December Newsletter

by Coty Bodamer,Reporter

Next Meeting - The next meeting of the Amanda-Clearcreek FFA Chapterwill be on December 18th. This will be the Greenhand degree Ceremony,so freshman who worked to achieve this goal, please be prepared.Parents and guests are also invited so that they may furtherunderstand and appreciate the FFA.

National Convention - From all over America, from Maine to Hawaii and fromAlaska to Puerto Rico and even from the Virgin Islands, 45,000 FFAmembers representing over 7,000 schools met to watch fellow membersbe awarded for their accomplishments, National Officers be installedand to enjoy to local festivities in Louisville, Kentucky. From theAmanda-Clearcreek FFA Chapter, 9 members(Heather Makarius, Coty Bodamer, Jared Johnson, MikeJustice, Cliff Rutter, Jace Spires, Clayton Sharp, MarkFrancis and Mallory McMaster)and1 advisor, Mr. Tilley drove a van for 5 hours to arrive in Louisvilleon Wednesday, October 25th. They left the school at 6 am to ensuretime for the days plans. Those activities included a tour of theForest Discovery Center in Starlight, Indiana, a tour of the HuberOrchard and Winery also in Starlight. The group then drove back overthe Ohio River to Louisville to be entertained by the HauntedHotel.

On Thursday the members attended the veryfirst session at the National Convention at 8am and later attendedthe Career Show. At 2 pm they were back in time for the 2nd session.The group later toured Mammoth Cave and enjoyed the scenic views aswell as its amazing history.

Friday started early, around 6:45 am with abreakfast with other Ohio FFA Chapters. They visited theFornsley-Moremon Landing, a historic home in Louisville.

Mandy Sharp was awarded with the American FFA Degree,the highest honor an FFA Member can receive. Only two young ladieshave received the American Degree from the Amanda-Clearcreek Chapter.Mandy is second only to her own sister, Kellie Sharp. There have onlybeen 18 members in the history of the Amanda-Clearcreek FFA Chapter.Mandy makes number 19. Mandy is the daughter of David and JuliaSharp. Mandy plays for the Bobcats basketball team at OU-L, where sheis currently attending. The first 9 members to get to Louisville leftfor Slade, Kentucky to visit the Natural Bridge State Park. The firstgroup stayed in Slade, while the second group headed home aftersupporting Katy Poth, a Fairfield County native, being elected to anational office!

The National Convention is an amazingexperience. A perfect blend of Leadership, Responsibility, and Fun isfound in the heart of Kentucky. The 17 members that attended thisyear will forever remember the experience and the memories will neverbe forgotten. Once again, the FFA has proven both educational andenlightening to over 45,000 members across the United States.

Ohio State FFAHighlights...

-We now have 5 consecutive NationalOfficers, a new record

We have had 29 total National Officers, morethan any other state

We had 6 National Proficiency Winners thisyear, more than any other state

We had 13 chapters receive the 3 starNational Chapter Award, again, more than any other state

As you can see, the competition in Ohio istough!

Hey! We might not have beat Michigan, but weproved our selves through the FFA!!

FFA members act in school musical- The musical production of Bye ByeBirdie was an 'Amanda Broadway' hit! 21 of the 49 cast members(including lights and sound) are in the Amanda-Clearcreek FFA. "Notonly are we raised on a farm and show cows, we can act and entertainas well!" remarked a member of the A-C FFA.

Our president, Heather Makarius asHelen JenniferCochran as Kim MacAfee

Joe Althaus as Harry MacAfee Summer Zeimer asMrs. Mae Peterson

Mike Foley as Hugo Peabody Alicia Adkins as theMayors wife

Misty Senften as Mrs. Merkle BetsySharp as Alice

Beth Fouse as Margie JustinLouks as Harvey Johnson

Deanna Pontius as Deborah Sue ErinGilfillen as Suzie

Joe Davis as Freddie NickLee as the policeman

Sweet Apple Townspeople included

Eddy Cox, Mark Francis and DawnHelber

A musical is nothing without the SupportStaff...

Lighting: Megan Fishel andAngela Davis Sound: SilasCarpenter

2nd Annual Leadership Night -It was an honor and a privilege tohost an FFA Leadership night for the 2nd year. The Amanda-ClearcreekFFA is one of the few Chapters selected to host such an event thisyear. The Leadership Night was held November 30th with 4 State FFAofficers giving workshops proving leadership should benefit the wholenot just one member when used properly. 49 of the 77 members from allover Pickaway, Ross and Fairfield Counties had the home fieldadvantage. Those Chapters were: Teays Valley- 12 members, SouthEastern Ross- 11 members, Bloom Carroll- 4 members and Lancaster with1 member attending.

Leadership night is dedicated to teachingand opening the different ways of true leadership and co-operation.These workshops were effective in that everyone was needed in orderto succeed at the different tasks and everyone was needed for theirideas and input so that new ways could be used to conquer a common orironic barrier.

A Thank You goes out to those who helped andto the chapters that attended and hopefully next year will be asawesome.

