RNC

Wow I think this could be the high light of my officer year, attending the republican national convention was truly an honor! Finding out at state fair that I was going to be able to be part of this all I could do is anxiously wait all day long. All decked out in our Official Dress and looking sharp as usual, Derek, Caitlin, Katie, Sydney, Brad and I made out way to downtown Minneapolis. The night was ours and believe it or not, we got to walk the red carpet!
The night was filled with walking around a crowd of 4,000 people and meeting new people and catching up with people I had not seen in a long time, you would not believe the number of people at this event, people from near and far. I met so many amazing people that come from numerous different agricultural fields. Being dressed in my FFA jacket I easily noticed and it was very easy to strike up a conversation with someone. A common story we heard was “Be careful those corduroy jackets will shrink and they won’t fit you some day.” I loved hearing all the stories people shared with me about their FFA experience and how proud they were to see us in attendance.

I was also very lucky to share our key message, the key message of the FFA with many news reports and camera men. I was told by the end of the night I should have my smile down after so many pictures. Between socializing and pictures we were able to enjoy some amazing food (the pork chop on a stick was amazing) Dahh you can’t go wrong with pork, there was also a kick butt live bad, where Sydney and I showed them a few dance moves!
I know the high light of the night was meeting the Executive Vice President & CEO of Win Field Solutions Mr. Rod Schroeder. His story is almost identical to mine; growing up in a small down, both having less than 60 kids in our graduating class, both of us were the presidents of our FFA chapters, we both grew up on farms, and both advocates of agriculture. Visiting with him about where I was from, where I am attending college and what I plan to do in the future, I told him this is what I love, meeting new people and coming to events like this. Both of us sharing a laugh together when I told him “I either want to have a job that allows me to do things like this or marry someone who does.” I could have talked with him all night, but it was time to leave for the night. Putting to good use I gave him one of my business cards, along with a thank you and & handshake, before walking away he ask “Do you have an internship lined up for next summer?” I replied “No not at the moment”, handing me one of his business card he said “Well we need to sit down and talk about that.” I couldn’t believe it, talk about a way to end the night.
This was just an astonishing event, and I am so thankful to the FFA and Val Aarsvold for this opportunity. People coming together like this to socialize, enjoy some food, and share the passion for agriculture really remind me why I love agriculture.

SLCCL

State Leadership Conference for Chapter Leaders
July 12-18t
h Hackensack, MN Deep Portage
Mission Possible was the theme for the week! What is your mission? Why are you here this week? Those were the questions. What a week, it was amazing to return and see familiar face from a year ago when I was the rec. director at SGLC, and to start new friendships with new members! People asked how camp was and I would tell them “out of all 7 camps I have been to over the years this has to be one of the top one’s.”

The week brought many high lights a few of them were; at each camp I try and claim room #501, at this camp it became the 501 fraternity. I wouldn’t have asked for a funnier group of guys. Starting a new Olympic sport “ultimate showing” we took 14 showers in 11 minutes. We also had a number of sayings we said throughout the week “nice shoes….”, “Who’s house? OUR HOUSE!” along with a few others. We also won the best room award at the banquet. Thanks for a great time guys! Below is a picture of my staff the guys signed for me and our certificate for best room & fraternity.

Like always I enjoy getting to meet my small group! I had an awesome small group at camp, we were the screwdrivers or as we like to put it the “BFS’ers!” We did alright in the volleyball tournament, but faced a tuff team in the semi finals and lost to the “Purplurz. “ I really felt like I related to this small group more than any other. Learning all their names the first day made it all the better! I miss all of you BFS’ers for life :).

Another exciting part of camp was the service project we did. With our goal of 20,000 service hours this year we had several different projects we help deep portage staff with. I was a part of the invasive species group; we were lucky enough to pull thistles and ragweed around the buildings. We had a great time doing this, whether we were telling jokes, finding animals like snakes, or competed to who could get the most weeds.

