Speaker 1: All right, welcome to Local AG. I'm your host, Melody Divers,
Speaker 1: a member of the Bedford County Economic Development Agricultural Advisory Board.
Speaker 1: Our Local AGG post aims to bridge the agworld with
Speaker 1: a non egg world and strengthen community connections. So we're
Speaker 1: recovering from February's disrespectful weather. So this is actually our
Speaker 1: February podcast, even though it's March. So anyway, we have
Speaker 1: to do some rescheduling, but we're here and we're really excited.
Speaker 1: This is our I believe our seventh podcast, wouldy, I think,
Speaker 1: I think we're still under ten, but we're getting there,
Speaker 1: so I think this is our seventh podcast, and today
Speaker 1: we are highlighting all things FFA and we have a
Speaker 1: good group of folks here, so to just jump right in,
Speaker 1: we have miss Tomlinson here with a group of students
Speaker 1: from Liberty High School. Do you want to go ahead
Speaker 1: and introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about
Speaker 1: what you do? Miss t Sure?
Speaker 2: Absolutely, I am Lindsay Tomlinson. I've been teaching at Liberty
Speaker 2: High School in Bedford for about eighteen years, been teaching
Speaker 2: for about twenty years total agriculture in Virginia. Currently, I
Speaker 2: teach things like horticulture, greenhouse production, veterinary science, super fun stuff.
Speaker 2: But I've taught everything from the shop classes at Liberty
Speaker 2: to all the different animal science classes and all the
Speaker 2: basic AG classes everything in between. At Liberty High School,
Speaker 2: we also have a middle school program where they serve
Speaker 2: kids ages six I'm sorry, grades six through eight, and
Speaker 2: they have great agroscience program there in an FFA as well.
Speaker 2: And at the high school we have three advisors, three
Speaker 2: ag teachers, and we stay really busy with our FFA program.
Speaker 1: Wow that I'm exhausted listening. I know, last night at
Speaker 1: the AGG board meeting, you were saying all the things
Speaker 1: that were coming up on your calendar, and I was like,
Speaker 1: oh my gosh, I'm so I'm so grateful that the
Speaker 1: students have someone like you advocating for them. And now
Speaker 1: can you help me with this question. How many current
Speaker 1: FFAs are there in this county?
Speaker 2: In this county, we have three high school chapters. We
Speaker 2: have Smith Mountain Lake Christian Academy. We have Smith Mountain
Speaker 2: which is actually stand River High School, and then we
Speaker 2: have Liberty. And then we have two awesome middle school chapters.
Speaker 2: We have Liberty Middle FFA and we have Stanton River
Speaker 2: Middle that's excellent.
Speaker 1: And what do you see about the the interest level
Speaker 1: from year.
Speaker 2: To year, So you know, it's kind of funny, you
Speaker 2: don't really see it change very much. You would think
Speaker 2: that with all the different things that kids could be
Speaker 2: involved in nowadays, that maybe those who are attracted to
Speaker 2: agriculture might not stay steady or might not grow, but
Speaker 2: that's that's not the case. Kids find so much value
Speaker 2: in the AD classes because it prepares them for all
Speaker 2: kinds of careers. We have kids that you know, stay
Speaker 2: in the agriculture industry, but also there's kids that find
Speaker 2: a lot of value in the leadership and the citizenship
Speaker 2: portions of ag ED and f f A, as well
Speaker 2: as just the basic sciences that takes them all kinds
Speaker 2: of places. So I think we've been really fortunate to see,
Speaker 2: you know, real steady numbers of kids each year, and
Speaker 2: Liberty Liberty High School has a tremendous amount of awesome
Speaker 2: offerings from their theater department and band and other career
Speaker 2: and technical classes. So you know, having to share the
Speaker 2: number of kids we have is and has always been
Speaker 2: a challenge, but we've been able to hold steady and
Speaker 2: if not grow from year tier.
Speaker 1: That's so amazing because what she said was there's other
Speaker 1: things you maybe with the trends in how life is
Speaker 1: now that you would think that it might be something
Speaker 1: from the wayside that they would just not be interested in.
Speaker 1: So kudos for retaining and increasing those numbers, but making
Speaker 1: it something that all the students can enjoy. And do
Speaker 1: you find that a lot of them have no ag background?
Speaker 2: Absolutely, And two of the young ladies you'll talk to
Speaker 2: today are just that they are students with no prior
Speaker 2: background in agriculture.
Speaker 1: I love this. All right, Well, we are going to
Speaker 1: talk to the students here and so we're going to
Speaker 1: do a quick mic change and while they're doing that,
Speaker 1: the folks that we have with us today from Liberty FFA.
