November, 2009: 1906 Waterloo United Methodist Church Disassembled. Under the direction of Dr. Robert S. Barr, Graham Hermanns (Agrarian Country’s construction manager) and his crew carefully finished the disassembly of the 1906 Waterloo United Methodist Church. The church was purchased by Agrarian Country in 2008. The nine stained glass windows were removed earlier in the year and placed in storage. The resulting window openings were temporarily replaced with plywood. The bell functions perfectly and was removed and put in storage. During the process of removing the marble cornerstone, Graham discovered that a metal “time capsule” box was carved and cemented inside the cornerstone. Unfortunately, water seeped into the area, rusting the box and destroying all but one page from a local 1906 newspaper. Agrarian Country’s Waterloo Chapel is currently in storage, but when the timing is right, it will be moved to its new home in Lebanon County and restored to serve as a prayer and wedding chapel.

October 31, 2009: Regal Heir Farm Acquired by Agrarian Country - Now Operating as Star Barn Thoroughbreds. We are happy to announce Star Barn Thoroughbreds at Agrarian Country! The Star Barn Thoroughbreds farm will be operated by Agrarian Country and continue as a full service breeding farm at the former historic Regal Heir Farm. Agrarian Country is a nonprofit educational institution focusing on fully-functioning agricultural enterprises, educational programs, and destination sites for agricultural tourism.

The name, “Star Barn Thoroughbreds,” is derived from one of North America's most recognizable barns, The Star Barn, currently located in Middletown, Pennsylvania. Agrarian Country has been the owner and caretaker of this National Historic Landmark since 2007.

The Star Barn Complex will be relocated to Lebanon County across Interstate-81 from the Star Barn Thoroughbreds farm to serve as an Agricultural Education and Exhibition Center.

The original Star Barn complex was built in 1872 by John Motter, who raised horses at the farm. During the Civil War, Mr. Motter furnished the United States Army with thousands of horses. Motter was well-respected for his principled business dealings and his horses were valued by dealers looking for the best quality stock.

October 19, 2009: Dinner theater project to join forces with Agrarian Country and Star Barn . Click here to read the news article on LancasterOnline.com.

January 10 – 17, 2009: Pennsylvania Farm Show Exhibit. Agrarian Country made many new friends as a result of its exhibit at the 2009 Pennsylvania Farm Show.

Terry Spahr’s award-winning, accurately and exquisitely detailed 1:12-scale model of the 1872 Star Barn Complex (main barn, corn crib, poultry barn, and hog barn) was the main attraction. We estimate that 30,000 visitors stopped to see the models and learn more about Agrarian Country. A surprise toward the end of the week-long event was revealed to the public when Mr. Spahr added two more cupolas to the main barn. Yes, the original Star Barn had three cupolas!

A high-definition video presentation about Agrarian County (from concept, to acquisition of The Star Barn, to current day developments, to future plans) played throughout the event. The video was produced by Skip Plant of WaterMark Video and was viewed by thousands of visitors.

Thousands of people received literature about Agrarian Country, and many signed up for membership and entered our raffles. Congratulations to Gloria Brandt of Schaefferstown, Pennsylvania who won our raffle drawing for a watercolor painting of The Star Barn. This painting was graciously donated to Agrarian Country by Central Pennsylvania artist, Patti Popp. Ray Hoffman of Lititz, Pennsylvania won the large Star Barn replica bird house raffle drawing.

A special thanks to Mr. Spahr, our staff, and over 30 volunteers for helping to make our exhibit a huge success.

Following are photographs from our 2009 Farm Show exhibit. Click on a picture to view the slide show.