The 2013 Eagle Bowl winners are the members of the Worst family of Butler Township: Paul and his wife Maria, front, with their daughter Julie and son Chris.

CONNOQUENESSING TWP — For the Worst family, participating in the Butler Farm Show has been a longtime tradition, even though they don't work a lot of acreage.

The Butler Township family has been named the 2013 Eagle Bowl winner at the farm show. The award is sponsored by the Butler Eagle.

Paul and Maria Worst maintain their farming roots on just six acres along Preston Drive.

They keep the farming tradition alive with a few chicken coops in the backyard with 23 chickens, and several vegetables they plant by hand in the front yard, such as cabbage, beets, corn, pumpkins and tomatoes.

“It's in the blood, if you will,” said Paul Worst, who grew up on a farm and is trying to instill the farming values in his children at home. “I can remember as a child, going to the farm show and watching them plow. I would help my parents with produce, canned goods and flower entries.”

Despite not living on a farm now, the family had 107 entries in this year's farm show, placing in three-fourths of them, from chickens to jams, vegetables to baked goods.

“You don't have to live on a farm,” he said. “You can do it anywhere. You can succeed anywhere.”

His daughter Julie, 17, an upcoming senior at Butler High School, has been particularly active. She's a member of the 4-H Youth Council, president of the Circle Round and Button's n Bake House, vice president of Bull's eye, and treasurer of Poultry. She was named Fair Queen at this year's Big Butler Fair. She placed in 40 of her entries at the Butler Farm Show.

“This was my year to shine,” said Julie, who has been participating in the farm show since she was 8 years old.

Her brother Chris, 27, also participated, taking first place for the blueberry jam he made. Her sister Kim, 24, who lives elsewhere, used to show horses.

In a prepared statement, the Butler Farm Show Awards Committee said: “The Paul and Maria Worst family demonstrates the changing landscape of the traditional farm family by utilizing small spaces to its maximum potential. They have participated to the greatest extent with the most departments entered. They had such a diversity of entries with a large variety of exhibits.”

While their favorite aspects of the farm show vary, Julie said she enjoys mentoring younger girls in the 4-H Club, helping them continually improve. For her father, it's watching everyone in the family improve each year, though he himself is continually modest about his work.

“All those hours spent ...” he said. “Once someone places, there's more self worth and pride. All the hard work feels more worthwhile. There's a feeling of reward.”