Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 16, 1978)
The Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon, Thursday, February 16, 1978 NINE Future Farmers of America Banquet leads FFA week events celebrate golden anniversary Awards for accomplishment will be given to Heppner Future Farmer of America winners at the Annual FFA Parent and Member Banquet next Thursday, Feb. 21, in the Heppner High School cafeterium. The banquet is the first of several events slated to mark National FFA Week, Feb. 18-25, which this year celebrates : FFA's 50th anniversary. Wednesday has been declared National FFA Jacket Day and all chapter members will wear their FFA jackets throughout the day. Krynn Robinson, winner of the local and district speaking contest, plans to compete against five other district winners in the sectional contest in LaGrande on Thursday. A disco dance, co-hosted by the FFA and the Rodeo Club, will complete the week's activities on Friday, Feb. 24 in the Heppner High School Cafeterium. KOHU disc jockey Willie Kelley from Hermiston will provide music for the event which is scheduled from 8 p.m. to 12 a.m. at a cost of 75 cents per person. FFA and Rodeo Club members from 20 schools, as far away as Bend, have been invited to the dance, which is also open to all Heppner High School students. Krynn Robinson brings home district speaking trophy Krynn Robinson, Heppner High School senior, brought home the first place trophy and banner from the Blue Mountain District Future Farmers of America District Speaking Contest held Wed nesday, Feb. 8, in Pendleton. Krynn presented her speech "Farming: What the Future Holds in Store" against seven district contestants to earn first place, the first win in the district contest ever gained by the Heppner chapter. Krynn will compete against five speakers from three districts in the sectional FFA speaking contest in LaGrande next Thursday, Feb. 23. Heppner's Parliamentary Procedure team also com peted in the District Parly-Pro contest in Pendleton Feb. 8, but failed to place. Team members included Ron Young, Geri Grieb, Jackie Mollahan, Jo Lynn Daly, Julie Grieb and Marie Van Schoiack. Earning a fourth place finish in the Greenhand Par liamentary Procedure compe tition was Heppner's Green hand Parly-Pro team which includes Joe Mollahan, Greg Sweeney, Brian Thompson, Pat Clark, Tony Currin and Nancy Miller. Nine Green hand teams competed in the district contest. All first and second place speakers and teams will compete next Thursday in LaGrande in the sectional meet, involving winners from the Eastern Oregon and Snake River Districts as well as Blue Mountain. Winners from the LaGrande contests will earn the honor of competing at the Oregon State FFA Convention in Albany on March 19-22. PCBRUARV 18 lolS WSmS FFA has come a long way Future Farmers of America celebrates its golden anniversary next week, with 50 years of accomplishment and community service under its belt. , The first National Convention was held in Kansas City, Missouri, in the fall of 1928 with 33 delegates from 18 states attending. Once on its way, the organization grew rapidly, with 33 states represented by 64 delegates at is second convention. The 1948 convention established National FFA Week to be the week in which Washington's birthday occurs. Official recognition was achieved in 1950 when Congress passed a law giving the FFA a Federal Charter. Prior to school integration in the 1960s, black students in vocational agriculture had their own organization called New Farmers of America (NFA), sharing the same goals and incentive award funds with FFA. In 1965 the two groups merged, bringing total FFA membership to 455,000 young men. The organization added a new dimension in 1969 when it voted to admit girls to membership. During its 50-year history, the FFA has been recognized by many dignitaries. Presidents Truman, Eisenhower and Nixon have addressed the National FFA Convention and President Ford gave a nationally televised address at the 1975 Convention. With FFA's emphasis on developing leadership, it seems only fitting that during its golding anniversary year, the President of the United States is Jimmy Carter, the first former FFA member ever to hold the nation's highest office. Future Farmers of Ameri ca, celebrating its 50th birth day this year nationally, has been part of Morrow County life for 41 years. It was established at Heppner High School in 1937 with 29 mem bers under the direction of R.E. Grimes. Today, Heppner's FFA chapter numbers 50 includ ing 10 young women who were not eligible to join until 1969. Last year Hal Whitaker, FFA advisor and vocational agri culture instructor for the past 12 years, moved his classes into the new building above the high school which includes both classroom space and a vo-ag shop. This year's chapter is unique in that it is the only one in the state and possibly in the nation that has an all-girl slate of officers. President Krynn Robinson plans to run for state office at the state , convention in March in Al bany. The other young women serving as local officers are Geri Grieb, vice-president; Jackie Mollahan, secretary; Julie Grieb, treasurer; Marie Van Schoiack; reporter; and Jo Lynn Daly, sentinal. "Learn by doing..,. 