As state officers we had plenty planned for all the campers. Sessions to further develop their leadership skills, rec. time, reflections to have them ask themselves what their mission is, and plenty of other activates all of us enjoy. A few of the other activates were a few of my favorites, starting with the Banquet, I served as banquet officer when I attended camp and I recall how much fun it was. This year’s banquet officers did an amazing job, and had one heck of a hilarious skit. Quickly following we had our famous FFA dance! I think we often overlooked we FFA members have some mad dancing skills! Speaking of skills we had a number of outstanding talent acts at the talent show. Lastly I always enjoy beating the lady state officers in the annual watermelon feed!

As I typed this blog I got somewhat emotional because both camps for the summer have come and gone. I can honestly say SGLC & SLCCL are the reason I wanted to become A MN State FFA Officer. Having the opportunity to meet so many members and being a part of building their leadership, personal growth and someday their career success is a feeling I cannot describe. We wrapped up the with letter writing which is also one of my favorite parts of camp. But like every story must come to an end we had to say our goodbyes. It was one of the hardest things I had to do saying good bye to so many members who taught me so much. You will never know the feeling until you have experienced, but the sensation that comes to a person when they read a letter a camper writes them telling you how you impacted their life, and as they sign the letter calling you a role model is remarkable. As I looked out the rear window of the truck back at Deep Portage a tear came to my eye, because I do not now know when I will ever return, all I can say is thank you for 7 wonderful camp, all the memories, and friendships that will last a life time, my time spent here will never be forgotten!

Minnesota Agricultural Ambassadors Institute

MAAI

Minnesota Agricultural Ambassadors Institute

July 9-11^th

The 2008 MAAI conference was held in Rochester; Justin, Caitlin, Sydney, and I were able to attend this conference representing MN FFA Association. This conference is put on by the MN Pork producers and MN Farm Bureau. This conference is designed to target the agricultural industry leaders of tomorrow. We had the chance to meet pork ambassadors from across the state, leaders from local FFA chapters, and several adult leaders in the Ag industry. This was my 3^rd time attending, but I again learned something new, and met so many new people.

         At this conference we had an Ag issues session, David Preisler, Minnesota Pork Producers Association, Kevin Paap, Minnesota Farm Bureau, and Robin Kinney Minnesota Department of Agriculture Representative were the individuals on the panel who answered our questions. All day Thursday we were able to take several tours in southeastern Minnesota. We first stopped and toured the Hormel meat packing plant in Austin; from there we traveled to Claremont and toured Al-Corn ethanol plant. Lastly we traveled west of Rochester and had the pleasure to tour the Allen dairy farm. I am a swine boy so the Hormel plant was my favorite, but wow talk about a dairy operation at the Allen farm, it was very interesting!

         Another highlight we had at this conference was getting to meet with the makers of the “Farmboy” clothing brand; I look forward to this part every year. With all of us farm boys and farm girls here they asked us for ideas for new products, and to help pick out a few products that are ready to hit the stores. If you know me, you know that I love to eat! To end this conference with a BANG we went to Michael’s restaurant (probably the nicest restaurant in Rochester) for an etiquette luncheon. WOW what a meal, and I leaned so much more to improve my dinning skills

         A special thanks to Trudy Wastweet, Robin Kinney, Kevin Paap, and Tara Sammon for an outstanding conference, it was a pleasure to work with all of you once again! Best of luck to all county pork ambassadors running for MN state pork ambassador in January, as a past MN State Pork Industry Ambassador I’m rooting for all of you, keep representing our industry well!!

RLC

RLC 2008
July 1st, 2008Howard Lake High SchoolRegional Leadership Conference
Hitting the road west once again I was on my way to Sydney’s house. Kaylee, Sydney and I gathered in Okabena and then headed north for Rachael’s house. Boy talk about a fun car ride, all three of us riding in the front seat jamming out to Disney sings! Once we arrived at Rachael’s house at 12:00a:m, we had a musical marathon, which I think we watched Guys and Dolls! I sure did enjoy that. I think I was the first one asleep.The next morning Kaylee, Rachael, Sydney and I traveled to the Town of Howard Lake to attend one of the Regional Leadership Conferences. We were able to see many chapters excited about the upcoming year. Brad, Lezlie, Amber, Josh and Jon did a fantastic job presenting the information to the chapter officer teams! Sydney and I also go to inform the members about our 10,000 service hours X2 project. It was also very funny to hear about Kaylee and Rachael having to pick up the 6 foot party subs from subway and having to get them in their car from the drive-thru.
It was great meeting members from this part of the state, and making memories with some of my teammates! Also thanks to Mr. Weininger, HLWW Advisor, for giving us many t-shirts as parting gifts! Thanks Winnie! Is the Windog in you?

