This year's annual awards banquet will be held on May 19th at 4:00 P.M. in the new gym. All members will be expected to help with the set-up and clean-up of the banquet.

The dinner portion of the banquet is a covered dish style potluck. This means that everyone that attends should bring a covered dish of some kind. We encourage all members to bring their parents and family members to the banquet to share in the accomplishments that you have made, as well as the accomplishments of your friends and of the chapter throughout the past year. Like last year, we are asking that families of freshmen and sophomore members bring a dinner item and that the families of junior and senior members bring a dessert item.

Finally, this is an awards banquet. This is a formal occasion where we recognize the outstanding members of our chapter. Official dress is required for those members who have their jackets. If you don't have a jacket, dress as close to official dress as possible. Official dress includes: your FFA Jacket, black or blue tie for boys/scarf for girls, black slacks (slacks or knee length or longer skirts for girls), white collared shirt/blouse, and dress shoes. Show pride in who you are and what you are a part of by representing the chapter well.

The next meeting of the Amanda-Clearcreek FFA Chapter will be on Monday, May 13th at 7:00 P.M.

It has been announced that the site of the National FFA Convention for the years of 2006-2012 will be Indianapolis, Indiana! This was accomplished during a meeting of the National

FFA Board of Directors and National FFA Officers on April 5th. There was an unanimous decision to hold the convention there.

Many supporters of this change claim that the new site will offer better opportunities for capacity, lodging, transportation, facilities, security, location and expense. The future site went through an evaluation process that included representatives of teachers, past national FFA officers, and state agricultural education leaders. These people used a "scorecard" to rank the competing cities. No city evaluated scored the "best" in every category. This committee gathered enough detailed information and made several visits to the four finalist cities to inspect facilities and discuss different issues.

Don't feel too sad about missing Louisville, though. The next four National FFA Conventions will still be held there, including this year's 75th anniversary! Read more on-line at http://www.ffa.org.

During the Equine Affaire, the largest horse expo in North America, Mr. Sharp, Mallory McMaster, Holly Edwards and Kevin Konkler sold raffle tickets for a 6x4 John Deere Gator. All proceeds from this raffle benefit the Ohio FFA Foundation.

FFA and agricultural education received good news this year when a major research study by Purdue University highlighted aspects of the comparative edge FFA members enjoy over the "typical high school student." The study of FFA and non-FFA agricultural education students utilized selected findings about the general U.S. school population from a 1999 research report, The State of Our Nation's Youth, published by the Horatio Alger Association.

The A-C FFA did well in the District 7 Small Engines contest, placing 3rd overall. The team consisted of Jace Spires, Shawn Goodman and Ralston Foster. Jace placed 4th, Shawn placed 10th overall, and Ralston placed 13th. Congratulations!

The Equine Management team placed 20th overall. The team consisted of Tiffany Timmons, Cassie Shaeffer, Mallory McMaster, Christina Gierhart, Holly Edwards, June Spires, Megan Braden and Jenny Meadows. Cassie placed 55th, Mallory placed 83rd individually, Christina placed 106th individually, Megan placed 148th individually, Tiffany placed 164th individually, Holly placed 222nd individually, and Jenny placed 225th individually. I'd also like to thank our great coach, Gail Ellinger for all of her time this season!

The General livestock team placed 26th overall. The team consisted of Mark Francis, Brian Bussert, Travis Kiser, Christian Hoffman and Ryan Sturgeon. Mark placed 39th overall,Christian placed 88th overall, Travis placed 290th overall, Ryan placed 433rd overall, and Brian placed 561st overall. Congratulations!

The Dairy Cattle team placed 37th overall. The team consisted of: Martina Stanley, Amanda Cassidy. Rebecca Gillian, and Crish Alvey. Amanda placed 113th overall, Rebecca placed 162nd overall, Crish placed 176th overall, and Martina placed 177th overall. Congratulations!

The Poultry Judging team placed 20th overall, consisting of Rachel Makarius, Beth Fouse and Jamie Collins. Beth placed 59th overall, Rachel placed 97th overall, and Jamie placed 128th overall. Congratulations!

The Agronomy Team placed 28th overall, consisting of Shawn Goodman and Skyler Baldwin. Shawn placed 78th overall, and Skyler placed 100th overall. Congratulations!

The Wildlife Management team placed 15th overall, consisting of Jace Spires, Devon Timmons, Lindsey Turner, Samantha Wiggins and Heather Hines. Devon placed 51st overall, Jace placed 55th overall, Heather placed 65th overall, Lindsey placed 84th overall, and Samantha placed 125th overall. Congratulations! Good luck to all teams next year.

Last month, several A-C FFA Members were inducted into the National Honor Society. The FFA members inducted are: Beth Fouse, Rachel Makarius, Samantha Wiggins, and Tabby Strausz. Congratulations!

This year's Ohio State FFA Convention was held at the Ohio Expo Center on May 3rd and 4th. Many chapter members attended on Friday during the day for the sessions and again that evening for the dance. Members receiving their state degrees were: Mark Francis, Tiffany Timmons, and Kevin Strickler. Chapter members Dawn Helber and Meagan Silva participated in the Talent Show, along with Joe Althaus and Aaron Strickland.

Congratulations to Heather Makarius for being put on the ballot for State President. She wasn't elected as president, but should be commended for her efforts and time she's put in. It is an honor to be placed on the ballot in the first place. She was an excellent state officer last year, and made a difference in our chapter. Thanks, Heather!

Several members also competed for awards in profeciency awards. Jace Spires recieved 1st runner-up for Home Improvement and 2nd runner-up for Nursery Operations. Rachel Makarius recieved 2nd runner-up for Poultry Production. Mark Francis recieved 1st runner-up in Ag Processing. Robert Blosser received 1st runner-up in Grain Production. Congratulations!!

This year's COLT Conference will be held on May 14th Lancaster High School. This conference will help your officers develop the leadership skills needed to help our chapter run smoothly and to make FFA a more enjoyable experience for everyone.

The A-C FFA sold flower bulbs while selling mulch as a fundraiser. The chapter did very well, selling over 720 flower bulbs. The top seller was Heather Hines, selling 65 bulbs. Over 40 members participated. The fundraiser will be used to offset camp costs. Congratulations!

This year's Ag. Communications team, consisting of Mallory McMaster, Jenny Zaayer, Cassi Slone and Meagan Silva, is practicing and preparing hard for the state contest on May 11th. The team hopes to do very well. They must submit a written proposal and a video taped presentation dealing with an agricultural consumer issue. The topic they chose was livestock cloning. Each member also participates in a practicum. Mallory's practicum is News Release Writing, Cassi's is Broadcasting, Meagan's is Graphic Design and Jenny's is News writing. In addition ot the practicums, each member completes a written test and an editing exercise. Good Luck!

This year's annual Mulch Sale is over. Chapter members sold over 5000 bags of mulch all together. This year's top seller was Mallory McMaster, selling 440 bags. If you haven't picked up your mulch yet, you need to see Mr. Tilley as soon as possible to arrange for that to be taken out of the shop. Also, if you need extra mulch, see Mr. Tilley soon to get that ordered.

The top 15 mulch sellers will have the opportunity to go on a camping trip to Carter Caves, Kentucky. This trip will be held from May 24th - May 26th.