December 2007 Newsletter

by Josh Cordle, Reporter

Upcoming Meeting!

The monthly chapter meeting is Monday, December 17th in the Ag. Center.  The Ag. Challenge is Peanut Butter face.

Ag. Challenge Update

Ag. Challenge is a competition among the four grade levels based on their activity in the chapter.  You can earn points for your grade level by winning the Ag. Challenges after each meeting, meeting attendance, grades from the different grading periods, and other chapter activities.  Currently, the juniors are leading the points with 22.5 closely followed by the sophomores with 18 points. In third are the seniors with 15 points. and in last the freshmen come in with 6.5 points.

Ag. Breakfast

On Thursday, Dec. 6th, members need to be at the school by 6:45 A.M. for Ag. Breakfast.  The menu will be the one that members voted for at the last monthly meeting.

Officer Dinner

In the Fall of 2005, the chapter decided to reward the chapter officers for their hard work. So now, every December, the chapter officers go out to eat and spend time together as the year ends. The seven officers and the chapter's two advisors eat at a different restaurant in Columbus and participate in an activity, such as ice skating, to enjoy the end of their term in office. The chapter officers run many of the activities of the chapter and put forth a lot of effort and work during the year. This year the officers will be going to Hoggy’s at 5 P.M.

Ag. Communications CDE

Congratulations to the Ag. Communications team! They got first in the District 7 CDE.  The team consisted of: Teran Pinkstock, Tara McCalla, Ryan Davis, Alyssa Jenkins, and Josh Cordle.  They will continue on to participate in the State Ag. Communications CDE on Saturday, Dec. 1st.

Parliamentary Procedure

The team consists of: Brittany Pinkstock, Ryan Davis, Alyssa Jenkins, Garren Dilley, Ray Spence, David Sams, Sara Russ, Jodi Roush, Scott Loudermilk, and Eddie Johnson.  They participated in the sub-district contest on Nov. 29th placing second.  They needed to be in the top two teams to advance to the District 7 CDE being held on Tuesday, Dec. 4th.

Columbus Zoo

On Wednesday, Dec. 19th at 5:30 p.m., members are leaving the school to view the animals and the Christmas lights displayed at the Columbus Zoo.  It is $10 a person to get into the zoo.  It is still pending administrative approval. The chapter development committee thought this would be a neat idea for the chapter members to bond and have a good time before Christmas break.

Fruit Pick-up

The fruit sale has concluded and we are now waiting on the fruit to be delivered,  which should be on Monday, Dec. 10th. Fruit pick-up on Monday will be from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.  On Tuesday, December 11th, and Wednesday, December 12th, fruit pick-up will be after school until 8 p.m.  The grapes might come in earlier because of quality concerns.  All fruit needs to be out of the Ag. Center by Wednesday, Dec. 12th.  The chapter sold about 1600 boxes/baskets of fruit.  That is a little down from last year’s total but we still consider this year’s fruit sale a success.

State FFA Degree
Any junior, senior or other graduated member interested in getting their State FFA Degree needs to see Mr. Tilley or Mr. Sharp ASAP.  Completed applications and all supporting project books will be due by the end of January.
 
Officer Books & Proficiency Awards

Members that want or can achieve a proficiency award need to see Mr. Sharp or Mr. Tilley ASAP.  Those eligible to be considered for a proficiency award are sophomores, juniors, seniors and recent graduate members. Proficiency award applications must be completed by the end of January.  The Officer books are due at the end of January also.  If you need to set-up dates for help or get supplies, see Mr. Tilley.

Holiday Food Drive
Again this year, the Amanda-Clearcreek FFA worked with the Amanda Fire Department with their annual Holiday Food Drive. Members placed collection bags in Stoutsville and Amanda, asking residents to donate non-perishable food items for needy families in our community. FFA members collected 38 bags from Stoutsville and in Amanda, we collected 83 bags.  The chapter is still collecting bags from its members.  The sorting and packaging of the donated food will be Monday, Dec. 3rd, after school in the Ag. Center. We would like to thank all of those community members who donated food to this worthy cause during this holiday season; your donation is very much appreciated!
 
 
Missed Fair Entries

These members were missed in the last newsletter that also had fair entries through the FFA.  

Brandon Bresler

Reserve Champion:

Market Hog - Weight Class #17

 

Cheyenne Jepsen

Champion:

Commercial Beef Breeding - Junior Heifer Calf

Congratulations to these members.

 

Hog Roast

This year’s Hog Roast was another success as we added a silent auction and live entertainment.  The chapter had 95 members present and approximately 165 parents and guests.  We like to thank Mike Hyme and Chris Hanes for the live entertainment.  Thank you to all the people that participated in our silent auction.  We made $179, which will be donated to a worthy cause which will be decided by our membership at a future meeting.  Our chapter is looking forward to next year’s Hog Roast in hope for another success.

State Officer Leadership Night
Throughout the year, our FFA Chapter hosts a State Officer Leadership Night. Only certain FFA chapters are selected to host this activity and our chapter normally is one of them. State Officer Leadership Night is where members of our FFA chapter and members of other FFA chapters meet to get better leadership skills. Members are split into groups with one or two state officers. Members then participate in leadership activities and talk about what ideas they can take back to their chapter to become a better leader. Members are moved through a rotation so that they experience the different workshops that are prepared by each state officer in attendance. At the end, our chapter provides those in attendance with food and drink.

Since we started hosting this event in 1999, this was the highest attendance with 171 FFA members present.  Our chapter had 41 members present this year.  Liberty Union had the largest chapter attendance with 58 members.  Bloom-Carroll had 24 members and Logan Elm had 28 members present.  Southeastern Ross had 12 members and finally Fairfield Union had 8 members in attendance.

Valet Parking
On Sat. Nov. 3rd, six members of our chapter helped raise money by valet parking cars at a wedding.  Those members were: Ray Spence, Judd Ellinger, Tara McCalla, Sara Rogers, Maegan Horn, and David Sams.  These members time and hard-work is much appreciated.