Day at the Dome!

Circle us Bert!!!! MN FFA in the house. What a better way to top off the week at Greenhand Camp than FFA at the Dome? Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau and the Minnesota Twins along with Minnesota FFA members, Alumni and Sponsors celebrated FFA at the Dome on Sunday, June 29. Starting at 11:00 the Minnesota FFA Foundation hosted a tent of Famous Dave’s BBQ for all FFA supporters in attendance! It was great to see familiar faces from CHS, Farm Bureau and all of our supporters. It put a smile to see FFA members who were at camp prior in the week, along with meeting their parents. It was a pleasure to meet MN FFA last national officer Mr. Harder, whose son was at camp earlier in the week.


Game time, we Minnesota State FFA Officers took our seat on the third baseline along with many FFA members from across the state, and cheered on our Twins as they beat the Brewers in a fantastic game of baseball!! The South Dakota State Officer team was also there cheering on our team and it was great to see Brian, Shad, Shane, Josh, Wyatt and Maria again! Thank you to all who attended this day and cheered on the Minnesota Twins to victory! A massive thank you to Val Aarsvold, and the MN FFA Foundation for making this event possible, I can’t express how much I appreciate your support!

SGLC

State Greenhand Leadership ConferenceDeep Portage, Hackensack, MNJune 23-27, 2008State Greenhand Leadership Conference has been my favorite activity since being a Greenhand, I can honestly say this is event that started the fire inside me, a fire of passion and hard work for the FFA however, now after reliving it as a State Officer, I can honestly say that it is the most essential thing FFA members can do in FFA to develop their passion for this organization.Arriving in Deep Portage on Sunday, it felt right like home, walking through those doors entering the Great Hall brought back so many memories! The Deep Portage Staff was so welcoming and helpful with everything we needed! We are so grateful that they let us use their great facility, I hope we can continue our friendship for many years to come! Sunday was the day of setup. Hanging decorations, installing our “fake” FFA wall, and setting up tables and chairs for 150 campers was a work in progress. However, once it was finished, we were able to look back on all we had accomplished and know that the campers were in for a fantastic week of “Going for the Gold!" That night, each of the SOs got together with their presentation partners and finalized preparations for the sessions later that week.10:00 AM Monday morning, and Greenhand Camp was well on its way with 150 campers from across the state of Minnesota all arriving in Hackensack, Minnesota for a week of leadership, friendship, and fun! Lunch started at noon and the afternoon brought the beginning of the sessions of SGLC!

It was amazing to watch each camper grow as the week went on, all arriving to camp as strangers and by the end of the week becoming friends. I would have to say one of the most memorable moments from camp was cabin chats! Justin and I got to chat with a few cabins of girls and boy was it a boat load of fun and laughs, leaving them for the night singing “She’s lost that love & feeling” and receiving a “Goodnight Pete & Justin we love you” just puts a smile on my face. J Being a part of the Umpas my small group, this group of campers was amazing! Making our way to the volleyball championship was so thrilling. Even though we fell short to Jake’s team we put up a fight and made them earn it!
Between rock climbing, volleyball, canoeing, and playing football, the campers were able to bond and meet new members from different chapters across the state. The best part for me as a State Officer was seeing the friendships that formed throughout the week at Greenhand Camp. Members who had never met before Monday, at the end of the week were promising that they would be friends for life; and I could see that just from being around them. The talent show and dance on Thursday night were highlights for many, and saying goodbyes on Friday had never been harder.
It is incredible to see how members are at the begging of the week, and how they have changed by the end of camp. Most of the kids the first day are ready to go home, and on Friday not one of them wanting to return home. Also once everyone is home you can tell they miss camp and their new friends just by their facebook status.
Thanks you MN FFA and MN FFA members who attended this conference, these are memories I will never forget.