99 Part of the FFA motto reads "Learning to do. ..doing to learn" and is far from an empty phrase for the Heppner group. In addition to classes in which students study such aspects of FFA as leadership training, parlimentary proce- FFAers are thoroughly groun ded in agricultural-related fields through experience. Each member is required to maintain a project in live stock, crop production or work experience on farms or re lated businesses. About half of the Heppner FFAers opt for work experience while most others have cattle, sheep, swine or horse projects. Probably the most unusual projects are those of Jo Lynn Daly who maintains a small goat herd, and Dan Nix who raises pheasants, pigeons and exotic breeds of chickens. Vo-ag shop, taught by Whi taker, offers students instruc tion in farm shop skills, including welding, wood work ing and plumbing. Projects are also required in the shop area and most vo-ag students are currently building ben ches for placement around the fairgrounds in conjunction with the Lions Club. The bench construction doubles as a required FFA community ser vice project. Weatherizing of houses, construction for the Heppner Child Development Center and the concession stand at the fairgrounds were FFA contributions from past years. Competition is also a large aspect of FFA involvement. Besides individual efforts for ribbons at fairtime, members form teams for parlimentary procedure, soil judging and shop skills. Individuals com pete for local proficiency awards, given each year at the annual awards banquet, and for higher honors, such as the State Farmer designation. Heppner has been winning its share of awards in the last yf; 111' I I I f - $ ?7j vy 'If-fiu Hit 1 7 fe,vA 'fry A v (J 7 1 1 if :;3.. MV:inr if w f ) 1 V I J d i I Mr. ... .... f a . JL Within eight years of allowing young women to join FFA, the Heppner chapter elected an all-girl slate of officers, the only one in the state, and possibly the nation, according to Advisor Hal Whitaker. From left to right are Julie Grieb, treasurer; Jackie Mollahan, secretary; Marie Van Schoiack, reporter; Krynn Robinson, president; Jo Lynn Daly, sentinel; and Geri Grieb, vice-president. " couple of years. Last year Geri Grieb was Champion Ail-Around Showman at the State Fair. The Greenhand livestock judging team won four out of five contests last year at both the district and state level, placing second in the one it lost. The advanced team placed first in four out of nine contests. The chapters' i. scrapbook and treasurer's record book received first place last year in the district competition. The Heppner FFA chapter lists 16 State Farmers, past and present, an honor gained by only three per cent of FFAers in the state. Former members Ken Wright and Allen Hughes earned Ameri can Farmer Status, the high est possible designation in the organization. Local FFAers participate in the Morrow County Fair, State Fair, Pacific International Livestock Exposition, the State FFA Convention and the National FFA Convention. Last year the chapter started an annual Slave Auction as a money raising project for its many activities. Hal Whitaker is obviously proud of his FFAers and commented, "This program builds confidence because kids can accomplish some thing in areas other than athletics." He added, "Stu dents learn by doing, so they get a chance to develop skills they can use later in life. They actually do things instead of just studying." Many former FFA mem bers, now successful area farmers, are watching their sons and daughters follow the same route through FFA today. FFA has a long history in the county and looks forward to an even longer future of "learning by doing." .Biiiiie Directory MEDICAL SUPPLIES I TITLE l?5UfUNCE I SHOE REPAIR I MACHINERY REPAIR HERMISTON DRUG M0.1R0W COUNTY ROHDE'S SHOE REPAIR MILLER & SOUS WELDING. INC Frea Prescription ABSTRACT & TITLE CO harvey ferm rohde I Fcbricotion i Repair of stMl t Mdl Service TITLE INSURANCE & ESCROW SERVICE 131 S.W. Emigrant Pendleton, Or. Abminum ht In Stock Open 9a.m. to 7 p.m. 676-9912 Heppner Open 8-5:30 Mon.-Fri. 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