Once upon a dentist's chair...

Just the other day, after waiting and reading an article about frozen baby elephants from the National Geographic for 25 minutes, my name was finally called. It was time for a little checkup on my chompers.

As much as I HATE the dentist, this visit was actually enjoyable because of the following conversation...

• Dentist Lady - "So what have you been up to this summer ?"
• Kirby - (in my head)
  "... A lot of things, I have been traveling around the state and country for FFA events. It seems like I am never home. Our state FFA officer team put together conferences for the membership and has been taking time to also meet our partners. Next week is Farmfest! Whoot whoot! "
• Kirby- (what I REALLY say)
  "... just staying busy. "
  (I don't like talking in the dentist chair, especially when they expect me you shout out full sentences when they are poking that metal scraper thing on my teeth and their hand is in my mouth)

• Dentist Lady- "Ok, busy with what ?"
• Kirby- " Oh, just traveling and stuff."
• Dentist Lady- (she's trying hard)... "Umm, give me a specific example of one of the best things you did this summer?"
• Kirby-"... How familiar are you with FFA?"
• Dentist Lady - "Holy crap! I totally am. I was an FFA member from the Westbrook Walnut Grove FFA Chapter. I am such a big fan.
• Kirby- "Awesome, I am serving as a state officer for Minnesota,this year, and the best thing I did was... "
  

And so the conversation continues. Thankfully, she just stopped trying to clean my teeth and we just talked. I discovered that Tiffany grew up on a dairy farm near Westbrook, Minnesota. (in the heart of Region VI) She shared her own experiences as far as leadership conferences she attended, her advisor and her favorite CDE: Dairy Cattle Evaluation.

Don't you just love it when you meet people, who you would least expect, that have some type of experience or connection to FFA ?

I know I do.

State Leadership Conference for Chapter Leaders 2009!

*I am having some format issues, so bear with me *

For the final time this summer, FFA members from across the state gathered for a State level leadership conference. This one being: SLCCL, The Amazing Race Destination: Leadership!

As I left off my last blog, leaving the Twin Cities with Kirsten, I noted how I will never forget it.

This being because we spent over 2 hours in traffic leaving the Metro area, and within that amount of time, we traveled less than 8 miles! >:( (that is my angry face) To say the least, I was frustrated as well as the other drivers on the highway. Kirsten and I decided, after a mild disagreement, that we would leave that main highway and take a completely alternate route, adding an extra 90 miles to our trip, but we made it... 3 hours later than we expected = 7:40 pm

Phillip left the cities the exact same time as us and got to Deep Portage at 4:30. We love Phil!

Nonetheless, SLCCL was equal to, if not more fun than SGLC as over 140 FFA members came to Deep Portage Conservation Reserve with the intent of learning, having fun, meeting new people and re-establishing old friendships!

As I highlight a number of the members I met, I will also give insight as to what we did this week! Before I do that I need to give a shout out to some of my friends including:

Shantel, Emily, Molly, Cassy, Cheyenne, Wade, Jason, Jessica, Andy and Michaela ! These are da few, da proud, DA-FEET! Yes, this was, and is my small group. My fellow toes, and myself (Alpha Toe), had an awesome time getting to know each other! We took our skillz, (of course after properly being initiated into Da-Feet Family), to the v-ball court against the Carrier Pigeons. As much as we stomped, stepped on and squished those invasive pigeons, we fell short in an EPIC loss of 25-23. We were De-feated. :( The best game I ever played. Da-Feet also took their skillz to the Talent Show and shook the competition with our incredible STOMP- thanks to the creativity of Molly.

Also, a shout out goes to my roomies for the week:
Kelly, Chad, Sam, Doug, Luke and David ! Represent-> Room 504/201 !These guys were a lot of fun to get to know, hang out with and chat with even if it was 3:00 in the morning. The not so fun part, I must say, was the toilet overflowing on the last day... yeah...

NOW... here we go:

Jason from St.Charles... is one dedicated fisherman, and would do anything to retrieve his Snoopy bobber. Jason also served on the Banquet committee officer team as President, and gave the best Kirby Schmidt impression I have ever seen. He is a part of the state winning Fish and Wildlife team that will compete at Nationals this Fall! Good luck!

Liz from Martin County West ... is a fellow Region VI-er! Liz is serving as the 2009-2010 Region VI Secretary, and in her free time she is awesome and busy making hemp bracelets. (I got one)

Brett from New Ulm... reminds me a lot of myself. (I don't think that is bad) He has got ridiculous skillz on the dance floor, can spit out a beat on a dime, can eat a lot of watermelon and is just fun to be around. Brett plans to work in sports medicine, ideally for professional athletes. One word Brett = SHOES SHOES SHOES. (had to be there)

Kelsey from Owatonna ... is irreplaceable in character. There is never a dull moment when being around her. If at camp, you would most likely find her carrying around a pirates sword or kidnapping Emily Achen's clothing.