RENT!

June 21st 2008. The day started off at the department of education. Derek, Katie, Kaylee, Sydney, and I all met to crunch the workbooks for SGLC. We quickly got a system down that worked quit well; this only took us part of the afternoon. Finishing up around 3:00 we all headed to Farmhouse to take a nap before our evening festivities.
“RENT!! What is Rent? It’s a musical play. Ok, will I like it? O yes, you will love it.”Well $60.00 later I had been cultured a bit. Derek, Katie, Kaylee, Sydney, and I decided to hit the city lights! Yes I was going to my fist musical opera play. Don’t get me wrong, I was in all of my high school and I had been to London England and seen sever play performances. So I was totally up for a night on the town and a chance to look sharper than James Bond. All the ladies looking stunning and us guys looking handsome (as usual) we took off for the Ordway theater. Arriving early we posed for a few pictures, because this is one time we got to dress up and one of our first times out of our Official Dress! We then made our way walking around downtown St. Paul and making our way into Macys. Following the girls around for almost an hour I think we got to see every department in the store, but I think Derek and I learned a thing or two.


Taking a look at my watch it was about time to make our way back to the Ordway. We quickly got our seats and waited for the show to start. Getting the run down from Sydney about the play, I quickly knew I was in for a treat. I will say it was an experience I won’t forget. Especially the point in the play when an actress asked the house to moo with her…… sadly people in the house did join her. The funny part was someone two seats down from me was mooing, funny right? Dang right it is because it was Derek! At this time I looked at Sydney and said “Are you kidding me, is this really happening?” Ha-ha all I can do is laugh because it was so much fun. I love acting and seeing plays, but I am the type of person who like plays with lines. I don’t care for every word in play being sung.
This is one of the first things we did as teammates outside of the FFA, I had a great time, and would do it again, I am glad we took the time to “Sharpen our saws”.

NLCSO

June 16th 2008, two vans loaded with luggage and 13 state officers excited to hit the road, except that it was a 10 hour drive. So we headed south to Aurora Nebraska as a state officer to attend National Leadership Conference for State Officers (NLCSO). Jamming out to the radio, cracking jokes, and making our state officer bracelets is what most of the drive down consisted of. Rolling into town around 9:00 we were all quite tired from our long drive. While in Nebraska we stayed at the Nebraska State leadership center. Unloading out things we got our rooms and hit the hay.
June 17-19th 2008. Our first day was a day of getting to know everyone. The Nebraska, Kansas, and South Dakota teams arrived and we got acquainted with them. NLCSO is put on by the National FFA Organization. They have two national officers present the 5 day conference, we were so lucky to have Southern Region Vice President: Brady Revels and Western Region Vice President: Kari Boettcher to work with. The theme for NLCSO this year was “Discover the rhythm”, using tons of music, and video clips made this theme and conference a kick’ in one!!!!!
Over these 5 days were able to work on a lot of our planning for SGLC. Working with our partners to plan and lay out our sessions was great, I think planning this far ahead is why I think we had a stellar State Greenhand Leadership Conference! We also learned more about things we knew and things new to us such as; smart goals, being a stake holder, team development, teams vs. groups, barriers for teams, using one another’s strengths to help the better of the team, setting priorities, decision making strategies, and accountability both for my teammates and myself. One of the biggest things that opened my eyes was being told I am not a big deal, having the a office is important but me as an individual in the position does not make me any more special than before being elected. It is not about me, it’s about the 9,000 plus members of Minnesota FFA! We had several sponsors of this event stop in and visit with us. It is always nice to have the opportunity to ask questions about their companies, along with what they see happening in the future for this ever changing, exciting, roller coaster ride of an industry.