Speaker 1: We have Natalie Corbin. She's a senior currently serving as
Speaker 1: a Liberty FFA chapter reporter, and she has competed in
Speaker 1: the National Vet Science Career Development Event as a freshman
Speaker 1: and has been successfully in CREED Speaking, Prepared public Speaking,
Speaker 1: and disc USh and Meet. Natalie enjoys taking care of
Speaker 1: her family's dogs and chickens and plans to study to
Speaker 1: become a licensed vet tech one day. That's amazing, wonderful.
Speaker 1: Welcome Natalie, thank you, thank you. Next we have Clay
Speaker 1: Clay Johnson is a sophomore and currently serves as our
Speaker 1: Liberty FFA Parliamentarian. Clay competes in the Stockman's Livestock Judging
Speaker 1: and forestry career development events. And when Clay is not
Speaker 1: taking care of his beef cows, he's also enjoying the
Speaker 1: leadership and public speaking opportunities that FFA has to offer,
Speaker 1: and he is considering studying law, possibly focusing on agriculture. Interesting. Welcome,
Speaker 1: thank you, you're welcome. And Tony Redfern is a senior
Speaker 1: and I know you from the scholarship competitions. Yeah, She's
Speaker 1: currently serving as Liberty's FFA Chapter treasure. She enjoys competing
Speaker 1: in the Veterinarian Science it's and Agriculture Education CDEs and
Speaker 1: her favorite thing about ag ED and FFA is the
Speaker 1: knowledge gained can be applied to so many different careers
Speaker 1: and facets of life. Tony enjoy's leadership workshops and learning
Speaker 1: about advocating for agricultural interest. Tony intends to become a veterinarian,
Speaker 1: possibly focusing on food animals. Welcome, thank you. So those
Speaker 1: bios were written by miss Tea or did you know
Speaker 1: that she was going to say all those cool things
Speaker 1: about you?
Speaker 3: Kinda? I knew she was going to include like what
Speaker 3: we are positions, uh huh, and what we've done so
Speaker 3: far and what we plan to do. I didn't really
Speaker 3: expect her to like include stuff that we value and
Speaker 3: believe in and hope to like aspire to advocate for.
Speaker 1: Well, I'm guessing that she notices this about y'all and
Speaker 1: she wanted us to make sure others saw that too.
Speaker 1: So I love the bio and I hope that made
Speaker 1: you smile. So we're going to just jump right in
Speaker 1: and you guys just answer as you feel comfortable. Well,
Speaker 1: but the first thing is, it's an easy question. So
Speaker 1: this podcast is to bridge folks that aren't in the
Speaker 1: agworld with the agworld. So we've just been freely seeing FFA.
Speaker 1: But can someone tell me what FFA actually means for
Speaker 1: our listeners?
Speaker 4: Yeah, so, technically FFA means Future Farmers of America, but
Speaker 4: recently it's or I wouldn't say recently, but theoretically the
Speaker 4: name is National FFA Organization. Basically, it's connecting all the
Speaker 4: farmers with all the outside areas. It's not just about
Speaker 4: you know, hands on growing crops or hands on with animals.
Speaker 4: It's about all the diverse mechanics and biologies and even production.
Speaker 4: It touches on all areas of life. So FFA doesn't
Speaker 4: just mean one thing.
Speaker 1: I would say, I love that. I have gone back
Speaker 1: and looked at my dad's yearbooks and FFA was Future
Speaker 1: Farmers of America and it was normally the pictures of
Speaker 1: the guys on their tractors and there was crop production
Speaker 1: stuff like that. And I'm really happy how the pendulum
Speaker 1: is swinging, like what you just said, all the different
Speaker 1: facets that are included. Uh, I think it's it's a
Speaker 1: wise move and I'm grateful for it. And I can
Speaker 1: already tell I have a group of well spoken guests here,
Speaker 1: and I'm grateful for that. So the next question is
Speaker 1: we were supposed to do this in February, and that
Speaker 1: is that was intentional. Who would like to tackle this question?
Speaker 1: Why is FFA in February? Why were we trying to
Speaker 1: match that up?
Speaker 3: So February is a very important time for the national
Speaker 3: f FA organization and local chapters as well, because during February,
Speaker 3: one specific week is known as NATIONALFA Week, and during
Speaker 3: that time, each day kind of has a specific like
Speaker 3: UH area kind of that dedicates to what members can
Speaker 3: do that day or like activities or ways to give
Speaker 3: back to the organization or the communities. And so February
Speaker 3: is a very eventful time for our chapter as well,
Speaker 3: just meeting with a lot of our local businesses and
Speaker 3: showing our appreciation for teachers and all that. So I
Speaker 3: think that's kind of why we chose February for doing
Speaker 3: this podcast.