Mike from P.E.M ... know more about dairy production than I think I will ever know.Yes, Mike is a proud dairy farmer, and Region VIII officer, and to be specific, an organic producer. In the future, he wants to run his own dairy and expand his knowledge of dairy genetic improvement. AWESOME.

Alex from Forest Lake ... did an awesome job in the talent show, performing the same routine from State Convention. It was easy to agree, she was even better this time. Alex can be easily associated with Kelsey's pursuit to make Emily sing in front of everyone at SLCCL!

Blake from Detroit Lakes ... is an avid hockey player. If he is not on the ice, he is probably plunging his feet into ice as he set a record in the Toe Golf game. Not only that, but Blake and the infamous Carrier Pigeons set a SLCCL record for 20 consecutive jumps in the teamwork jump rope challenge. As seen in the picture to the right, Blake along with Brett, Eric and Greg also revived the "Jump on It" dance as seen on the Fresh Prince.

Doreen from Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted ... was not afraid to share her stories of her crazy advisor, Winnie. Doreen has been quite the traveler this past summer after flying, (in a plane, not with her arms) , to Washington DC for the Washington Leadership Conference! What an awesome experience.

Quincy from Minnewaska ... has A LOT of horses! Quincy shared with me some of his experiences including Stuebenville North (a Catholic youth conference) and Red, White & You! (sponsored by the Minnesota Farm Bureau). Quincy has one of the few, and bold to go swimming on the lake even though it was probably only 40 degrees. It was freeeeezing! Good thing, we Minnesotans can take the cold.

Kelly from Morris ... has got guts. Yep, she also joined the crew who went to the freezing depths of the lake. Thanks to Quinne and her encouragement, I went as well. Not to mention, Kelly played the most extreme game of red-rover. I'm surprised she is still in one piece after getting clothes-lined several times. She also taught me a new word to rhyme with 'powa' (power) ... it is "AGOWA" ( ah-gow-wah)hmmm... might have to look that one up.

Steve from Southland ... can do the best impression of Chelsea Berndt. He cracks me up, as well as two other SLCCL-ers, (I won't name them) but they are easily recognized by their laugh. Steve is currently serving Region VIII as an officer, was on the SLCCL Banquet committee and served as his chapter president. He has put in a lot of time helping build a Southland FFA Alumni Chapter. INCREDIBLE.

Rachel from Sauk Centre ... is the most random/funny/cool people I know. She sent me a Happy-gram which read, "If I were a Poke'mon master, I would choose you." (how did she know I love Poke'mon?) Rachel also put in a lot of time before camp helping set up and create decorations. Thank YOU! I am also proud to say that I got to be apart of the Invasive species removal team with Rachel, Bailey, Tanner, Shantel, Cheyenne, Katie, Raina and Sam just to name a few. We kicked butt on over 850 pounds of Canada thistle, Spotted Knapweed, Bull thistle and Common Rag weed.

Ryan from Staples-Motley ... is a true musician. He can play just about any string instrument you know, including the mandolin. Ryan performed in 2 groups at the talent show, one he accompanied and the other he played a solo. Both were great! He was also in the service project team of weed removal, and we ate some wild raspberries and strawberries. Shhh! (we weren't supposed to.)

Here, Da-Feet took on the Submarines in a team Saran-Wrap race! (left) I'm not sure who won, but it can be easily assumed: Da-Feet.

Have you ever had an awkward hand-shake? Well, Raina and Jason did a great job(left) demonstrating the variety of awkward hand-shakes you can have including: Dead Fish and the Lumberjack.

The Springfield FFA Chapter !

The Sleepy Eye FFA Chapter!

For the first time in HISTORY, the guys "lost" to the girls in the watermelon eating contest. Seriously, the guys never lose. We discovered in the end, Amber, the official judge, saw that the guys won, but felt bad for the girls. I also heard rumors of the girls hiring a bear to scare Amber into believing the girls won.

That's ok. They may have won the battle, but we still win the war.

A GREAT picture to end the Amazing week we had!

*A big thank you to the Deep Portage Conservation Reserve for helping MN FFA hold summer conferences for over 20 years!

* Thank you to our SLCCL sponsors: Alliance Pipeline, Ford, CHS and the Minnesota Soybean Growers! The shirts are great!!

SLCCL-ers -- What did you think about the week ? POST-IT! Let me know what your chapter is doing this summer and throughout the year so I can visit!

FFA Day @ the Dome!

July 12, 2009

As much as I would like to claim that I enjoyed the FINAL Minnesota FFA Day at the Dome, I didn't. You see I, and the rest of the team, ( how ever you say that grammatically correct) , were not able to go to the game because we needed to be up at Deep Portage for SLCCL. We did get to go to the pre-game festivities including a silent auction, and a delicious meal that was, in my book, a grand slam. I can still smell that delicious pork.... mmmmmmm.