I will say we as a state officer team we had our great times and not so great times. We had our times of forming, storming, norming, proforming, and adjourning. I can honestly say we formed closer as a team, we had our times of storming, which I leaned can be healthy for a team to do. We preformed as a team in several tasks, and we adjourned together as a team, we all made it through it together!
One of the most exciting things was getting to know the other state officer teams along with the two national officers, all of them were so fun!! I can’t wait to see all of them again at National Convention in Indianapolis. Being told we are the leaders of tomorrow was a real eye opener. This really made me think about my future and how I want to give back to this industry that has taught me so much. I remember hearing someone say “treat every student as your best student”. I think about this and as I meet FFA members from across the state I tell myself that these members are also the future of our industry and the ones who could be in my shoes someday leading Minnesota’s FFA Association.

June 20th 2008 review and close, wow what a week! Where did the week go? Recapping on the week we were able to refresh our memories on the material we covered and why we were there. Receiving some sweet gift from the national officers; thanks to the sponsors of this event, a lot of the stuff will be useful throughout the year. OK everyone in? load’um up, time to hit the road once again, and head north. Traveling through Iowa on the way back home made the trip even more boring, ha-ha just kidding. The trip home was fun, laughing about thing from the week and finishing making our trinkets for SGLC made the drive go by fast. But what a great experience, I am so glad I got to be part of it and be with my teammates on this road tip!

SOPD #1

“Experience the Legacy”
May 4th, 2008, our first SOPD meeting (State Officer Planning Day). Crashing at Sydney’s sister’s apartment, after sleeping in I woke up, around 9:30 to shower, and get all ready in my Official Dress! Leaving Minneapolis at 11:00 we headed to the state fair grounds to meet for our meeting at the FFA Leadership Center, but not before we stopped for a late breakfast at a bagel shop, I have to have my coffee. It was so great to see everyone’s smiling faces again; it was the first time the team had been together since Blast Off! Taking the time to visit with one another, we all got a chance to share what we have been up to since Blast Off. A lot of officers shared about their graduations, and summer jobs. For myself, there has been very little time spent on the farm (which I missL). I shared all about the FFA events I had attended and time I had spent with the family. I think the most enjoyable time I have had away from the FFA this summer has been when my family. I went to our cabin on the lake by Faribault to put the dock and boat lift in the water. I got to work on my tan, have a picnic, and take my 2 nieces, Ella and Katie, fishing. Boy, you should have seen the looks on their faces when we were reeling in those Sunnies. Once all of us were done sharing about our summer, lunch had arrived.
Now it was time to get to work. Mrs. Sheryl Meshke from AMPI joined us to help develop ideas and steer us in the right direction for choosing our theme. She reminded us about our goals, key messages, and who we want our theme to target. After about 3 hours of guidance it was time for us to start brainstorming. Before we knew it we had flip charts full of theme ideas. Each of us chose our top 5 favorites, and then we decided to sleep on it and see which themes grew on us. After our meeting the whole officer team went out to dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings, which in my book is always a good choice. Making good time, we were able to make it to the movie theater in time for the early show, so all of us enjoyed a movie with one another. I can honestly say I was one of about 10 guys in the movie theater; it was “defiantly a chick flick”, but I had a great time. It was great to see the team again and have everyone together.
May 5th 2008 needing to be to the fairgrounds a bit earlier that the prior morning, Sydney, Kaylee, Justin, and I were up earlier and had the truck loaded by 7:30, making a stop once again at the bagel shop for breakfast. We soon got underway with our meeting diving right into our camp curriculum. All of us were excited to see what our workshops were and who we were presenting with. We went through SGLC day-by-day. Once that was over, we met with our partners for our workshops to get an idea of what we wanted to do and what materials we would need.
Once again we returned to choosing our state theme. After everyone having some time to think about what they liked we brained stormed a bit more. We got it! We came up with the 2008-2009 Minnesota FFA theme, representing our 80th Anniversary. “Experience the Legacy.” So there it is MN FFA, our theme for the year, I hope you like it, because I am sure excited about it Legacy: something that is handed down or remains from a previous generation or time
Until next time Stationed by the Door:
Peter Thome