Those in attendance were: Heather Makarius, Rachel Makarius, Brandy Vannoy,Robert Blosser, Dawn Helber, Angela Davis, Chris Hanes, Ryan Foster,Ricky Foster, Betsy Sharp, Jace Spires, Jeremy Tucker , ShaunaCornell, Heather Edler, Amber Hedrick, Nolen Gossett, Gary Hart,Emilee Klamfoth, Jennifer Evans, Shane Rickly, Nathan Holbrook, JennyGreen, Katie Bowman, Josh Knotts, Jennifer Phillips, Matt Lamp,Jordan Lee, Nick Gilbert, Mark Francis, Meagan Silva, MichaelShaeffer, Brian Strickler, Kevin Strickler, Tracy Larson, NedPhillips, Misty Senften, Billy Pontuis, Casey Teets, Cliff Rutter,Jesse Casto, Mike Justice, Zach McPherson, Nick Lee, Joe Althaus,David Thomas and Dan Tooill

A-C cleans up at L-U Ag Olympics -The Liberty Union FFA Chaptersponsored an Olympics Ag style. With Liberty Union and FairfieldUnion stacked against them, The Amanda-Clearcreek FFA members pulledthrough for an awesome victory! Placing first on LU turf was a greatfeeling for A-C members. The games, placings and team participantsare as follows:

Milk Chug; 2nd; Josh Knotts andDan Tooill

Sack Race; 1st; Casey Teets, Shane Rickly, and MikeJustice

Wheel Barrel Race; 2nd; Shane Rickly andMike Justice

Poop the Potato; 1st; Michael Foley, Brian Strickler, Bill Pontius, TonyMiller, and Matt Lamp

Bobbing for Apples; 3rd; Heather Makarius andKristen Graves

Tug of War; 2nd for both teams; Girls -Beth Fouse, Deanna Pontius, KristinaCampbell, Kristen Graves, Rachel Makarius, and AliciaAdkins

Boys - ChrisHanes, Dan Tooill, Nick Lee, Ryan Foster, Cliff Rutter, NolanGossett, and Jesse Casto

Pie Eating; 1st; Robert Blosser

Bale Throwing; 1st; Dan Tooill andChris Hanes

3 Legged Race; 1st; Josh Knotts andCasey Teets, JenniferStrickler and Kristen Graves,Jace Spires and NolenGossett

Corn Shelling; 3rd; Jace Spires, Nolen Gossett and AliciaAdkins

Egg Toss; 2nd; Nolen Gossett andDeanna Pontius

Winning 5 of 11 events

Congratulations A-C members for an awesomefeat over LU and FU!

Additional attending A-C FFA memberswere:

Kevin Strickler, Angela Davis, ToddHelber, and Cassie Shaeffer

Fox Trail Clean-Up- The Fairfield Heritage TrailAssociation asked the Amanda-Clearcreek FFA Chapter to assist in aclean-up of the local trails in Lancaster and surrounding areas onthe 19th. Those helping were: CliffRutter, Robert Blosser, Matt Lamp, Jennifer Strickler, Jesse Casto,and Mike Justice
Trap Shoot - The Green's allowed the A-C FFA to use theirproperty again, as they have for about the past two years for ourannual Trap Shoot. A BIG thank you to them! Those attending includednot only 13 current members of the A-C FFA but 4 AlumniMembers!

Current FFA Members attending were:Zach McPherson, Sidney Bennett, RyanFoster, Lindsay Turner, Whitney Turner, Dan Tooill, Silas Carpanter,David Thomas, Lance Green, Justin Cox, Amy Araujo, Jenny GreenandMark Francis

Alumini Members attendingwere: Dave Heidell, James Heidell,Scott Sharp and Jeff Tilley

Contest Info - The Parliamentary Team has been selected and havealready began to practice. Those members are: Joe Davis, Jace Spires, Heather and Rachel Makarius,Angela Davis, Coty Bodamer, Beth Fouse, Robert Blosser, Mike Justice,Mike Foley, Casey Teets and MarkFrancis
Fruit Sale - Congratulations to Heather Bussert whosold the most fruit with RobertBlosser close in 2nd. The fruit willbe delivered to the Old Ag. Shop on the 12th and 13th of December.Members, be prepared to come and get your fruit as quickly aspossible. Make arrangements for delivery or pick up before thesedates!
Ag Breakfast - The Ag breakfast will be held at Tee Jay's on the 7thin Lancaster at 7 am.
Promising Young Womens Conference -Some of our own young women fromAmanda-Clearcreek attended the Promising Young Womens Conference.Those attending were: Jenny Green,Heather Ricks, Angela Davis, Misty Senften, Alicia Adkins, MeganFishel, Alisha Johnson, Tracy Larson, Tiffany Timmons, Heather Edler,Tabby Strausz, Kristen Graves, Rachel Makarius, Deanna Pontius, BethFouse, Sidney Bennett, Cassie Shaeffer, Shauna Cornell, Dawn Helber,andAmy Araujo These young women weretreated to a tour of OSU. They were taken to various greenhouses, ameat lab, they visited the main campus and the Norton/Scott Dorms, aswell as the Schottenstein Center, a book store and of course, the Ag.Campus.An opportunity to visit different agricultural basedoccupations were available. Some of these were AgricultureEngineering, Horticulture, Food Science, Animal Science, Pre-Vet,Agricultural Economics and Communications as well as Ag. Ed.
Reporter's Note - Thank you to those who responded to last monthsletter. Once again, if you have any questions, comments or ideas,e-mail me ASAP!! Wyld_Yello_Roz@yahoo.com. If you would rather talkto me in person, you can find me in Mr.Tilley's room!

Thanks Again!

Coty