Day @ the Dome was also a great day to reunite with those I have met throughout the summer. As I was handing out some rally-rags for the game with Crystal, Kirsten, Phillip and Katie, we met fellow FFA members from New Ulm, Plainview-Elgin-Millville, New London-Spicer, Dassel-Cokato, Martin County West and Fulda to name a few. Some of which, had attended SGLC, and some wre planning on going up north to Deep Portage for SLCCL tomorrow! We also met fellow state officers from North Dakota and Wisconsin as well as FFA members from South Dakota. What a haul!

I took the time to enjoy my meal with Minnesota FFA Alumni President Greg Gosen and his son Nick. We reminisced showing livestock, FFA conferences, frustrations with rain and baling hay over an ice-cream bar.

Well, it's that time. Got to go. Kirsten and I took the light rail back to my car and made our way up to Deep Portage. A trip I will NEVER forget.

Twins win 13-7 over the White Sox !!!

Thank you so much to our outstanding support from the Minnesota FFA Alumni, Foundation, Val Aarsvold and all of our sponsors and partners!

State Greenhand Leadership Conference 2009!

What: State Greenhand Leadership Conference

Where: Deep Portage, near Hackensack, MN

When: June 22-26

Who: over 147 MN FFA members ! (and numerous guests)

This was one incredible week! Members, primarily sophomores, represented the chapters all across the state. From Alden-Conger to Zumbrota-Mazeppa, over 147 members came! For many, this was their very first state ffa event, and for some their first FFA event. I had the fun of sharing the first-time-experience with all campers because I had never attended SGLC when I was in FFA because I wasn't in it! SGLC was definately a week full of firsts for me as you will read. I am glad I got to share it with this group.

As the week began, I was a little skeptical on the weather raining in on our traditional volleyball tournament. Without fail, it did rain. A LOT! Thankfully, the sun was quick to forgive the rain because it was hot, humid and clear enough to go canoeing, swimming, hiking up the tower and play sand volleyball (all of which I did !)

I did not bring my fishing pole, just to save some for those who wanted to catch some. ;) Swimming at Deep Portage is a top priority for me, so Emily and I joined Donnie from Staples in the cool water. BUT, I forgot my sandals, which is required to swim in the lake! Springfield native, Zach was awesome enough to let me wear his, and so Emily, Donnie and myself took an afternoon dip.

Before coming to SGLC, I had never gone canoeing either. So Marten and Douglas from New London-Spicer, Alex from Long Prairie-Grey Eagle and Kyle from the Martin County West FFA Chapters took me out on the water. I learned,

A. There is a front and a back to a canoe (It always just looked the same to me.)

B. There is no seat in the middle so you get very wet from the water on the bottom.

C. Dont try to lean over and catch fish
D. DO NOT TRY TO STAND UP AND TURN AROUND, AFTER ALL , YOU ARE IN A FLIMSY, HOLLOW PIECE OF PLASTIC IN WATER.

Canoeing was fun!
If I wasn't make a fool of my self on the water, I was probably eating sand on the volleyball court or flailing in the air at the rock wall.

Firstly, to clear the air on the "flailing", I was climbing the toughest wall blindfolded, and obviously if you are blidfolded, you can't see when you lose grip of the wall and you are now suspended by a rope in mid air searching for a hand hold or the wall! So for those of you who happened to appear during my triumphant moment, that's why... AND I made it! I wasn't the only one...

Matt from the Stewartville FFA Chapter and Dan from Medford FFA Chapter were like Spiderman on the rock walls. When I first made the wall summit, I told Matt and he said, "oh yeah, me too ...blindfolded."

Rock climbing was a blast, and thank you to all who were there to cheer everyone else on!

For Bob Barker (my small group, and the best), the volleyball tournament wasn't so victorious. I ate a lot of sand and while Courtney from Montevideo and Mag from the Howard Lake-Waverly-Winstead FFA Chapters saved my butt with some intense vball skillz. As much as I we would have loved to (figuratively speaking), spay and nueter the opposing team, (meaning defeat), we lost 21-10... :(

As always, here are some fun things and facts I learned about the awesome SGLC "contestants" :

Beau from the Mountain Lake FFA Chapter, is a beast on the volleyball court.(period)

Shawna from the Goodhue FFA Chapter, was one of the top Creed Speakers in the State at this past Convention. She even shared her talent with everyone at the Banquet. Congrats!

Megan from the Medford FFA Chapter, loves to take pictures and is always willing to risk boldly and try new things. (THANKS FOR THE PHOTOS !)

