West Holmes FFA members enjoy national convention, club alumni awarded degrees

  • December 28, 2009
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On Tuesday, Oct. 20, West Holmes FFA members departed for National FFA convention held in Indianapolis, Ind., at 6 a.m. Members who attended national convention this year were Tyler Schonauer, Marshall Overholt, Elizabeth Overholt, Brittany Crawford, Garrett O’Donnell, Caleb Chanay, Candice Carpenter, and Brittany Barnes. On the way, they stopped at Albanese Candy Factory for a tour. They saw a chocolate fountain and learned that their gummy bears actually have an “A” on their tummy to show where they are from. They also made a stop at Purdue University and toured their facilities. They arrived in Indianapolis at 7 p.m. On Wednesday, Oct. 21, they took a tour of Fair Oaks Dairy farm, which consists of nearly 30,000 dairy cows at 10 different locations. After the tour, they went to their first session of the national convention and their keynote speaker was Mike Rowe. After the members enjoyed dinner, they eagerly anticipated the Toby Keith concert that night. Thursday morning, the members toured Caito Foods, a major food distributor for the nation. They toured the warehouse, which had six different temperature zones, the vegetable cutting facility, and saw some vegetables that were different colors to promote child intake. Club members then went to the second session, followed by a hypnotist show where some of them had the chance to get hypnotized. This was followed by more fun at the Buckeye Bash, where members met their state officers, danced, and showed everyone how a real Buckeye fan has fun. Friday, Oct. 23, Harvey Alston was the featured speaker, and then the group browsed the career show. The career show gives the members an opportunity to buy some FFA gear and also learn about what jobs and universities are out there. After the members attended another session, they then had a good time riding horses at Harrison State Park. The session that night consisted of keynote speaker Josh Sunquist and Eastern Region Vice President Hannah Crossen’s retiring address. Both speakers proved to be extremely entertaining and informative. Saturday morning, the members woke bright and early to head over to the convention hall for the American Degree ceremony. Former West Holmes FFA members Katie O’Donnell and Keaton Lorentz received the highest degree of the FFA at the ceremony. This motivated others to want to obtain this honor. The group then departed for home after a long busy week. Members learned a lot about the FFA and themselves with the motivational speeches heard during the convention.


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