August 2008
Volume 9 , Issue No. 2

Marilyn Horner Elected President
of the Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture

In June, Marilyn Horner of Salem, New Jersey was elected President of the Society. Marilyn had her formative years on the plains of western Nebraska .  Her farm experience revolved around wheat, corn and cattle production as well as the raising of pigs and baling of hay.  After receiving a BA in French and English at the University of Nebraska in 1960 she attended the Middlebury College French Summer Language program before teaching French in Glenwood, Iowa and Charlottesville, Virginia .  After 5 years and 2 small children in San Francisco, California , she and husband Bill moved back to his 50 acre family farm near Swedesboro , New Jersey in 1968. 
She was back on the farm but this one was very different.  Instead of large fields of corn and wheat, farming in South Jersey revolved around fresh vegetable crops.  Tomatoes, asparagus, winter squash, bell peppers, cantaloupes and watermelons were the crops, requiring migrant workers and their housing. After child number 3, she focused entirely on melons: Gold Star cantaloupes and Crimson Sweet watermelons. As this was a family project, business was over when the last child graduated college.  The farm has now returned to wheat and soybean production. Marilyn is an active member in the local Methodist Church. She is currently a Foundation member of Trinity Old Swedes Church of Swedesboro. She served 9 years as an elected school board member. She is a docent at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where she has volunteered and given public tours for 26 years.  She and her husband Bill, with his law office in Salem, New Jersey continue to actively farm on a small scale.  

Home | Overview | Program Calendar | Meeting Abstracts
Officers and Secretary Listing | News
PSPA Library and Archive

Send questions and comments to: society@pspaonline.com