What better way to end the 83rd National FFA Convention than to start up travel in the “oh so fine Area IX!” Area IX would be the perfect place to re-cooperate and re-energize after a busy and memorable week in Indianapolis… or so we thought. Instead, it was full of adventure, fun, laughter, and crazy good country food!
The whole state officer team arrived in Austin at about 3:30 on Sunday afternoon from Indianapolis. Everyone was moving slowly because of the drainage that we experienced the week before, but it was also a good illustration of the fun that we had as well. After we landed, we all headed back on the shuttle bus to the Ford FFA Leadership Center to pick up our “super fly” rides and have a brief meeting before we headed back to reality. However, I was the lucky one because this time, I didn’t get to take a break from it, instead I was going to have opportunity to travel Area IX with the coolest cats ever: Mason Parish and Daylon Koster!
I quickly headed back to College Station with Will riding shotgun. Once we arrived, I dropped him off, said our good-byes (we even cried a little), and then set off to Brenham, TX so that I could unpack, pack again, go to class the next morning, THEN drive three hours two Garrison, TX, see my family before the ever so infamous Mason and Daylon arrived, and THEN set off on our Adventure of a lifetime through the pine trees and swamps of Area IX!
After leaving my house, we had a two hour trek to Ms. Kelli Neuman’s house in the good ol’ town of Winnie, Texas, which we found out is only twenty minutes from Crystal Beach! We were greeted that night by her mother Mrs. Neuman and her super awesome little brother that goes by the name of the families’ favorite university: Sam Houston! Us three amigos had an awesome and rewarding time staying at their house that night as we got to experience the “Award Room,” which has all of their winnings, pictures, and even scrapbook that was hand-made! All in all, it was valuable experience thus far, but there was more excitement to come!
The next morning we awoke to the heavenly aroma of sausage and biscuits, but sadly, we didn’t get to dig in right then and there. You see, we were late, even though it was 7 o’clock in the morning and the presentation didn’t begin until an hour and a half from then. Instead, we were late to go visit an “Alligator Ranch!” We quickly got dressed, hopped in the truck with biscuits by my side, and followed Mrs. Neuman out to an Alligator Ranch where we had the opportunity to see how real-life gators were raised and learn their lifestyle and how they would be harvested. We also learned that raising and harvesting alligators makes a very profitable income, but it takes a lot of hard work in order to maintain the alligators in their natural habitat.
After that unorthodox experience, we headed back to the East Chambers Ag Shop where we spoke to our first group of members of the week… eighth graders! It was the perfect start-up in getting my toes wet and familiar with the presentation. All in all, the presentation went extremely well for my first time being a part of it, and the students did a fantastic job and really learned a lot!
Unfortunately, our next school of the day canceled on us, but we weren’t discouraged as we set off for Nederland, TX. We arrived a couple of hours early, but it was no problem at all. We got to meet and greet the FFA members from there as well as their super awesome cool ag teacher, Mr. Butler! He was nice enough to take us to lunch at the local country club in Nederland. There, we chowed down fried chicken and banana pudding while getting to meet policeman, fireman, and other local officials who were doing their part to see that students like us succeeded.
After lunch, we headed back to the school and gave my second ever presentation in one of the biggest auditoriums that I had ever seen… especially for a 4A high school. Once we were finished, we hung around and got to chat with some of their greenhand members, then it was off to Deweyville High School, which sets exactly two minutes west of the Sabine River (the border of Louisiana) for those of you that didn’t know. We met Mr. Waldrum and the rest the Deweyville Chapter officer at the school, then loaded and went to Mauriceville where we ate at a country diner called “Tuffy’s.” There, we experienced what a true deep east Texas chicken fried steak tastes like, as well as what the Deweyville officers like to do in their spare time… and that’s alligator hunting. After dinner were fortunate enough to stay in the comfort of Mac’s grandparents’ home where Daylon and I stayed in the coolest room in all the land… the John Wayne room!
The next morning started off bright, early, muggy, and humid along the banks of the Sabine. We were treated to a fabulous breakfast with delicious bacon and sausage. We then set off to Deweyville high school where I began my second day on the job. The presentation was thoroughly enjoyable, and from there, we set off to Vidor, TX, the home of a member on my past Area officer team: D.J. Melancon.
