| The Echo Online |
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The Emblem The cross-section of an ear of corn provides the foundation of the emblem, just as corn served as the foundation crop of American agriculture. It is a symbol of unity because corn is grown in every state of the union. The plow signifies labor and tillage of the soil, which shows how our country's national strength was the hard work of agriculture. The rising sun is a symbol of progress and holds a promise that tomorrow will bring a new day. The owl is recognized for its wisdom and symbolizes the knowledge necessary to be successful in agriculture. The eagle is a national symbol that serves as a reminder of our freedom and our ability to explore new things for the future of agriculture. The words "Agricultural Education" and "FFA" are emblazoned in the center to signify the combination of learning and leadership necessary for progressive agriculture. |
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The Beginning of FFA Founded in 1928, the Future Farmers of America brought together students, teachers and agribusiness to solidify support for agricultural education. At Baltimore Hotel in Kansas City, 33 young farm boys charted a course for the future. They could not have foreseen how the organization would grow and thrive. In the beginning, when the organization started, there were only 33 students. In the seventy-five years of the program, there have been over 457,000 active members. |
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Constitutional Officers President -Whitney Wolfe-Riffle Non-Constitutional Officers
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The 76th Annual Banquet The Racine Southern FFA Chapter held their 76 th annual awards banquet on March 29 th at 7:00 p.m. The banquet started off with wide variety of food. There were many kinds of meat, such as lamb, pork, barbeque pork, and roast that was supplies by the Chapter. The students brought side dishes and desserts for all to share. The 2006-2007 officers took their places to begin the meeting. They opened with the opening ceremony and every officer gave a little speech. Then our first guest speaker, Mr. Pat Klein, a 26-year veteran of Andersons Fertilizer and AMP-Ohio Power Plant, spoke about the opportunities for our FFA members at Anderson Inc. Miranda McKelvey, the 2006-2007 president, returned to the podium to give out the Greenhand Degrees. The Star Greenhand Degree went to Jacob Wilson. Then Mallory Hill, the 2006-2007 vice president, gave out the Chapter Degrees. The Chapter Star Farmer Award went to Ryan Lee Beegle, Star in Agriscience Award went to Beau Diddle, Star in Agricultural Placement went to Dustyn Johnson and R.J. Leach, and the Star in Agribusiness went to Rusty Carnahan. Two families are chosen every year for the Award of Honorary Chapter Degree and this year the award went to Brenda Johnson and Bobbi Hill. Other awards were given to students who had SAE projects, such as Sheep Production, Swine Production, Equine Production, and Job Placement. Members of clubs and groups also were recognized and received awards, such as Rural Soils, with John Powell receiving the highest marks, Urban Soils, with Dustyn Johnson receiving the highest marks, Forestry, Parliamentary Procedure, Extemporaneous Speaking, Equine Management, Envirothon, and the Science Fair. Awards were given to students who did excellent with shop work and awards went to Bryce Bowling with the Agriculture Mechanics Award, Darin Teaford and Ryan Donaldson with the Construction Management Award, and Wes Riffle and Jake Hunter with the Exemplary Award. Our last guess for the night was District 7 President, Abby Snyder. She told the new and old officers about her experiences in the FFA program and how they have helped her get to where she is in her life now. After her speech, the new 2007-2008 FFA Officers were installed. Whitney Wolfe-Riffle, the new president, closed the meeting and the extra meat and door prizes were given away. We would like to thank everyone that came and shared this moment with us. We appreciate the support and hope to see you continue being a part of the Racine Southern FFA Chapter.
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Flower Festival The Racine Southern FFA Chapter participated in the Flower Festival parade on Saturday, April 28 located in Racine, Ohio. There was a float filled with the flowers that the students have raised and students also rode the float or they were with a 4-H group. The chapter cooked chicken dinners and sold them throughout the day. The chapter also had a huge variety of flowers for sale that were raised straight from the Southern FFA greenhouse. See the Flowers section for details.
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Flower Sale The Racine Southern FFA Chapter have been raising and nurturing their own nursery of flowers. There is a huge selection to choose from and many colors that fill the greenhouse or possibly, furnish your home with many beautiful flowers. The sale will kick off at the Flowers Festival in Racine, Ohio. The flowers will also be sold in Portland, Ohio for the Memorial Day celebrations. If you would like to buy flowers, please notify a FFA member or call Dwight Mitchell at (740-949-2611) ex. 2118. These flowers go quick, so hurry in fast. Also, Mothers Day is coming up soon and these flowers would make a great gift!
