Foley FFA Banquet

This past Thursday I went to Foley, Minnesota for their annual banquet.  I enjoyed meeting with members Weston and Sara whom I had met earlier in the year.

The banquet was really fun.  Mr. Stemper must have been up to some stellar work this year.  I really enjoyed learning more about their new Honorary members who have been supportive of their FFA Chapter for many years.

Thanks for a great night Foley!

Derek

Le Roy Ostrander FFA Banquet

On Tuesday, April 14th, State Sentinel Pete Thome and I were invited to speak at the LeRoy Ostrander FFA Chapter banquet.  We met in Z-M and then headed down to LeRoy.  I enjoyed catching up with Pete as we made the drive to LeRoy.  

When we got LeRoy we had a great meal prepared by the kitchen staff.  Then it was time for the program.  This was a very successful chapter.  One of the most remarkable part of the banquet was the proficiency awards.  LeRoy excels in many different areas, they use this to have a well rounded chapter.  

After the banquet I took time to speak with a few relatives that were at the banquet.  Then Pete and I headed back to school.

Thanks for a great banquet LeRoy!

Derek

Region VIII Awards Night

Finally, back to the best region of them all, Region VIII!  After being to region 2 and stuck in region 4, Cindy, Katie, Pam Dahlman, and I visited Mike and the region 8 officers for their awards night in Stewartville.  I was again able to see some awesome talent.  The officers put together a great program.  The Spring Valley-Wykoff Chapter, kicked butt with awards, again!  After the program the new and old officers came out to Applebees for supper.  Then we all headed back to a long day of classes on Wednesday!

Congrats to the new and old officer of Region VIII!

Derek

Region II Banquet

After one of the busiest weekends of the year, I met some of the Region II officers and Caitlin at the Super 8 Motel in Little Falls.  After a night reminiscing about this past year I headed to the banquet.  I was honored to be the Keynote Speaker at the banquet.  I watched some pretty awesome talent acts (Congrats to Ryan Bart!) and heard some pretty cool stories of how some of these members achieved their goals this year.  A year of hard work sure payed off for this region.  Congratulations to the new region II officers, you'll have a great year!

Thanks for all you do Region II!

Derek

State Officer Candidate Mock Interviews

Last Sunday Sydney and I had the chance to meet 10 of 15 outstanding individuals who will be running for the 2009-2010 State Officer Team.  I didn't know how emotional this day would be for me.  This was the first time that I had the chance to look back at my team's year.  We told the candidates how time consuming it is to be a state officer, yet how much of an amazing experience it is.  

I'm very excited for this part of convention.  

Good Luck to all of the State Officer Candidates!

Derek

CHS Leadership Training

Last Friday the six of us went to CHS for a training, along with Ms. Addington and Ms. Aarsvold.  We learned about conflict management, and giving feedback.  My favorite part of this workshop was discussing how we as individual will move forward with our life after this year of service.  This was also a great time to speak with a few representatives from CHS and strengthen our relationship.  As we headed out we stopped to say hi to Linda Tank, who works with Public Relations at CHS.

Thanks CHS for a great day!

Derek

AMPI Annual Meeting

Last Thursday I got to spend a bit of time with my favorite Dairy Lady in the State, Ms. Sheryl Meshke.  Katie and I headed to Bloomington, Minnesota for the AMPI annual meeting.  We were honored to be the flag bearers for the program.  

It was exciting to be around the people behind the product once again.  Being from a dairy made this event even more exciting.

Thanks,

Derek