Region VI FFA Camp

Region VI FFA camp:
May 2nd 2008. Well, time to hit the road once more, but not getting things done at home first. Making it an early morning, getting up at 4:45 to load pigs by 5:15, and complete my morning chores, proved to be the start of a grueling day. Finally hitting the road around 9:00 to meet Sydney in Mankato, I was finding myself multi tasking again; eating my breakfast, making sure I had everything, talking on the phone, thinking of state theme ideas, and the most important thing, enjoying my 3rd cup of coffee for the day (I have to have it.) Arriving in Mankato around 11:00, I parked my car at the Minnesota Pork Producers office, and went inside and gave my friends a hello. I worked with the MNPB a year ago as I was the 2007 MN Pork Ambassador. Lucky for Sydney and myself, they had a projector we could use for our workshops, thank you!!!! Once we had the entire back of Sydney’s truck loaded with luggage, bathroom bags, workshop supplies we hit the road for Willmar. Traveling a part of the state I don’t get to see much, I was excited to look at the crops and the country side, and who else better to share it with than your State Reporter, Ms. Sydney Place, (boy can she talk your ear off.) rolling into Willmar at 2:00 we stopped at Wal-Mart to pick up a few supplies and get on our way. After turning around a few times and making a few phone calls we finally found the Sibley State Park. Kids were running around and music was playing when we pulled in; I knew this was going to be a fun time! We got a friendly welcome and the plans for the evening from Mr. Launoe (Tracy style), Mr. Launoe (Marshal style), Mr. Sawatzke and Ms. Hoffman. After finding our cabins, we soon jumped into meeting campers! Once rec. time was over we enjoyed a tasty meal made by Miss Hoffman, then it was time for our first session. Working with Brad Launoe, out National Officer Candidate CONGRATS BRAD, Sydney and I presented “What is FFA”? With more rec. time to follow, and a bonefire, Sydney and I gave a reflection around the fire to the campers, I spoke about “building you foundation” and where else that the FFA would be better than that. After the bonefire, kids were able to hang out then lights out by 11:00. Now time for planning! Sydney and I made our flip charts and organized out materials for our workshops for the next day. Being up for about 18 hours now, it was time to hit the hay!
May 3rd 2008. Wow! I didn’t wake up once through the night, I must have been that tired, or that old bunk bed must have been comfy! Waking up to my internal alarm clock, even though I could have slept in, I was up lying in bed at 6:30 listening to the birds chirping, and the rest of the wilderness around me at the state park. Getting my wonderful bacon, eggs, and pancakes from Miss H. filled me right up! Playing the weather by ear, the campers had their rec. time and were soon on their nature hike to “hill top”. While the campers were gone, Sydney and I went through our workshops one more time. Happy Gram time!!! Waiting for the campers to make their way back to camp, we took the time to write some happy grams to the campers. By now it was lunch time, and the campers had a chance to change and have a short rec. time. Diving into our first session, Sydney and I presented “Living to Serve.” Making the session as fun as possible, we taught the campers about what service is and how they can create a service project in their chapters, and community. The next session we presented again tied into service along with goal setting. Informing the campers on S.M.A.R.T. goals, and allowing them to take the time to make their own, it was interesting to connect with the young members of region VI and to also see the wheels turning, as they jotted them down on a card to place in their FFA jackets. During this time the South Dakota FFA Officer team arrived. Getting to meet them was very fun; I can’t wait to see them again at NLCSO. Without even realizing what time it was, it was time to start thinking about packing our bags, and hitting the road. Completing my final happy grams and good-byes, we loaded up the truck and hit the road. Sydney and I, both wishing we could stay for the entire camp, and the dance, had to be in the cities for our first SOPD meeting (State Officer Planning Day.) having one of the most fun, interesting, and laid back car rides, we arrived to the cities around 7:00. Meeting Sydney’s sister, we went to the mall to buy Sydney new official dress shoes. From there we went to dinner at a Chinese restaurant. Making our way to the UofM campus we went to DTS fraternity. My best friend Sam Holst is a member, along with some other good friends of mine. Catching up on our summers, and old times, it was finally bed time.
I am very thankful Sydney asked me to be her presenting partner for this camp! I feel it prepared me for our upcoming state camps. Great thanks to Brad Launoe and all the advisors who invited us to be a part of this fun camp! I really enjoyed myself, who would have thought Region VI could be so fun?

