The second annual FFA Leadership Night was held Jan. 19 in the Holdrege High School Cafeteria. Twenty-five FFA members along with numerous parents and guests were present for the ceremonies and Soup Supper sponsored by the Holdrege FFA Alumni Members. FFA Members demonstrated their Leadership Skills Events from the Junior and Senior Parliamentary Procedure teams and Creed Speaking. First year FFA members received their Greenhand Degrees while second year members received their Chapter Degrees.

Those members receiving their FFA Greenhand Degrees were: Nick Anderson, Hannah Henderson, Doug Smith, and Michael Suhr. Second year FFA members receiving their Chapter FFA Degrees were: Quin Becker, Eric Buettner, Hannah Buettner, Rylee Easton, Jonathan Englund, Aaron Francis, Ashley Frost, Cheyenne Fulk, Ethan Hollertz, Alyssa Naslund, Miranda Naslund, Clayton Nelson, Kelsey Ohlson, Logan Reed, and Jolee Sturgis.

The Holdrege FFA Chapter would like to say thanks to Brad Johnson and Sue Waller for donating the soup and to Kent and Tammi Sturgis for donating the meat for the sandwiches. Also, a special thanks to Richard Waller, Mike Eklun and Monte and Tammy Vonasek for helping set-up and serve the meal.

Sixteen Holdrege FFA Members competed in Leadership Skills Events on Jan 21st, in Aurora at The Leadership Center. Participating in Senior Parliamentary Procedure was the team of Blake Rademaker, Clayton Parsons, Michael Anderson, Jeremy Vonasek, Lincoln Pearson, Andrew Bergman, Adam Francis and Alec Frisell. They received a blue ribbon for their demonstration.

The Junior Parliamentary Procedure team consisted of Jolee Sturgis, Logan Reed, Quin Becker, Doug Smith, Nick Anderson, Michaela Gray, Cheyenne Fulk and Ethan Hollertz. The Junior Parliamentary Procedure team also took home a blue ribbon placing. Sophomore Michaela Gray represented the Holdrege Chapter in the FFA Creed Speaking Contest where she received a blue ranking also. Serving as contest judges from Holdrege were Jeff Borden and Dave Berreckman. Upcoming Events for the Holdrege FFA Chapter include National FFA Week Activities and the Annual Labor Auction in March.

February 16-20th found the Holdrege FFA Chapter Celebrating National FFA Week with various activities throughout the week. To promote the week Chapter Officers Blake Rademaker, Jeremy Vonasek and Cheyenne Fulk produced Public Service Announcements at Radio Station KUVR / KMTY that were aired throughout the week.

On Monday, the Chapter Officers conducted seat belt check of students, teachers and parents of students driving to Holdrege High School. Those who were wearing seatbelts earned a reward of candy. The results came back that 53% of students wore their seatbelts compared to 70% of the teachers. Also that morning FFA members brought rolls and juice to teachers prior to the start of the school day. On Tuesday, the chapter sponsored the annual Producers Luncheon at the Phelps County Ag Center and served several area producers.

The luncheon is a way to recognize and thank the many area producers and supporters of the Holdrege FFA Chapter. On Wednesday the officers headed to the middle school to present a presentation and play a few games for 8th Grade Recruitment Day to inform incoming freshman about FFA and Agricultural Education. While they were promoting FFA to the 8th Graders their fellow members were back at the high school proudly displaying their new FFA t-shirts.

Friday’s activity was a new adventure for the FFA Chapter as eight chapter members conducted a little fund raiser called Pass the Goat. Two groups of members used Friday afternoon to go to several businesses with their goats. If the business did not want to have the goat in the business they were asked to donate ten dollars to the FFA Chapter. For another five dollars the business could also suggest another business for the goat to arrive at. To prevent the goat from returning the business could also pay an insurance fee.

In all, the chapter collected $400 from local businesses as part of the fundraiser. The goat even thanked a few of the businesses by leaving some ‘thank you’s’ of his their own. The FFA Chapter would like to thank the businesses and individuals who played along with the game and supported the chapter financially.

On Feb. 25, Nebraska State FFA President McKenzie Steger from Chappell spent the day with all of the Ag Education students and FFA Members presenting several different workshops for classes. Thank you to all the members, parents and sponsors that participated and were proud to represent the Holdrege FFA Chapter during National FFA Week. The next major activities for the FFA Chapter will be the Career Development Events on March 18th and the Annual Labor Auction on March 23rd at the Phelps County Ag Center. Thank you to all the members, parents and sponsors that participated and were proud to represent their Holdrege FFA Chapter.

Four chapter members completed proficiency award applications where they were evaluated at the district level on February 11th. Senior Charlie Chase earned a gold rating in the area of Ag Mechanics Repair which was then sent on to the state level where he also received a gold rating. Junior Andrew Bergman submitted an application in the area of Ag Service Placement where he earned a silver ranking. In Ag Mechanics Repair and Maintenance, Junior Alec Frisell earned a Silver Rating. Sophomore Logan Reed earned a Silver Rating in the area of Diversified Crop Production Placement.