. Don't want to clutter up your inbox? You can also view the newsletters online--at the library or anywhere else you have access to the Internet.

The monthly newsletters are New Fiction, Best-Selling Fiction, New Non-Fiction, Best-Selling Non-Fiction, Audio Books, Large Print Titles, Home and Garden, Children's Picture Books, Children's Chapter Books, and Teen Books. More newsletters can be set up if there is demand.

These monthly newsletters join the Online Book Clubs, another way to find new books to read. Both the monthly newsletters and the clubs are reachable through the library's website at www.susqcolibrary.org. You can join them all if you like, or just one--and of course you can unsubscribe from a newsletter at any time. They will never share your email address! If you have questions or comments, please call 278-1881 or email the above.

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Green Side Up Apple Tree Basics
By Debbie Buck, Master Gardener

Greetings from the garden! Green Side Up is a column written by Penn State Master Gardeners for the purpose of educating the public.

This week I have had a request from a friend to write an article to help him with his apple trees. While doing my research, however, I realized there are so many topics to cover that I would need to write a book, not a column, to thoroughly cover them all. So, to the best of my ability, and with some help from my Master Gardener Manual, I will try to summarize the major points of helping your apple tree to be the healthiest it can be.

If you are planning to plant apple trees, but have not yet done so, the best advice is to choose a variety that is disease resistant. Just remember that disease resistant does not mean disease proof. There may come a time when you will have to treat your tree due to an ailment, especially if your tree has been under stress.

If you have trees that are already established you may need to prune, fertilize, or treat your tree for disease or pest control. While these are also important with young trees, older trees may have been neglected and could be in need of resuscitation. Pruning includes removing dead branches as well as suckers, which will allow for air flow to assist in preventing disease. Fruit trees are also commonly pruned to achieve a desired shape and size for optimum ease of maintenance. Lopping off any old branch, willy nilly, is not the proper, or healthy way to prune a tree. You can do more damage to a tree by pruning in the wrong location and allowing disease to enter.

The best way to fertilize a tree is by broadcast fertilizing. Roots of a tree spread as far away from the trunk underground as the limbs grow outward. So, this technique will assure the best coverage. A soil test will tell you if your soil pH and soil nutrients are at their peak levels, as well as what may be needed.

Fruit thinning is also recommended to allow for the best crop possible. By removing excess fruit you will allow your tree to put more energy into the remaining produce. This thinning will also make disease and pest control easier.

Providing the healthiest environment possible for your trees allows them to be more resilient against disease and pest damage. This also includes assuring an ample water supply. The Extension Office has helpful handouts that can help you learn how to best care for your tree.

There are numerous types of disease or pest infections that could afflict your tree. Proper treatment first requires proper identification of the problem. Please contact the Master Gardeners at the Extension Office in Montrose if you need assistance with this process. We are more than happy to help. The Extension Office offers free information on many subjects such as pruning techniques, as well as soil test kits for purchase.

I hope you will come back and visit us in the garden next time. If you have any questions you would like answered by our Master Gardeners please write to: Green Side Up, c/o Penn State Cooperative Extension, 31 Public Ave, Montrose, Pa. 18801. Or you can e-mail your questions to SusquehannaExt@psu.edu and May through October our Master Gardeners man the phones in our office at (570) 278 – 1158 Mondays and Wednesdays 10 a.m. to noon.

Happy Gardening!

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ALA Offers Free Radon Test Kits

The American Lung Association of Pennsylvania is once again helping people protect their health and their family’s health. In addition to its nationally recognized smoking cessation and asthma education programs, the Lung Association announced that it would be providing free radon test kits to the public at its website, www.lunginfo.org/freeradonkit, while supplies last.

Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas. It is colorless, odorless, and tasteless, and it is the second leading cause of lung cancer, after cigarette smoking. The only way to know the level of radon inside one’s home is to test for it. The U. S. Surgeon General and the American Lung Association recommend that all homes be tested for radon.

The Lung Association is conducting this program under a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), awarded in December. “The Lung Association is using the program as a way to help the public carry out DEP’s recent call for everyone to test their homes for radon,” said the group’s environmental health director, Kevin Stewart. For the past twenty years, the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, state environmental agencies, and organizations nationwide such as the Lung Association have encouraged the public to test homes and to get radon problems fixed.

Supplies of the free test kits are limited and availability varies according to the area of Pennsylvania where one lives. The Lung Association asks that interested persons request only one test kit per household. In addition, individuals requesting test kits should be Pennsylvania residents who do not have a previous test result for their homes. To obtain a radon test kit, persons should go to www.lunginfo.org/freeradonkit. This offer will be in effect for a limited time and must be ordered online.

Nearly one in fifteen homes nationwide has a high level of indoor radon, and in Pennsylvania, the rates are even greater. The good news is that homes with high radon levels can be fixed. Nearly always, the solution is simple and similar in cost to other typical home repairs.

If you have a question concerning radon or would like to contact your local American Lung Association office, please call the American Lung Association HelpLine toll-free at 1-800-LUNG-USA.

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Susky Fire Dept.150 Club Winners

Following is a list of Susquehanna Fire Dept. 150 Club winners.

February 4: Les Schell, Helen Bronchella, Dave White.

February 11: Toots Frost, Marion Glover, Patsy Nataline.

February 18: Bill Kuiper, Damion Scales, Les Schell.

February 25: Linda Bedford, Steve Schell, Nancy Hadden.

March 4: Jim Lee, Phil Stein, Lee Wolfe.

March 11: Chet Walker, Sara Armetta, Judy Lair.

March 18: Chris Herbert, Roger Holleran, Sandy Battisti.

March 25: Janet Denny, Bill Kuiper, Peggy Merwin.

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