Ag-related activities occupy Odessa and Harrington FFA

Continued from last week

Recently Odessa FFA Chapter members Caleb Singer, (son of Roland and Jennifer Singer of Odessa), Stacia Lesser (daughter of Tracy and Katherine Lesser of Marlin) and Alexis Burdick (daughter of Deric and Marra Schmierer of Odessa) competed in the Sub-District 9 Creed Career Development Event (CDE) at Wilson Creek. All three did an excellent job presenting the FFA Creed to a room full of spectators and judges (Odessa FFA members Max Greenwalt and Parker Valverde also assisted during the event), the top five members move on to compete at the District CDE in Moses Lake March 8 at BBCC.

Caleb Singer placed in the top five and will move on to compete on March 8. He will need to practice the Creed, so if any town organizations would like him to come to a meeting and recite the creed, it would be great practice for him. Contact advisor Erica Whitmore at the high school to make arrangements.

Ag Expo in Spokane

In February 42 Odessa and Harrington FFA members attended the Agriculture Expo held at the Spokane Convention Center. They started the day off with a trivia game related to agriculture topics of the Northwest, which was put on by two state FFA officers (Wyatt Koller and Paige Druffel).

The Odessa and Harrington FFA members were among the 600 students attending that day from Washington and Idaho, representing more than 30 chapters.

The group listened to keynote speakers talking about agriculture safety, driving safety (with respect to railroads and cell phones) and participated in leadership tasks.

After the FFA work session, the officers attended the Expo, visiting with different agriculturists from around the Northwest about scholarship opportunities, learning about new technology in the field of agriculture and getting information on different job options.

The members made sure to visit their home businesses Odessa Trading Company and Walter Implement, while completing the agriculture assignment that had been assigned by their advisor Erica Whitmore to make sure they took advantage of all of the opportunities the Expo has to offer.

Junior Livestock Show

This year, nine Odessa and 10 Harrington FFA members will participate in the Spokane Junior Livestock Show May 1-6, showing 18 hogs, three steers, two heifers and four lambs. While attending the Junior Livestock Show, they will also be competing in the state livestock judging CDE and the meats CDE. Theywill also be marketing their livestock projects. Anyone looking for quality meat for the freezer should consider purchasing one of these homegrown FFA projects.

Late this summer, students will be attending the Lincoln County Fair in August with hogs, steers, pictures, floral and the creation of an FFA display in the Grange building.

Other news

The Odessa and Harrington FFA Chapters and students taking agriculture courses have been very busy attending and preparing for upcoming events. District 9’s first CDEs will take place on March 8 and 16 in Moses Lake.

Students competing in Rituals for Harrington are William Mann, Caitlin Kennedy, Lanessa Simon, Joey Buell, Derek and Jacob Montgomery and, for Odessa, Max Greenwalt, Dylan Barglof, Alexis Burdick, Katie DeWulf, Hunter Bramer, Caleb Singer and Stacia Lesser.

In the first-year member category, Harrington’s Team 1 consists of Lanessa Simon, Isabelle Phillips and Caitlin Kennedy and Team 2 consists of Joey Buell, Derek Montgomery, Jacob Montgomery and Delani Smith.

Odessa’s Team 1 includes Alexis Burdick, Katie DeWulf, Stacia Lesser, Max Greenwalt and Caleb Singer. Team 2 members are Casey Schlomer, Dylan Barglof, Hunter Bramer and Parker Valverde).

In Prepared Speaking, Kim Nelson competed for Odessa and William Mann and Lexie Hirst competed for Harrington.

The two chapters and the floriculture classes were successful in a fundraising activity for Valentine’s Day. They made and sold candy bouquets in Harrington, and in Odessa they sold carnation wraps, mylar balloons and suckers.

In January, the FFA Chapter served meals for the Harrington Lion’s Club and for Odessa Union Ag Day. Last week, the chapter members celebrated National FFA Week.

District 9 CDEs

Jacob Montgomery was 7th, Caleb Singer 9th, William Mann 11th, Derek Montgomery 13th, Alexis Burdick 18th and Stacia Lesser 17th out of 21 participants at the Sub-District Creed CDE held February 6 at Wilson Creek High School.

Whitmore has been busy getting the greenhouses up and running with the Harrington second-period class and the Odessa fifth-period horticulture classes. Petunias, geraniums, dracaena spikes, gazanias, marigolds, hanging baskets and vegetables will be available for purchase this spring.

March 15 is National Teach Ag Day, and the Harrington chapter will be celebrating with different activities during the morning. The officer teams have been submitting forms, keeping members informed of events coming up, and providing a great service to the chapters.

“I am privileged to be attending the National Policy Seminar in Washington, DC this coming week,” saild Whitmore. “During that time, I will promote vocational programs, Perkins funding and agriculture education. While there, I will be meeting with different legislators, hoping to gain their support on vocational programs and the importance of Perkins funding for rural schools. I hope to send a positive message and look forward to representing our school, staff and state.”