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

Spring Valley-Wykoff Chapter Banquet

Wow, is it ever great to go home sometimes?!  I headed home the other day to visit my chapter for the annual banquet.  I spent the day with my advisor and some of the chapter officer team.  It was fun catching up, but even better being in the ag room.  My friend Briana came home and we talked about all of our fun times in FFA.

That night I was thrilled to see the great accomplishments our chapter had once again achieved!  I chatted with some of the community members as well as our administration.  I had never been so excited to be back with my chapter.  I'm really excited to see what they will accomplish this year at state convention!

Derek

FILL Conference

The last Friday night in March Caitlin and I went to Annandale, Minnesota for the 2nd annual F.I.L.L Conference.  Mark Jewel and Angela Fredericks were the presenters.  Caitlin and I helped to register members as they arrived.  I was excited when the Region VIII Crew arrived!  I felt like I was back at home.  

That night we put on some activities.  My favorite of those was definitely the giant parachute that we all played with.  Later on we gave a set of reflections on why our jackets were so important to us.  

The next day Katie, Pete, and Sydney came and we worked on our Retiring Addresses.  These two days were great to see some FFA Members in action!

Thanks!

Derek

Ag Day Rally

The week of March 16th-20th was National Agriculture Week.  To celebrate this Kevin Paap, along with the Minnesota Farm Bureau held a national ag day at the State Capitol.  Different organizations spoke about why they were important to agriculture today.  I was able to speak on behalf of the FFA.  I highlighted three stories where members succeeded because of FFA.  It was a great time for me to reflect on why FFA was such an amazing organization!

Thanks Farm Bureau,

Derek

MAC Conference

For my first day of Spring Break I headed to Roseville, Minnesota to the MAC Conference with Caitlin.  We saw some FFA members and other students who were not involved with FFA.  After a nice meal, I gave a short speech.  To end the night we went to see a hypnotist.  It was a hoot seeing of of the members think that she was Taylor Swift!

Derek

AFSA Overnight Leadership Conference

This was a packed Friday!  After some convention planning Katie, Caitlin and I headed out to Vadnais Heights for AFSA's first ever Overnight Leadership Conference.  Seeing some familiar faces was great, but getting to know more members was even better!  We presented a workshop on finding out how to unleash the superhero within!  After playing with some play-doh members were able to further see how they could use what abilities they have to become an even better leader!  

Thanks for a great night AFSA!

Derek

Alliance Pipeline

Early in March we headed to Alliance Pipeline.  It was fun to learn more about what Alliance Pipeline does.  The Pipeline that starts in Canada and crosses through 4 states passes gas continuously.  

Alliance Pipeline is a sponsor of our state camps SGLC, and SLCCL.  Without the money that they donate, we would not be able to send as many students to these camps!  Thanks For your continued support Alliance Pipeline!

Derek

National FFA Week

Hey Everyone!  Sorry again for the tardiness on these blogs!  I've been keeping busy with my studies, FarmHouse, and FFA.  Some of these next few blogs may be short, but I want everyone to know what I've been up to!

I had two exciting events during National FFA Week.  First the officer team and I went to the Target Center for Day with the Timberwolves.  It was great to see some members from other states and catch up with some of the North Dakota and South Dakota State Officers.

The twenty sixth took us to the capitol where we were able to visit with key congressional leaders.  We also were announced as guests on the House Floor.  To end that day we met with Minnesota's commissioner of Agriculture!