Kansas FFA Convention

South bound and out!
Our first out of state event as State FFA Officers, Derek, Caitlin, Sydney, and I took a road trip to the Kansas FFA Convention in Manhattan Kansas. Leaving from Albert Lea the drive down was a fun one, whether we were jamming out to the radio, making state officer bracelets, or cracking jokes the drive flew by.
Rolling in to town late afternoon on Monday we were welcomed with open arms by Sharita Lacey. Sharita is a past KS State FFA Officer, and has attended the MN State Convention several times. Jumping right into it all we started our tour on town and the K-State University. The K-State campus a beautiful one, old historical buildings, green grass, and smiling faces made us feel that much more welcome. Getting hungry the four of us grabbed a bight to eat with Sharita, Shawn, and Morgan. After dinner we toured town a bit more and we went up to Manhattan Hill. Standing at the top of the hill we were overlooking the city of Manhattan. With the long drive from earlier in the day it called for an early bed time, so it was time to hit the hay.
Day 2: Waking up early Tuesday morning hearing the birds chirping and the sun shining we got dressed into our Official Dress, the four of us got our healthy breakfast at McDonalds. The plan for the day was to help where needed! We helped stuffing envelopes for each chapter, placing parking passes, awards dinner tickets, and dance tickets. We also made name badges, alphabetized proficiencies, and lastly in the afternoon time for a treat! We got ice cream at Call hall, A ice cream shop run by K-State boy was it yummy, I was little sad I didn’t get to try the K-State purple pride ice cream. It was time to get into some comfortable cloths and start thing about dinner. What dinner? I just stuffed myself with two huge ice cream cones. Well Grizzlies was the place for dinner! Am I glad we went there; I had the best chicken fried steak, and tried something new fried pickles! From dinner we went to went to “The top of the world”, talk about a wonderful view of Manhattan! The best part of the night was Pillsbury’s crossing, this about a 20 minute drive out of the city but wow! The view, the sound of water trickling over the rocks, and the feel of Kansas water running through your toes, it was beautiful! Time to meet the Kansas State FFA Officers, so we went to AGR house on campus and got to hang with them for a while, along with the National FFA Secretary Becky Sullivan. Rounding up the gang we got our orders from Sharita for tomorrows activities, and where we needed to be and when. Day #2 gone and I think Kansas is starting to grow on me!
Day 3: Again waking up early all bright eyed and bushy tailed we got into our O.D. and again got breakfast at McDonalds. Arriving to campus, all of us with our duties, I headed to Blue Mount Hall and was able to sit in all the Extemporaneous Speaking Contest and video tape each contest. By the time this contest was over I regrouped with everyone and got lunch at the student union. Talk about lucky! They have Subway, Taco Bell, pizza, and Chinese to pick from for places to eat. In the afternoon Sydney and I got to be time keepers for the FFA Creed contest. It was interesting to listen to the FFA Creed again, and see how passionate these young FFA members about agriculture and FFA, it sure made me recall back to when my freshman year when I was a creed speaker. Later in the afternoon Caitlin, Sydney, and I helped load vehicles with scrapbooks, a boat load of pop tabs from a pop tab drive contest, and materials to head over to the convention hall. By now it was snake time and time to start heading over to the convention hall for the first general session. It was really interesting see a different convention, how other states do it. Something that was cool was the laser show before each session. It was a night session so it got over about 8:30. Ha-ha but no the night was not over yet, the night was still you, it was time to get our grove on!!! We all got changed and headed to the FFA dance at the shopping mall. Talk about a great time, all the pizza you can eat, loud music, and 500 FFA members having a blast! After the dance I got to have my first Sonic experience, and while we were there we got to meet and talk with some Kansas FFA members! There is no better way to end the night better than going back with my grape icy, my fellow state officers, and all of us cuddling up on the couch with our laptops and facebooking!

