Square dancing and cows are one combination for a 50-year love story.

“It really doesn't seem like it's been 50 years,” said Barbara Rader of Connoquenessing. “It's a farm life love story.”

Barbara, 67, and her husband, Harold Rader, 72, plan to celebrate 50 years of marriage in October.

“It's out there,” Harold Rader said. “It's going to be a milestone.”

The two met at the Pennsylvania Farm Show, where they showed the same breed of cattle in 1969. She was 17 years old, and it was her first time showing at the state level. He was 22.

After the show, Barbara's mind went back to Harold as she talked with her sister about how it “would be something” if he called her for a date. That same night, Harold called Barbara's mother to set up their first date.

“She was a big flirt,” Harold said. “I walked her back to the door and she laid a big smoochie on me, and that was it.”

More than 99 percent of the time, they spent their dates square dancing, Barbara said.

The couple got engaged at Barbara's senior prom at Butler High School with a ring that could have been from a Cracker Jack box, Harold said.

“Everything just gelled,” he said. “We like the same things, and that means a lot.”

The couple married at 8 p.m. Oct. 4, 1969, to accommodate their friends and family who were farmers, Barbara said, adding that the highlight of their wedding was a cake that reached the ceiling with multiple layers of different flavors.

They moved into their family home and had five children, who also were raised with their parents' passion for the farm and exhibited their own animals, including rabbits, lambs, steers and horses, she said.

Work on the 1,000-acre family farm was halted in 1999, she said.

“It was tough on the farm,” she said, adding that her husband became a transit driver to earn health benefits. “We never let go of shows.”

The family spent vacations in their car and camper with their animals in tow as they traveled to different shows, she said.

Farming has been on both sides of Barbara and Harold's families for generations, the two said.

She grew up on a dairy farm near Conneaut Lake, where her grandfather had a milking parlor, showed Tennessee working horses and owned a tractor sale business. Her youngest brother and sister continue work on the family farm.

The couple have continued to live in the same home over the course of their marriage. That house, which was built in the 1890s, is about 1,000 feet from Harold's family homestead and farm.

“It's home,” Harold said, recalling the memories they have shared.

Another product of the Rader family's farm work was closer bonds.

“We were able to work at the job together and as a family unit,” Barbara said, noting that her husband did field chores, while she handled what needed done in the barn.

Her children had their own roles.

“The kids helped us side by side, right down the line,” she said.

They continue their trips to farm shows to watch their seven grandchildren, who are involved in 4-H. Her granddaughter was named the 2018 Big Butler Fair Queen.

Agriculture can bring people together, said the oldest grandchild, Robin Peters.

“They made quite a family empire and made an impact on their kids and grandkids,” said Peters, 21, who is a student at Clarion University.

Peters, a Butler resident, said she met her boyfriend, who is a sheep farmer, at the Big Butler Fair.

“It's almost following in their footsteps in a weird way,” she said. “Whenever you're involved in agriculture, it becomes a huge part of your life — and to meet someone who is also involved makes the relationship easier because of that strong common interest.”

For Valentine's Day, the Raders will continue their holiday ritual — buying chocolate at Peter's Chocolate Shoppe in Butler.

Harold said he has bought a box of chocolates for his wife for 50 years and chocolate heart lollipops for his children and grandchildren.

Barbara, who has been a bus driver for 48 years, said when they were dating during her senior year in high school, the tradition began when Harold bought her a chocolate baby doll that she took to school to show her classmates.

Her advice to other couples is to keep a sense of humor.

“In the farming world, there's a lot of stress,” she said. “If you don't laugh about a lot of things that happen, a lot can really drag and pull you down. Work at it together — for us, it's always been that way.”