Speaker 1: But we're just pretending it's February right now because of
Speaker 1: the weather. So Clay tell us about some of the
Speaker 1: activities that y'all had lined up. I know that it
Speaker 1: was kind of hiccuped because of the weather, But what
Speaker 1: were some of the activities and specifically your favorite thing
Speaker 1: we're doing FFA week.
Speaker 5: Well, we do a lot of different stuff, especially during
Speaker 5: FA Week. It's a fun time always, so we'll dress
Speaker 5: up with different things. We always like doing anything but
Speaker 5: a backpack day ag edition, so it's hysterical. We'll do feedbags, wheelbarrows,
Speaker 5: stuff like that. Officers team will dress up in different
Speaker 5: our field dress, just showing off our good attire and
Speaker 5: how good we look. But we just do a lot
Speaker 5: of different Spirit Days in the School of Partics in that.
Speaker 1: As well, so you don't have to be an f
Speaker 1: f A member to enjoy the Spirit week.
Speaker 5: No, we've partner with the school as well.
Speaker 1: Okay, excellent, wonderful. I have heard a couple of you
Speaker 1: say something about service projects. Talk to me about that.
Speaker 3: So service projects in f f A are opportunities for
Speaker 3: our members to gain community service experience. We typically do
Speaker 3: that by We typically do that by kind of helping
Speaker 3: out our local nonprofit organizations. One very important one that
Speaker 3: we like to go back to a lot every year.
Speaker 3: We try to go at least once a year is
Speaker 3: the GAFE Center out in Manita, and we help clean
Speaker 3: up there whenever they're open by help either making getting
Speaker 3: together for the families that use their services or help
Speaker 3: cleaning up their store.
Speaker 1: It seem like an extra set of hand. Yeah.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so this year, yeah, so this year, actually me
Speaker 3: and our secretary we helped make some new content for
Speaker 3: their social medias because one of their directors had told
Speaker 3: us they kind of need help with the new SMO
Speaker 3: gifts drives that you're doing and they don't really know
Speaker 3: how to market to audiences on how they need. Yeah,
Speaker 3: so me and her we partner together. We made some
Speaker 3: content with some of the workers there, and we put
Speaker 3: it together right then and there, and then you know,
Speaker 3: she loved it. So she's like, maybe we can get
Speaker 3: you guys come back next year.
Speaker 1: And help all that is connection.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's what I'm really looking forward to.
Speaker 1: I love that. Are there other service projects that you
Speaker 1: have done or are that you are planning? Yeah?
Speaker 4: So we actually already did a deer drive.
Speaker 1: I was wondering if you're going to talk about that.
Speaker 4: The deer drive with the Hunters for the Hungry. Basically,
Speaker 4: it was hosted at bever co Op thanks for their hope,
Speaker 4: we could use our parking lot and we just had
Speaker 4: any sort of hunter that morning go out if they
Speaker 4: wanted to and bring whatever they could get basically, and
Speaker 4: we donated it to Hunters for the Hungry and then
Speaker 4: they use it to give to people in the Bedford
Speaker 4: area who need food and resources like that.
Speaker 1: That is amazing. Do you have a number on how
Speaker 1: many you were.
Speaker 4: Able to get or I think it was thirteen thirteen.
Speaker 1: Years and that all went completely to Hunters for the Hungry.
Speaker 1: That is amazing and kind that you all did that
Speaker 1: now doesn't mean a long day for y'all at check
Speaker 1: like do you have to be there for the check
Speaker 1: in or so? What was your time frame? And I'm
Speaker 1: guessing this is a Saturday.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I believe it was from nine to eight.
Speaker 1: It was a long day on a Saturday, Oh goodness.
Speaker 1: And so how many students were there kind of holding
Speaker 1: down the fort?
Speaker 5: Is this?
Speaker 3: Some did have like other stuff that like you say
Speaker 3: it in shifts? Yeah, okay, it was. We managed to
Speaker 3: get about five or six fifteen Yeah yeah.
Speaker 1: Wow from six as shift. Yeah, yeah, I understand. But nonetheless,
Speaker 1: what I'm hearing is there's a Saturday, and you've been
Speaker 1: in school all week and you have other responsibilities. But
Speaker 1: this group of students worked hard to make sure those
Speaker 1: hours were covered, and so not even to glean anything
Speaker 1: for themselves, but to give to someone else. And so
Speaker 1: I just think that's a testament for what we're working
Speaker 1: with here. You know, I I did not have f
Speaker 1: FA in my high school. It is there now at
Speaker 1: my former high school. And I can just see, like
Speaker 1: the way you all are speaking, you're prepared things like that.
Speaker 1: I just hope I just want the community to really
Speaker 1: know that this is a great group, whether it's this
Speaker 1: FFA or another FFA chapter. I just really it's on
Speaker 1: my heart that just folks need to support what you
Speaker 1: are doing. And in saying that, is there anything coming
Speaker 1: up that you're like, yes, we need the community to
Speaker 1: be on our side for this.
