by Jessie Berisford, Reporter

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FFA Meeting

The next FFA meeting will be held on Monday, December 18th in the Ag Center. Remember the Ag Center has no heat so dress for the weather. The Ag Challenge for this meeting is going to be Peanut Butter Face. This is a new Ag challenge. Each class will need a representative and they will smear their face with peanut butter and someone will throw small marshmellows at their face trying to make them stick. The class with the most marshmellows will win. The Greenhand FFA Degree ceremony will be held at this meeting and all requirements for the degree must be met by this time. All members can participate in this event.

National FFA Convention

Fifteen members recently attended the National FFA Convention. Those members were: Kyle Kennedy, Jessie Berisford, Josh Cordle, Alyssa Jenkins, Brittany Pinkstock, Ashlee Reynolds, Sarah Rodgers, Gene Brown, Teran Pinkstock, Scott Loudermilk, Ryan Davis II, Tyler VanHorn, Chance McMaster, Dylan Thompson and David Sams. This was a new experience for all of the members because it was held in Indianapolis, Indiana instead of Louisville, Kentucky. This was the 79th annual National FFA Convention. At the convention, the members got to watch the National FFA officers conduct various convention sessions. They also get to watch other FFA chapters from around the nation receive many different types of awards and hear from numerous speakers. The members stayed at the Flat Rock YMCA camp that was about 45 minutes from Conseco Field house, where the convention sessions were held. On Wednesday, the arrival day, the group toured Heatherbrook Farms, which is north of Cincinnati. Heatherbrook, an Alpaca farm, was one of the members favorite touring sites. “The little babies were cute and we got to hold them,” Kyle Kennedy said. The members then got to climb the Alpine Tower at the camp. The members then got to attend their first National FFA Convention session where former Pittsburg Steelers quarterback and current NFL analyst Terry Bradshaw spoke. After the session, the members attended the FFA Mega Concert where country music artists Heartland, Jason Aldean and Carrie Underwood performed.
The group toured Kelsay Farms, which was a dairy farm, Poe Hampshire’s Sheep Farm and Tuttle Orchards. For dinner that evening the members ate at the Hard Rock Café. After dinner, they went to the Ohio FFA Associations Buckeye Bash, and danced the night away. On Saturday, the group attended the eighth convention session and saw the American FFA Degree recipients receive their degrees. The group also got to tour the Indiana State Museum. There were two members from the A-C FFA Chapter who received their degrees. Those two were Brad Bowers and Christian Hoffman. This is a huge accomplishment for Brad and Christian because this is the highest degree that an FFA member can receive. The FFA chapter would like to send out a big thank you to the teacher and chaperones that went. The teacher was Jeff Tilley and the chaperones were Heather Noll and Lisa Ferguson.

Hog Roast

The chapters annual Hog Roast was on Wednesday, November 1st. There were around 250 guests and 90 members This was this biggest Hog Roast that the chapter has had. All three school administrators attended and so did school board members Don Sharp, Jay Hunter, and Dennis Cramer. There was lots of food and this was a good time so if you didn’t go you missed out.
*The A-C FFA Alumni would like to let you know that they have a hog roaster to rent for anyone needing one this fall. It uses charcoal and the rental fee is $25 if you clean it or $50 if we clean it. Contact Mr. Tilley at the school if you are interested.

Fruit Sale

The chapter Fruit Sale recently ended. This is our chapters biggest fundraiser and without the profit earned from the fruit sale, members will have to pay more for activities. The profit made from this fundraiser goes towards everything from bus fuel to contest fees to field trips. There were approximately 1530 boxes sold this year. Fruit delivery days will be December 11th from 6pm until 8pm, December 12th after school until 8pm, December 13th after school until 8pm and December 14th until 5pm. It is highly recommended that all members have their fruit picked up by the 13th. All fruit MUST be picked up by 5pm on December 14th.

Holiday Food Drive

The Holiday Food Drive was very successful this year. There were 88 bags collected in Amanda and there were 67 bags collected in Stoutsville. We also sent bags home with members who do not live in those villages, collecting about 25 bags from those members.

Proficiency Awards

Any sophomore, senior, or junior member who thinks they may be eligible for a proficiency award needs to see Mr. Tilley before Christmas Break.

State FFA Degree

Any junior or senior who is interested in getting their State Degree needs to see Mr. Tilley asap.

Chelsea Hedrick Toy Drive

The Chelsea Hedrick Toy Drive is new this year. We will collect new and gently used toys and they will be given to the children of the community that may not have a Christmas. Any member who has any GENTLY used or new toys and would like to donate them to the chapter needs to have them turned in by December 6th.

Parliamentary Procedure CDE

The A-C FFA Chapter held the Franklin-Fairfield sub-district Parliamentary Procedure contest on November 30th. Bloom Carroll placed 1st with a gold rating, A-C placed 2nd with a silver rating and Liberty Union placed 3rd with a bronze rating. The top two teams will go on to the District Contest which will be held on December 5th at Westfall High School.

Ag Breakfast

Ag Breakfast is going to be held on December 7th. It will be at Tee Jaye's at 6:30 a.m. this month. All FFA members are encouraged to attend.

State Officer Leadership Night

State Officer Leadership Night was held on November 7th. State Officer Leadership Night is where members of our FFA Chapter and members of other FFA Chapters meet to get better leadership skills. Members were split into groups with one or two state officers. Members then participated in leadership activities and talked about what ideas they could take back to their chapter to become a better leader. Members moved through a rotation so that they experienced the different workshops that were prepared by each state officer in attendance. At the end, our chapter provided those in attendance with food and drink. There were 34 A-C FFA members and 59 FFA members from other chapters participated.

Proficiency Awards and Degree Work Days

Due to a shorter Christmas Break this year, there may not be a work day scheduled. If you need one scheduled let Mr. Tilley know ASAP.