The exhibit presents the history of dairy farming in York County and the concept of where milk originates. Central to the exhibit is a life-sized model of a milking cow. Children can practice milking, as [image-nocss] the life-like bovine delivers fluid from its udders into a stainless steel milking pail.
The exhibit's highlights also include:
A children's reading area, featuring large bales of hay in place of chairs. A video that highlights dairy farming history in York County. A weighing game that allows children to determine how much milk is found in delicious treats such as ice cream. An interactive timeline game that shows how milk gets from farm to home. Interactive flip charts and electronic presentations that scroll through fun facts and test one's milk trivia knowledge. A game that challenges participants to guess the age of old Rutter's milk bottles shown in a series of pictures. The cow is named Annabelle, the winning entry in a "name our cow" contest that the trust and Rutter's conducted in the spring. For submitting the name, Brianna Crumling of Windsor, Pa., won a $100 Rutter's gift card and a year-long family membership from the trust. The second- and third-place entries received $50 and $25 gift cards, respectively, and family day passes from the trust.
The new exhibit builds on a previous collaboration between Rutter's and the trustthe Rutter's Discovery Center that opened in 2007 at the Historical Society Museum in York.
"History is a big part of what connects Rutter's to its customers and to York County," said Todd Rutter, president of Rutter's Dairy. "Generations have grown up with Rutter's milk in the refrigerator and on the dinner table. This exhibit does a great job of honoring York County's dairy history while also representing it as a dynamic, ongoing part of our daily lives."
Rutter's traces its roots to a nine-generation family farm that dates to 1747. Rutter's Dairy, which began in 1921, serves customers in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey and Delaware. Rutter's Farm Stores, which debuted in 1967 as an outlet for Rutter's Dairy products, operates 56 convenience stores in central Pennsylvania.
The York County Heritage Trust is an educational institution that preserves and uses its collections, historic sites and museums to inspire people to explore the history and culture of York County.
Family-owned and third-generation managed, the Rutter's companies include Rutter's Dairy, Rutter's Farm Stores and M&G Realty. Together, the Manchester Township-based companies employ more than 1,400 people in central Pennsylvania.
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