Speaker 5: We have an alumni group that does a lot of
Speaker 5: stuff for us. So facebook page they have a lot
Speaker 5: of cool things coming up, So you can check out
Speaker 5: their page, Liberty FFA Alumni and Supporters Group, and you
Speaker 5: know you'll see them at betfor co Op or chatter
Speaker 5: supply out there somewhere just doing like hot dog funders.
Speaker 5: There's things that they can do to help us because
Speaker 5: a lot of our trips can get costly sometimes, so
Speaker 5: they do help with that a lot, like our national
Speaker 5: convention to the Indianapolis. They're just a great group of
Speaker 5: people to help us out.
Speaker 1: So if we're if someone's in town and they see
Speaker 1: that there's a bake sale or a hot dog sale
Speaker 1: or something like that in the pancake Breakfast, something like
Speaker 1: that that's going towards FFA, they need to pull the
Speaker 1: car over and get in line and help with the fundraising.
Speaker 1: So you're seeing fundraising monetarily gifts. Monetary gifts are helpful
Speaker 1: for all the different things that you are doing. Okay, excellent.
Speaker 1: And then this here's a fun question. I want to
Speaker 1: hear from each of you what your favorite part of
Speaker 1: FFA is and if you have more than one answer,
Speaker 1: that's totally acceptable.
Speaker 4: I was about to say, part of my favorite is
Speaker 4: really just the connection you make with the people. I
Speaker 4: know that may sound like a cheesy answer, but it's true.
Speaker 4: Majority of my friends come from FFA. You really get
Speaker 4: a nice knit family when you join FFA. You get
Speaker 4: to travel together, you get to learn together, you get
Speaker 4: to grow. Building leadership is also another part. Without the
Speaker 4: leadership skills that FFA has given me, I don't think
Speaker 4: I would be where I am today with success, with
Speaker 4: careers and competitions in itself, just all around. It's a
Speaker 4: very beneficial organization and it helps you build lifelong relationships.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think just what you said. I think you're
Speaker 1: going to have a lot of transferable skills in life
Speaker 1: because it, you know, going from a student in FFA
Speaker 1: to be in an adult, whether you know, a college, career,
Speaker 1: you know, whatever, wherever your next path is just the
Speaker 1: fact that you can speak and clearly and make eye contact.
Speaker 1: That's going to get you so so far in life.
Speaker 1: And I just really come in each of you. But
Speaker 1: since we're speaking with you right now, I think that
Speaker 1: that in itself is going to be such a carry over.
Speaker 1: Now I said earlier that, and I haven't forgotten you too.
Speaker 1: I did not have FFA growing up, but I was
Speaker 1: in the AG club at the college I went to,
Speaker 1: and a lot of the members were former FFA, and
Speaker 1: I could see that the way the meetings were held
Speaker 1: and carrying on, and it was like you said, who
Speaker 1: you surround yourself with and the connections you make a
Speaker 1: really important because I ended up marrying the AG club
Speaker 1: dance so that worked out well for me. But on
Speaker 1: a serious note, all of our our friends that we've
Speaker 1: made through the AG club and if there we're still friends,
Speaker 1: and those connections are important. So in general, it's always
Speaker 1: important who who you hang out with. So yeah, perfect answer, Natalie,
Speaker 1: All right, he's going next.
Speaker 3: This is a very unpopular opinion, but I like the
Speaker 3: workshops we get to do ENOUGHFA because they take really
Speaker 3: Corby just roat her eyes.
Speaker 1: They're a little shade over here across the table, that's
Speaker 1: all right.
Speaker 3: Because they take really fun activities and make you take
Speaker 3: a different perspective, either about situations you see out in
Speaker 3: the real world or about yourself, and you can really
Speaker 3: learn a lot from just one workshop and another thing.
Speaker 3: I like this kind of what Corbyn said, how preparing
Speaker 3: yourself and actually competing in these competitions have given has
Speaker 3: given me a lot of confidence that if I didn't
Speaker 3: join FFA, I for sure would not have had So
Speaker 3: you know, if I didn't join FFA three years ago,
Speaker 3: I would not be able to talk to you. I
Speaker 3: would not be able to look an your eyes. I
Speaker 3: wouldn't I wouldn't be here today at all.
Speaker 1: I mean, you seem very comfortable speaking to us, and
Speaker 1: I got to I just want to say again, I mean,
Speaker 1: you do speak so so well this group, all of you,
Speaker 1: and I'm sure there's others in your membership too that
Speaker 1: are the same way. I want to go back to
Speaker 1: what you said about a workshop. So for folks that
Speaker 1: don't know what a FFA workshop is, can you just
Speaker 1: break that down for us?
