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Pennsylvania Grange convention kicks off with tour of Marburger Dairy

Members of the Pennsylvania State Grange watch as milk is automatically put in crates during a tour of Marburger Dairy on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle

Hundreds of farmers from across the Keystone State have descended upon Cranberry Township for the 152nd annual Pennsylvania State Grange Session, held this year at the Pittsburgh Marriott North on Cranberry Woods Drive.

On Thursday, Oct. 17, a group of more than 50 of them stopped by the Marburger Farm Dairy facility in Evans City for a guided tour of how the family-owned business produces, packages and sells milk.

“We went through our state-of-the-art manufacturing facility and showed them how milk is received, processed, bottled and sent out to our customers,” said Kelsey Rush, the SQF practitioner at Marburger. “We love to show our beautiful facility off to our consumers to show them where their milk comes from, because we think it’s super important that they understand what goes into processing milk.”

Like the Super Bowl, the annual Grange Session is held at a different location each year. Last year’s session was held in Morgantown, in Lancaster County. The year before, in 2022, York was the host.

Thursday was also the night of the opening reception for the Grange convention at the Pittsburgh Marriott North, which will host the convention until Sunday, Oct. 20.

About 50 members of the Pennsylvania State Grange spent the morning touring Marburger Dairy and learning the processes concerning how milk is prepared to be shipped out to different distributors on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
Bob Bair, middle, watches one of the machines as the milk carton process is described to the group during a tour of Marburger Dairy on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
Larry Byers, general manager over production at Marburger Dairy, describes the process of bottling and shipping milk to distributors during a tour of the farm on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
Bob Bair, middle, watches one of the machines as the milk carton process is described to the group during a tour of Marburger Dairy on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
Larry Byers, general manager over production at Marburger Dairy, describes the process of bottling and shipping milk to distributors during a tour of the farm on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
Marburger Dairy workers help members of the Pennsylvania State Grange step over conveyor belts used throughout the plant during a tour on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
The members of the Pennsylvania State Grange tour wait in a cool area as everyone finishes the first half of the tour of Marburger Dairy on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
About 50 members of the Pennsylvania State Grange spent the morning touring Marburger Dairy and learning the processes concerning how milk is prepared to be shipped out to different distributors on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
Marburger Dairy workers help members of the Pennsylvania State Grange step over conveyor belts used throughout the plant during a tour on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
Milk gallon jugs are washed before they put into crates during a tour of Marburger Dairy on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
Bob Bair watches as boxes used for packaging are brought through a conveyor belt during a tour of Marburger Dairy on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle

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