We got there well ahead schedule and met with Mr. Singleton and the awesome Vidor FFA officer Team. We were surprised to find an awesome sign made just for us with glitter and other sparkly stuff on it, so we kept it. The presentation was fantastic, and so were the students. We left Vidor with a sense of pride that day as we drove north to Kountze, TX where we greeted by the Kountze FFA Officer team Mrs. Dickerson. Kountze had, by far, the largest attendance to any presentation in which had been a part of so far. There high school filled up the entire one side of the gymnasium. However, this did not slow us down a bit as we continued on with a great presentation as well as a handy little commercial to go with it. After the presentation, we were awarded with an awesome goody bag with a Kountze FFA sweater inside! Thanks again Kountze FFA.
After a debriefing moment at McDonald’s, Mason, Daylon, and I drove twenty miles northeast to Warren, TX. There, we met up with the Warren FFA officer team just as they were finishing up chapter conducting practice. We also got to shake hands with two men who are very well respected in my book, and that is Mr. Cauthen and Mr. Currie. After hearing some funny stories from Mr. Currie, the officers took us out to eat at another nice country diner called “The Tree.” We had an awesome time getting to know the Warren FFA officers while Daylon and I, once again, ordered another round of chicken fried steaks! It was also entertaining watching Mason “attempt” a drawing of all the officers. After dinner, the night was still young, so we decided to have a “pasture party.” Yes, it sounds worse than what it really is but was really really fun! Mason, Daylon, and myself taught the guys how to dance, jitterbug, and pretzel with the lovely Warren FFA ladies. Afterwards, we headed back to Reese’s house and enjoyed a lovely night of sleep.
I arose the ne
xt morning to Daylon’s “Bittersweet Symphony” music, which had worked quite well on me falling asleep. We then followed Reese and Garrett to the high school where we delivered another successful presentation in front of the entire membership of the Warren FFA. After the presentation, we had a little bit of time left, so we decided to make a super awesome cool commercial of which you will find on YouTube about LDE’s and CDE’s.
We quickly hurried out of Warren to head off to our next school, only to find out that it was canceled. So, we went ahead and drove on through to Shepherd, TX and stopped at the Flashback café where we had another tasteful lunch. Then it was off to Shepherd high school. This was an experience for me because this would be my first time giving the presentation inside the actual ag shop. It was also pleasing to see Ms. Danielle Coker, the Area IX 3rd Vice President, as well as the Shepherd FFA officer team. We had an awesome time taking pictures and hanging out afterwards before we had to head back to the greatest place in all of TEXAS… my house.
We finally made it back to the Pineywoods of East Texas in my hometown of Garrison. That night, we were treated to the greatest meal of all time by my parents, and that was steak, baked potatoes, and red diamond sweet tea! After dinner, we all three managed to find ourselves falling asleep in the living room, and that’s the way it stayed.
The next morning, we drove approximately thirty seconds to my alma mater of Garrison high school. I have to say that it was extremely weird and somewhat awkward getting up and giving a presentation in front of the students that I used to run the halls with. Nevertheless, it was an awesome experience being on the other side of things as well as catching up with some old teachers.
We, then, quickly rushed over to Lufkin High school where we met up with Mr. Byrd and Mr. Gardener. There, we gave a very successful classroom presentation after having a healthy feast of “ag shop” hamburgers. Afterwards, we got to speak to some really dedicated officers, then it was off to Corrigan-Camden, where Daylon’s old Ag teacher is from… Mr. Kelley. We gave a great presentation to end the week of a lifetime, and even got some dancing lessons afterwards. We even got invited to their Senior pep-rally which was really cool with a lot of good laughs involved.
To end off the week right we had to eat at Logan’s Roadhouse in Lufkin, Texas before heading back to Garrison to drop me off.
It was indeed an amazing experience getting to travel with Mason and Daylon, but until after Thanksgiving, this has been Colt Gresham, your Texas FFA State Vice President from the Area IX Association, thanks and God Bless!
t finished up the first week of travel in Area VI, and I must say it was great. Whether we were eating at Sonic, spending some “bonding time” getting lost or sleeping with a stuffed black bear over our beds, or spending time visiting with the excellent students of Area VI it seemed as if I was either having a blast or laughing at Daylon’s Cuban dance the whole time.
n food, and spent time with the Honeycutt’s, our host family. That night was rather interesting as we spent the night with a stuffed mounted bear hanging over my bed. The next morning we presented and spent time with the “Dutch Sisters” Skye and Baiskeya. We then adventured up to Paul Prewitt and spent time with the Unique Brahmas (not Brahmans). After eating lunch with PPHS FFA president miss Codi Coulter we finished off the day with our last school Avery. Next we headed up to Redwater where we met our host family and then we were treated to a nice big juicy steak at Longhorn Steakhouse in Texarkana!
day at a very fancy restaurant. The next morning we again attended cowboy church, and then sent Mason and Daylon on their merry way to Area V with Leslie.