Speaker 3: So a workshop is kind of just a term that
Speaker 3: FFA uses, whether that's at like that's chapter workshops or
Speaker 3: workshops at a state event or even the national event.
Speaker 3: They have workshops too. A workshop is like a so
Speaker 3: they'll take a group of people who decide they want
Speaker 3: to do this workshop and don't give them activity about
Speaker 3: like building skills on leadership or something kind of make
Speaker 3: them realize. I kind of to me workshops. They do
Speaker 3: workshops in order to help people be better. I guess
Speaker 3: it's kind of like a self improvement thing. I really
Speaker 3: don't know how to explain workshops.
Speaker 1: So our workshops on like how to build something or
Speaker 1: is it more internal? Like more internal? Okay, so like
Speaker 1: a coaching for how to present yourself and speak and
Speaker 1: things like that. All right, that is great. I mean,
Speaker 1: this is all all of these things in your toolbox.
Speaker 1: You are going to be way ahead of your peers
Speaker 1: just because you already have this. This is great. I'm
Speaker 1: so excited for your futures that I know they're going
Speaker 1: to be sparkling and dazzling. Clay, did we say the
Speaker 1: best for last? Okay? I would say something like that.
Speaker 1: All right, what's your favorite part about FFA?
Speaker 5: I believe y'all kind of touch on this, but it
Speaker 5: just gets you out of your comfort comfort shell, Like
Speaker 5: when I joined in seventh grade, I wouldn't be able
Speaker 5: to talk to anybody pretty much, but my advisor kind
Speaker 5: of pushed me to do other things. And, like Tony said,
Speaker 5: his workshop, so it gets you to meet other people
Speaker 5: around you, like your traveling places, You're doing different contests,
Speaker 5: You're meeting people, You're meeting your local leaders, You're meeting
Speaker 5: people all across the state and even the nation. Right,
Speaker 5: And I believe it's just an awesome opportunity to get
Speaker 5: out there and learn more about the world. Right.
Speaker 1: I think when you said it gets you out of
Speaker 1: your your comfort zone? How hard was that at the
Speaker 1: beginning when this started?
Speaker 5: Were you like, no, yeah, I thought about like what
Speaker 5: am I doing here?
Speaker 1: Did you two think that either when you had to
Speaker 1: do things that maybe weren't so comfortable with speaking.
Speaker 3: My very first time competing in contests was at the
Speaker 3: state level, and I'm sitting there waiting to go into
Speaker 3: the room to take one of the tests. I'm thinking,
Speaker 3: what am I doing? What is going on here?
Speaker 4: What did I sign up for?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm just sitting there. I was like, I'm not
Speaker 3: coming back to this. And then eventually school yar started again.
Speaker 3: I end up getting another English class with Corbin and
Speaker 3: then she was like, are you doing f a vegan?
Speaker 1: I was like, you know what, Yeah, let's do it.
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 1: All right. So that is important because sometimes, like Clay said,
Speaker 1: when we push ourselves to do something that's maybe not
Speaker 1: natural to us, it seems like you all have understood
Speaker 1: that you have the benefits that unfold when you do
Speaker 1: push yourself to do hard things, and sometimes doing hard things,
Speaker 1: the bounty that we get from that harvest of doing
Speaker 1: something hard really pays off. And I think y'all have
Speaker 1: pay I'm just so impressed with you. I can't stop
Speaker 1: saying that. I feel like a broken record. I'm just
Speaker 1: so impressed with you, with you all. Okay, So if
Speaker 1: someone's listening' is like, oh, I have a grandchild that
Speaker 1: is in middle school or high school, or my daughter
Speaker 1: such and such, what are the requirements for joy? Do
Speaker 1: we have someone that can answer that. Yeah?
Speaker 4: So the requirements basically, you have to be a middle
Speaker 4: or high school student. And some middle school start at
Speaker 4: like fifth grade, but like Bedford specifically starts at sixth grade. Sorry,
Speaker 4: so you have to be a middle or high school student.
Speaker 4: You have to pay fifteen dollars in dues. So it's
Speaker 4: not much, but it's to get you through the year.
Speaker 1: It's kind of just work like to cover some costs,
Speaker 1: right exactly.
Speaker 4: And you have to be taking an.
Speaker 1: AD class okay, so that is important. Yes, And each
Speaker 1: of you are in a AG class obviously because following
Speaker 1: the rules. And I want to hear what your AD
Speaker 1: classes that you're taking.
Speaker 4: So this year I am taking veterinary science too, and
Speaker 4: greenhouse production and management.
Speaker 1: But you're wanting to be a that tech eventually. This
Speaker 1: makes sense, right, okay?
Speaker 4: And prior had a VET one class that had to.
Speaker 1: Like build it that the prerequisite to go into US.
Speaker 1: And what are your AD classes this year?