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Chicken Project The sophomore animal science class has been raising chickens for the past couple of months. The class started with fifty chicks that had a combined weight of less than one pound. They feed chemical free chicken feed. They started out feeding them small amounts everyday. Now the class has worked up to approximately fifty pounds over a three-day period. The chicks will eat approximately seven hundred to eight hundred pounds of feed to get them at the appropriate weight to be slaughtered. The class is nearing the end of the project and has a total of forty-seven chickens that weight a combined weight of four hundred and fifty pounds. The chickens will be sent to the slaughterhouse the first week in April. The chickens will be nine to ten pounds when they will be slaughter. The FFA Chapter and the animal science class have decided to sell dinners, such as fried chicken and chicken noodles, at the Flower Festival on April 28 th. |
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Portland Horse Show The Portland horse shows are usually once a month. The shows are hosted by the Southern FFA and (ORP) Ohio River Producers, the Southern FFA Alumni group. The show ring is located behind the Portland Community Center in Portland, Ohio. The Portland community and township help us with the horse shows. The community serves food and beverages at the shows, anywhere from nice, warm, home cooked meals to cold desserts and snacks. The show schedule will be posted in next months issue as for the activities that will be presented at the show. The March and April show was cancelled. Other horse shows that will be held at the Portland Community Center will be posted. Shows start at 11 a.m. Exhibition Barrels will start at 10 a.m. and you pay a dollar at the gate for this class. All other classes will be posted at the announcers/sign up stand located of the left side of the ring. There will be a Memorial Day Horse Show at the Portland Community Center May 28th. We hope to see you there! |
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Officer Retreat The Racine Southern 2007-2008 officer team went on their officer retreat April 13, 14, and 15 th to plan for the upcoming year. The officers kicked off their weekend together by attending the District 10 Officers Training and Banquet held at Fort Frye High School. Students were placed in the office they were holding and learned about what they needed to do to help improve their FFA Chapter and how to have a successful program. Then the students went into the auditorium to participate in the District 10 Officer Banquet. After the banquet, they stayed in cabins at The Burr Oak Resort. They held meetings in a conference room throughout the weekend. There we other extracurricular activities such as ping pong, swimming, fishing and many more. The students made excellent progress and packed up Sunday and left that afternoon.
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SAE: Summer Fair Projects The students are starting their FFA summer projects for the Meigs County Fair. Many students have already bought their animals, such as a lamb, hogs, cows, and many more. The students will be keeping a record of their expenses and earnings on their projects and will be working on their projects throughout the summer. Tag-in for all market animals that are being taken to the fair will be on May 12 th. Please see your FFA Advisor or Extension Office for further details. Students will need to fill out paperwork for their exhibit in the Meigs County Fair. Also, if you have not attended a Quality Assurance, please contact your advisor or extension services. The dates will also be dated in the current events. In order to show an animal at fair, you NEED to attend at least one of the Quality Assurance dates.
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State Convention The Racine Southern FFA Chapter will be attending the 79th Annual FFA State Convention Thursday, May 3 rd through 5 th held at the Ohio State Fairgrounds. There will be science fair exhibits from our fellow members, Victoria Freeman, Eric Perry, Ryan Lee Beegle, and Rusty Carnihan. Students that will be participating in the State FFA Band are Andrew and Dustin Smeck. The students will also be taking quizzes and tests to score high points for the chapter. On Friday night, the students are invited to attend a dance held on the fairground to mingle with other FFA members or chapters. This is the time where the students can get out of their official attire and wear what they want to wear. The students are also going to support and represent the chapter for any awards we may receive. They are also going to support their FFA President, Whitney Wolfe-Riffle, as she walks across the stage to receive her State FFA Degree. The students are looking forward to this experience. |
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Whitney Wolfe-Riffle receives her State Degree Whitney Wolfe-Riffle is a junior at Southern High School. She is the President of the Racine Southern FFA Chapter and is also in the Silver Spurs and Wooly Bullies 4-H clubs. She is active in school activities such as, volleyball, basketball, softball, and track. Whitney is the daughter of Laren Wolfe-Riffle of Racine, Ohio and the granddaughter of Larry and Dolores Wolfe of Racine. Whitney will be attending the FFA State Convention in Columbus, Ohio and will walk across the stage in front of thousands of people on May 5th to receive her State FFA Degree of Agriculture. This type of degree is only awarded to the top 2% of the agriculture students in Ohio. She has been working towards this degree since her freshman year and has raised market animals, raced horses, worked in local agriculture businesses, and attended FFA events. "This was hard work, but I did it and it's worth every bit of it!" (Whitney) Whitney plans to go either to Marshall University to specialize in anesthesiology. "This is not a sure thing but it is the occupation that interest me the most." Whitney is now working towards her National FFA Degree. |
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Gator Raffle The Ohio River Producer are raffling off a gator. If you would like to buy ticket, please see an alumni member or call Dwight Mitchell at (740-949-2611) ex. 2118. Thanks you! |
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Upcoming Events State Convention- May 3rd, 4th, 5th May 5th- Quality Assurance May 9th- Quality Assurance Make-up May 12th- Weigh in for market animals going to Meigs County Fair May 28th- Horse Show @ Portland Community Center June 4th- Camp |
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