National FFA Convention
On Oct. 24, 2022, eight Logan FFA members traveled almost 2000 miles round trip to attend the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, IN. The members consisted of Laramee Chestnut, Brooke Wiltfong, Cydnee Rider, Mara Kats, Cameron Morgan, Ryan Prewo, Rhett Kats, Kaden Graham, and Mrs. Gottstine as their Advisor. They left Monday morning and traveled to Springfield, IL, where they spent the night. They departed from Springfield to travel to Arthur, IL. There they could take most of the day to see the sights of Arthur, IL. Arthur is an Amish town. They could see many horses and buggies as they drove around the city. They visited a cabinet-making shop where they make custom cabinets and have Amish furniture. They went to Beachy's Wholesale market, the equivalent of our Walmart for the Amish. We ate lunch at Yoder's Family Restaurant, where we were served all-we-could-eat food made by Amish women and girls. After traveling the town and countryside, we headed to Martinsville, IN. We had an evening tour of Hunter's Honeybee farm.
There we were able to see their honey bee production, how they take care of the bees, and how they process their honey. We got to sample many different flavors of honey. Some of the favorites were watermelon, clover, and pumpkin. The flavor depended on where the hive was located and what flower they pollinated at the time. We saw there many 50-gallon drums of honey and how they take the drums and bottle them. We then got to see how they make beeswax candles and how they mold the candles. At the end of the tour, we each got to bottle our little honey bear to take home.
The next day we went to the Ozark Fishery in Martinsville, IN, where we got to see where they raise and hatch Koi and Goldfish for retail sales. We saw the process from how they gather the eggs and hatch them to how they transfer them to different storage ponds and how they bag and ship them. We also saw their ponds, where they raise adult fish. From there, we traveled to Indianapolis, IN, where we arrived at the Convention center. Once we got our badges, we were ready to explore the convention. We could take a little of the Career Expo Fair, and then it was off to another tour. We headed to Tuttle Orchard in Greenfield, IN. They were able to take a tour of the apple orchard and their cider mill. We saw how they harvested the apples by hand and then washed, polished, sorted, and graded them. We could see the machines they use to make the apples into cider and where they store the apple cider until it can be bottled. They also have a pumpkin patch, a Corn maze, and slides to entertain all ages. They have a gift shop and a cafe. We were able to have lunch at the restaurant, sample a wide variety of apples, and have an apple cider glazed donut and apple cider with our meal. It was a great day and a great meal.
We were up early and at the convention center by 7:30 a.m. We attended the first session and saw the opening ceremonies, watching the National FFA chorus and band and listening to the Keynote speaker Tamika Catchings. She is among only 11 women to receive an Olympic gold medal, an NCAA Championship, a Fiba World Cup Gold, and a WNBA Championship. She has also been selected to ten WNBA All-Star teams, 12 - All-WNBA teams, and 12 All-Defensive teams and led the league in steals eight times. WNBA Hall of Fame. Her message was BOLD! To succeed, you must be BOLD- "Believe, Optimistic, Learn, Demand Excellence."-Tamika Catchings. We went from the session to another tour at Victory Field. It is the home of the Indianapolis Indians. They are a minor league team. We could tour the entire facility, from the locker rooms to the field. We got to walk on the grass, and the groundskeeper explained how he took care of the grass and what variety of grass they used. He also showed us the different soils that are used for other parts of the field. It was a very informative tour. We then returned to the convention, where we attended a student workshop called "Know Your Worth." We then did more exploring at the Career Expo. Then we were off to Louisville, KY, where we spent the night.
We were ready to go to the Churchill Downs Kentucky Derby museum. We toured Churchill Downs grounds and saw where the horses ran at the Kentucky Derby. We then toured the museum and saw the history behind the race track. We then went downtown and ate at Guy Fieri's Smokehouse. After a delicious lunch, we went to the Louisville Sluggers museum and factory. We got a fantastic tour of the bat factory. We got to see how they selected the trees for the bats and the different types of wood that they used. We then watched the wood billets be formed into bats. Then they made their way to the dipping station and the engraving station. We were able to take home a tiny bat as a souvenir. We then headed to Columbia, Mo, where we spent the night and made our way home Saturday, Oct. 29.