Speaker 3: This year, I'm actually taking two like Corbon Veterinary Science
Speaker 3: one and then fishery Fisheries and wildlife.
Speaker 1: Oh that's interesting. But you also want to go on
Speaker 1: the VET track as well, okay, excellent, But you want
Speaker 1: to be a large animal VET, mixed animal, mixed.
Speaker 5: Animal okay, And I'm also on an animal pathway, I'm
Speaker 5: taking small animal care this year.
Speaker 1: All right, excellent. I just love I'm so nosy, so
Speaker 1: I always love all of this. This is great. So
Speaker 1: those are the requirements. Now do you have to sign up?
Speaker 1: Like at the start of a semester a school year,
Speaker 1: like how does what's the proper way.
Speaker 3: We usually try to wrangle in members at the beginning
Speaker 3: of the school year, like an open house or the
Speaker 3: first month or two of school, we'll have we'll set
Speaker 3: up a little booth at lunch. People can come fill
Speaker 3: out a form sign up for our remind and then
Speaker 3: hand us their fifteen dollars membership dues and uh. But
Speaker 3: most of the time we'll get a few stragglers along
Speaker 3: the year who decide, you know, maybe maybe I should
Speaker 3: join ffit, so.
Speaker 1: They can't you like it at the start of the
Speaker 1: school year semester.
Speaker 3: He our ducks in the rogue right, actual itinerary of
Speaker 3: many members we're gonna have like a kind of.
Speaker 1: Like a get your game plan together?
Speaker 3: Yes, how many members we're gonna have and how many
Speaker 3: people decide they actually want to compete?
Speaker 1: Yeah, excellent.
Speaker 5: Especially in middle school, it's like a semester class. If
Speaker 5: you have an ad class second semester, you don't really
Speaker 5: learn about all the stuff that you can do until
Speaker 5: that second semester.
Speaker 3: See, that's a difficult thing about the the middle school
Speaker 3: schedules because that's how it was for me. I didn't
Speaker 3: take an that class to my second half of my
Speaker 3: seventh grade year, so I don't know about FFA till well,
Speaker 3: but they got you now Yeah, I got you now strapped.
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, you guys are hoot. Okay, So I
Speaker 1: guess we've already touched on this. And if someone wants
Speaker 1: to give miss t had I want to hear. I
Speaker 1: think you all have touched on this. Question is what
Speaker 1: lasting effects do you think FFA will have on your futures?
Speaker 1: And I really think you've you've got that under control.
Speaker 1: I mean, kudos to your teacher.
Speaker 3: Uh, but.
Speaker 1: I just have to say, Lindsay, I got to call
Speaker 1: you bad. You first, saments me. Lindsay, what is what
Speaker 1: do you think their futures? And I'm talking about theirs,
Speaker 1: meaning that chapters. What do you think their chapters look
Speaker 1: their future looks like because of their FFA background. So
Speaker 1: it's kind of funny. Excuse me.
Speaker 2: Earlier, when you were saying about being an AG club
Speaker 2: in college, I related to that so much because I
Speaker 2: also did not have much of an EGG background, and
Speaker 2: I was in college setting large animal science, and when
Speaker 2: I was there, I met all these crazy FFA kids,
Speaker 2: And honestly, I had no idea that FFA was a
Speaker 2: real thing at that point. I had only ever heard
Speaker 2: about it in a country song. And I was so
Speaker 2: just impressed and floored by all of these kids, and
Speaker 2: they all had this FFA in common, and they were
Speaker 2: telling me about their AD classes and all the things
Speaker 2: they got to do, and I truly feel like I
Speaker 2: missed out, Like I remember thinking that to myself, I
Speaker 2: had no idea this was even a thing, and I
Speaker 2: kind of fell in love with it just from looking
Speaker 2: at the pictures on their dorm walls and talking to
Speaker 2: them and knowing them as people. So I truly do feel,
Speaker 2: twenty years into teaching and working with FFA kids that
Speaker 2: it really does turn out solid, well rounded, employable people
Speaker 2: who are amazing citizens within their community. The beauty of
Speaker 2: social media, to someone like me, is is just invaluable
Speaker 2: because I get to watch these guys ten twenty years
Speaker 2: after they graduate high school, and it is so amazing
Speaker 2: to get to see the things that they do, where
Speaker 2: they go their careers, just how their life is impacted.
Speaker 2: And maybe you know, for some they just took a
Speaker 2: few AD classes, maybe they did a little effife in
Speaker 2: high school, but you can still see things come through.
Speaker 2: It resonates right, whether they're they're getting involved in different
Speaker 2: things in their community, whether they're taking leadership positions in
Speaker 2: their job, whether they joined the different clubs in college
Speaker 2: or whatever trade school they went to, or you know,
Speaker 2: whether they just dove into their career and felt confident
Speaker 2: and moved up the ladder because of the you know,
Speaker 2: the education that they had in high school. And I
Speaker 2: expect that one hundred percent from these three as well
Speaker 2: as well as it well as the rest of them.
