Area IV: Week V

Howdy folks! My Area IV adventure this past week all started at the State Fair of Texas! As state officers, we were invited to attend the ribbon cutting ceremony and the Annual Honor Awards Banquet along with the state officers of both the 4-H and the FCCLA. I had never been to the state fair before, so I was amazed by all the fried foods! Even though it was raining that weekend, it didn't stop us from going out and trying all of the different fried items! My favorite was the fried cookie dough!

On Sunday, Mason, Daylon, Leslie, and I all loaded up in the FFA truck and headed to Weatherford, TX for the Area V District II Greenhand Camp! We had a great time getting to hang out with the district officer team and we met some incredible greenhands that have some very bright futures ahead of them! We then left on Monday morning so we could meet Leslie's dad in Denton so she could head back to Sherman. We had quite the rough time getting there though because Daylon and Mason decided to let Leslie and I control the GPS. After spending an hour in a town that we thought was Denton, we realized that we were actually forty miles away from Denton. We finally got to our destination though and Leslie safely made it back to Sherman with her dad.

Our first stop in Area IV was Stephenville, TX where we ate at one of my favorite restaurants, Montana, with the Stephenville FFA chapter officer team! After I ate my fried pickles, I couldn't wait to hang out with everyone, including my girl Alyssa! We had a great night playing pool and being amazed by Daylon's magic tricks. The next day, we had our first rounds of presentations in Hico and Hamilton! In Hico we met their chapter officer team and gave a very successful presentation for the FFA members in their high school. Afterwards, we ate at the local diner, the Koffe Kup with one of the Hico ag. teachers. Later on in Hamilton, we gave presentations to both the high school FFA members and also the Jr. FFA members who seemed very excited to become involved. After our presentations, we headed off to Brownwood where we stayed in a beautiful lakehouse on Lake Brownwood with Tyler and Kate! We had a great time going out on the lake and learning all about Kate's crazy cool car. She has a station wagon that she spray painted pink. Way cool!

On Wednesday morning we gave our first presentation of the day at Brownwood High School to some of the FFA members there and then Mr. Flood showed us their new aquaculture project! I loved being able to see what different chapters are doing! That afternoon we grabbed some lunch and headed over to Cross Plains where we were very impressed with our audience of students. After our presenation and some directional challenges, we arrived in Cisco where we enjoyed a delicious Mexican meal with the Cisco chapter officers and their ag teachers! The next morning, we had an early start in Cisco where we presented to a class of eager freshman who all had a great time. The Cisco ag teachers, Mr. Conring and Mrs. Holton, took us to get some doughnuts before we had a quick question and answer session with one of their classes. Then we were on the road again to Moran High School! We were somewhat amazed with the size of this school. One of their classes only had four people in it! Crazy! Because of the school's small size, we were able to present to 6-12 grade and it was great to have such a variety in our audience. Later on we headed to Albany, TX where we gave a fabulous presentation and Mr. Beard told us some very entertaining stories and even took us on a tour of their ag farm! They had a brand new quail facility and a great aquaculture program that was really cool! That afternoon, we were off to Throckmorton, TX! When we arrived, the chapter officer team cooked us a delicous Italian meal and then we went and watched a six man football game! None of us had ever seen one before so we were amazed by how fast the game went! Later on we went to the home of their chapter vice president, Tucker Brown. Both of his parents were past national FFA presidents and we had a wonderful evening being with them and the entire chapter officer team. They are definitely an amazing group of students!

The next morning, we began with a presentation in Throckmorton that went extremely well! We were soon on the road again to a town that I'm somewhat familiar with, Seymour! It was great to see so many familiar faces during our presentation and I'm so glad that I was able to catch up with Kaitlin, Bailey, and of course Ms. Ezzell! After that, we were on to our last school of the week which made me feel kinda gloomy because I had such an amazing time on the road. We arrived in Knox City to give our last presentation a little frustrated because their school seemed to be hiding from us. Nonetheless, we gave an awesome presentation to some great students and then we attended their pep-rally! I have to admit, the pep-rally really made me miss high school.

All in all, I had an awesome experience traveling with the travel team. It helped me re-focus and remember why I am doing this. Up next on the schedule is National Convention which I am oh so excited about. Until next time!