Day 4: Thursday morning the sun is shining and one worm and muggy day! We kind of have and order going on here, but once again got dressed in my O.D. and headed for our favorite breakfast spot…. McDonalds!!! So it was a day filled with Sessions, sessions 2, 3, and 4 were held. Tons of great speakers, young individuals being recognized for their hard work and moving retiring officer addresses. After the first session we grabbed a bite to eat in “Agievillle” at a little Mexican restaurant, wow what a yummy meal! Just around the corner was the Kansas State University clothing store, and all of us got our purple K-State pride shirts! After lunch it was time to cash in for a little nap, and write thank you letters to everyone who helped us on this great trip. We then attended the second session. We heard from a very amassing young lady, Becky Sullivan the National FFA Secretary. Once this session was over it was time to start thinking about coming back to Minnesota. So we got out bags backed and everything in line to hit the road. Attending the 4 session more awards were given, one heck of a Keynote speaker. It was over before I knew it. My time in Kansas was almost over, it flew by so quickly! I didn’t want to leave, these people are great, and formed so many new friendships, and got to catch up on some old ones. But sooner or later you must say your good-byes. So we posed for some final pictures, and handed out our great Minnesota hugs, and we were north bound and down by 10:30 Thursday night, but not before we hit up the McDonalds one last time on the way out of town! Do we have everyone? “Buddy!” So does everyone have their buddy? Yes we used the buddy system on this trip. Derek had Caitlin, and I had Sydney. 10:30 P:M we hit the road, stuffed from McDonalds! The first shift Derek and Caitlin get us started while Sydney and I were catching our Z’s in the back seat.
Day 5: Friday morning 2:00 A:M, somewhere in the middle of… well it must have been Iowa because there was nothing there we made our rotation. Sydney starting us off and I in shot-gun we keep on trucking north. It didn’t take long for Derek and Caitlin; they were sleeping before we knew it. Gas and potty stop! 4:00 A:M we make a stop in Ames Iowa fill up and it’s my turn to drive and get us home. I must say it has been a long time since I last saw the sun rise. We made it! Getting to Albert Lea around 5:30 we dropped Caitlin off and the rest of us went on our way. Crawling into my own bed at 7:00 A:M and falling asleep by 7:05 felt great! But that didn’t last for long, chores need to be done and it was time to start unpacking and start my laundry.
What was I thinking? Here I wasn’t even going to join my fellow officers on this trip, boy am I glad I did! It was an unforgettable trip. I got to know my fellow officer much better, got to see how another state organizes and runs their convention, and I also got to see a different part of our country. So thank you Kansas FFA and MN FFA for a wonderful opportunity, and thank you Derek, Caitlin, and Sydney for letting me join you and have a wonderful time, were had moments and memories I will never forget!

Southlands FFA Awards program

Back where I come from: returning back to my home town and chapter! lol I really was never invited, I was just Sydney's date to the program because she was invited. It was a Saturday afternoon, I came home from school for the weekend, and Sydney drove over and met me at my place. My first event as a MN State FFA Officer! Well in Adams, MN, on a Saturday night the American Legion is the place to be! haha what, a town of 800 and the Legion is the hang out? Yes, Sydney got to experience her first chicken fry! So Sydney and I went in our Official Dress, and I didn't think in a small rural town people would stare that much, like take a picture people. So at the chicken fry I got to introduce Sydney to all of my family, even my grandpa and his girlfriend. Syd and my grandpa are only live 30 minutes away from one another. So in conversation getting to know one another he asked "Hey Peter ask your girlfriend (syd really isn't my gf) if she has ever picked strawberries Schumacher's Nursery and Berry Farm." and so long story short they talked about lame things in southwestern MN. lol jk. From the chicken fry we made our way to the Southland FFA Awards Program. Things really haven't changed from when i was a member and a chapter officer, same program and awards and so on. Mr. Brown did put Syd and I on the spot, by adding her and I into the program to share a few words. But I am very happy to say i am from the Southland FFA Chapter. The chapter has really taken off the last few years, I am very proud of the students their. It was nice to take photos and visit with the members and their parents after the program. We got to let them know how excited we were to serve for the next year, and what goals we had in mind for the State FFA Association. After the program Syd and I went back to my parents place, and once again I had to draw Syd a picture of how to get back to I-90 so she wouldn't get lost. I really think this was a great way to start off my year as a S.O. Bye for Now :)