Speaker 2: Tony and Natalie our seniors, and they are both getting
Speaker 2: excited and looking forward to the next step for them,
Speaker 2: whatever it is. I will say the big thing that
Speaker 2: I try to tell them, And we were just talking
Speaker 2: about this on the way here, because I have a
Speaker 2: former student who's coming back in a couple weeks on
Speaker 2: her college spring break, and she really wants to talk
Speaker 2: to them about all the different careers that she learned
Speaker 2: about when she went to college. She ended up going
Speaker 2: to college in Kentucky, and once she got there, I
Speaker 2: think she's setting ag econ. But when she got there,
Speaker 2: all of a sudden, she realized all these other amazing
Speaker 2: careers that we just don't really see around here maybe,
Speaker 2: and she just wants to let them know to kind
Speaker 2: of follow their era, get on the right path, get
Speaker 2: where you're going, and as you're going there, you're going
Speaker 2: to see all these other awesome things open up to
Speaker 2: you that you had no idea about. So I'm excited they'll.
Speaker 1: Have those opportunity. You've definitely given them a good foundation.
Speaker 1: And I'm sure there's other amazing egg educators in our county,
Speaker 1: but you made me tear up a little. But because
Speaker 1: anytime we talk, you know, I taught school for fifteen years.
Speaker 1: You've definitely got me on that. But anytime you can
Speaker 1: see your students and you called it at a young age,
Speaker 1: like they are going to be a good human and
Speaker 1: they are just going to nail this whole living a
Speaker 1: good life thing. But you get to see it, that's
Speaker 1: the good stuff. And so I'm so grateful that you
Speaker 1: get to see those moments and you're like called it.
Speaker 1: I knew they were going to be successful, and I
Speaker 1: loved what you said about you know, being good citizens
Speaker 1: and employable. And on a funny note, I do get
Speaker 1: sad because you know, you know, we just we discovered
Speaker 1: that we were not in FFA, but we definitely had
Speaker 1: ag in our college days. I do get jealous when
Speaker 1: Johnny gets to pull his blue jacket out and I
Speaker 1: do not have a blue jacket. I do not, so
Speaker 1: I do get a little jealous of him getting to
Speaker 1: wear that. And he was at Liberty High School's FFA
Speaker 1: as well, and I'm great, well stinker, I think he
Speaker 1: still fits so all these years later. Yeah, But anyway,
Speaker 1: I want to say thank you for this group of
Speaker 1: students that you have shared. We're going to wrap up
Speaker 1: and go into the announcement section, but if there is
Speaker 1: anything that we need to know to share with our
Speaker 1: community about how to support you or upcoming events, your
Speaker 1: social media, social media handles or things like that, please
Speaker 1: share that.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 1: Now is your time to shine. Okay.
Speaker 2: So I want to piggyback on what Clay said earlier
Speaker 2: about our alumni and supporters. It is a common misconception
Speaker 2: that you have to have been a Liberty High School
Speaker 2: graduate or an FFA member. That's not true at all.
Speaker 2: That's why the name is Liberty FFA Alumni and Supporters.
Speaker 2: So we have lots of adults within this community that
Speaker 2: found value from their children going through the program or
Speaker 2: just learned about it different ways and became a part
Speaker 2: of that group. Also, people that came to our community
Speaker 2: from other areas and we're in AG programs and things
Speaker 2: like that. As a kid in other areas not only
Speaker 2: benefit you know, visiting them at bake sales and things
Speaker 2: like that, but also if you want to reach out,
Speaker 2: they have a Facebook page Liberty f FA alumni and
Speaker 2: supporters if you want to reach out to them and
Speaker 2: be a part of that group. They're always looking to
Speaker 2: grow that group. You know, many hands makes easier work
Speaker 2: for everyone, so always looking to have more people in
Speaker 2: that as well.
Speaker 1: Also, I want to give a shout out to Clay.
Speaker 2: We just found out that Clay, along with two of
Speaker 2: our other younger members are going to Washington Leadership Conference
Speaker 2: this summer. So that's really so that is a hefty
Speaker 2: cost for us. So if any anybody ever wants to
Speaker 2: reach out and just benefit the chapter, you could go
Speaker 2: right through the school to help kids with things like
Speaker 2: that Leadership options. You can do it that way, contacting
Speaker 2: like Liberty High School and letting them know why you're calling.
Speaker 2: They can get you the right avenue. But yeah, we
Speaker 2: do have a Facebook page Liberty FFA and an Instagram
Speaker 2: page and it's here on the socials. We are Yeah,
Speaker 2: the kids, the kids do a great job with that excellent. Well,
Speaker 2: I'm very grateful that Natalie, Tony Clay, and this TA
Speaker 2: you were all here today.
Speaker 1: We're gonna say we're going to file this under an
Speaker 1: excellent podcast? Would you agree? What?
Speaker 5: He?
Speaker 1: Do you not feel so hopeful for? I mean, do
Speaker 1: you not just feel drenched in hope? Rate? I do?
Speaker 1: It's exciting, I know, so well spoken. Yes, agreed, Agreed.
Speaker 1: So you're impressive, folks, and I'm grateful to have had
Speaker 1: this moment with y'all. So we're going to go into
Speaker 1: our announcements. This is where we have ag opportunities in
Speaker 1: the county. So if you are looking for horse riding lessons,
Speaker 1: please reach out to Second Wind Farm. They recently posted
Speaker 1: on their Facebook page that they are scheduling opportunities uh
Speaker 1: for horse riding. They also have availability, I believe for boarding,
Speaker 1: so contact them directly either through their Facebook page or
Speaker 1: you can call them at five four zero five nine
Speaker 1: eight zero one one zero. And then we are thinking
Speaker 1: about field trips here, so if you are interested in
Speaker 1: going to Lotty J Farm, on Patterson Mill Road. They
Speaker 1: are currently booking field trips May through October. April is
Speaker 1: already booked. You can follow them on Facebook as well
Speaker 1: or reach out to them by calling four three four
Speaker 1: six one zero six zero seven eight and again that's
Speaker 1: Lotty J Farm on Patterson Mill Road in regards to
Speaker 1: field trips. So the weather is starting to warm up
Speaker 1: a little bit and our farmers markets have dates. Let's
Speaker 1: see here. Forest Farmer's Market will take place on March
Speaker 1: the eighth, which is this Saturday, from nine to twelve.
Speaker 1: They're located on Forest Road near Forest Library and obviously
Speaker 1: it's anytime you shop at a farmer's market, it's a
Speaker 1: great opportunity to shop and support local. And then the
Speaker 1: weekend after that, March fifteenth, Bedford Farmers Market will be
Speaker 1: held nine to one and they are located at West
Speaker 1: Washington Street in the Farmers Market Pavilion and you can
Speaker 1: stay updated with their happenings by following their Facebook page.
Speaker 1: And it looks like Menita and Montvale markets will be
Speaker 1: coming back soon, so stay tuned about when and where
Speaker 1: you can get goodies at the Montvale and Manita farmers Market.
Speaker 1: Now something exciting since we have some youth here. I
Speaker 1: thought this would be a great announcement. Four EH camp
Speaker 1: registration opens up in April. This has always been a
Speaker 1: favorite with my sons and so they were always excited
Speaker 1: when camp registration open. Camp itself runs from July fourteenth
Speaker 1: to eighteenth, and it takes place at the Skeleton for
Speaker 1: H Center at Smith Mountain Lake. If you know a
Speaker 1: young person that will be at least nine by September thirtieth,
Speaker 1: twenty twenty five, but no older than fourteen or on
Speaker 1: January first, twenty twenty five, they are eligible to sign
Speaker 1: up for camp and details including costs, will be forthcoming,
Speaker 1: and the best way to follow that information is to
Speaker 1: follow the Bedford County four H Facebook page. Make sure
Speaker 1: it is Bedford County, Virginia, not Bedford County, Pennsylvania. You
Speaker 1: may end up at the wrong camp. As always, we
Speaker 1: would like to end this episode with a huge thanks
Speaker 1: to Media Squatch for allowing this podcast an idea to
Speaker 1: come to life. We're always grateful and happy to work
Speaker 1: with Woody and the staff at Media Squatch, and I
Speaker 1: really am grateful that I had this table of well
Speaker 1: spoken folks to chat with, So thank you. Liberty FFA
Speaker 1: for being a wonderful presence here on our podcast. Lastly,
Speaker 1: if you want to attend one of our ag board meetings,
Speaker 1: you are more than welcome. Last night we had the
Speaker 1: folks from the Smith Mountain Lake Christian Academy FFA join
Speaker 1: at the beginning of our March ag board meeting, and
Speaker 1: like y'all, they were an impressive group of students. But
Speaker 1: let's be honest, ffa's students really carry themselves well and
Speaker 1: speak knowledgeably, so no pun intended, but they're the cream
Speaker 1: of the crop. But I'm bump anyway. Egg Board meeting
Speaker 1: times and minutes are always available on the Economic Development
Speaker 1: website and normally we meet around the first Wednesday of
Speaker 1: each month, but reach out for details. If you want
Speaker 1: to attend, you're more than welcome. And we're going to
Speaker 1: end this wonderful podcast with the reminder that please be
Speaker 1: good to yourself and be good to others.