Travis from the Owatonna FFA Chapter, was the FIRST person to arrive at SGLC and I was honored to welcome him and carry his guitar. He also performed at the talent show and I hope to see his talent again at the State Fair on the Christensen Farms Stage!

Aryel from the Buffalo Lake-Hector FFA Chapter, is one of the most outgoing people I met at SGLC. I found out she was among the culprits of BLH at State Convention who pulled the ," you dropped your pocket/ socks are untied" joke on me whenever I walked by. Thankfully, it wasn't her. Aryel is a lot of fun to be around and I could always count on an answer from her.

William from the HLWW FFA Chapter, has waaaay to much free time considering he memorized and performed the "Element Song" as seen on You tube, at the Talent show. I probably laughed the most during his talent. props to you!

Heather from the Hayfield FFA Chapter, has similar aspirations to myself in the fact that she wants to become a large animal veterinarian! Sooooo cool.

Jacob from the Tracy Area FFA Chapter, was quite the entertainer during the Banquet Skits which simply mock and copy the state officers. His stands out the most to me, because he was me and the awesome peach christmas sweater I wore for morning news. GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD Morning!

Brooke from the Zumbrota-Mazeppa FFA Chapter, loves sheep too! Even though she does not show Polypays, I can still forgive her and look forward to seeing her at the State FFA Sheep Show!

Travis from the Ulen Hiterdahl FFA Chapter , along with his camp Ag Sales team gave the most memorable and intersting sale I have ever witnessed. I still crack up thinking about it...

I distinctly remember, even before I was a state officer, when I was talking with past president Derek and past reporter Sydney. They reminded me that there will be certain times in the year when you just want to quit; you are in over your head; you are stressed; things just don't work out and you want to be done. They also reminded me that there will be times when you are on cloud nine; everything rocks; you never want the day to end.

I will admit, there was a time during SGLC when I just wanted to quit because I wasn't satisfied with how I was presenting and other things that primarily revolved around me. Even though I may have had a bad day, that isn't nearly enough to outweigh one of the best weeks I have ever had in my life. Thank you so much to each and every single member who came to SGLC. Thank you for letting me get to know you, and give true meaning and purpose of my service as a Minnesota State Officer. The people I met, friends I made, cabin chats, canoeing, watermelon feed, banquet skits, reflections, jokes, tears on the last day, games and laughter surpass anything that may have tried to make me question my service. I am proud to serve the state of Minnesota, especially knowing the outstanding members I met at SGLC .

I can confidently say that I believe in a future of agriculture due to the talent, passion, leadership that I saw present and develop with in each and every 147 Minnesota FFA members present!

I believe, because I see that you believe.

As promised, I am proud to announce the 2009-2010 Minnesota FFA Theme...

iBelieve

Ever since our organization was founded, the words ,"I Believe" have resounded because of the word power E.M Tiffany placed in the 5 paragraphs we recognize as the FFA Creed. Today, American agriculture is so different and diverse in comparision to what is was over 80 years ago, during the beginnings of the FFA, as we aspire to become tomorrow's: ag teachers, biotechnologists, veterinarians, dog breeders, natural resource officers, agronomists, engineers, florists, electricians, landscapers and politicians. FFA is not just for "farm kids" anymore. The National Organization is 500,000 members strong rooted in the belief of a future of agriculure; the belief of service and humility; and the belief in the power of leadership.

Here are some draft graphics to give you an idea of what we are thinking !

A final big thank you goes out to our 2009 SGLC sponsors : Alliance Pipeline, CHS, Northland Ford Dealers and the Minnesota Soybean Growers Association. Thank you for your support, especially for the cool T-shirts!

NLCSO 2009... Going Live !

It has, for sure, been a LONG TIME since I have had the opportunity to sit down and type ! What a busy past two weeks. But, enough of my jabber, here are my thoughts on the 2009 National Leadership Conference for State Officers !

I left my house @ 2:30 and met with the gang: Mike, Katie, Emily, Crystal, Labecca and the awesome Addington family in Worthington, Minnesota to begin our adventure to Aurora, Nebraska! We arrived in Aurora at 11:00 that night, so it was a long trip, but don't worry each minute was filled with an extremely competitive game of My Cows!
... I was up to 7,607 until I was blindsighted by Emily as she yelled, "Kill Kirby's cows!"

* still contemplating our friendship...

Rest in Peace my cows.... rest in peace.

Nonetheless, the week was spent at The Leadership Center outside of Aurora. http://www.tlcaurora.org/
Nebraska is so lucky to have a facility like that with a 13ft pool, water volleyball, basketball court, ponds for paddleboats, sand volleyball courts, cabins, hotel-style rooms (we got those), and a cooking staff that still makes my mouth water. (the food, not the staff)

State Officers from Kansas, Nebraska and our western neighbors, South Dakota joined the Minnesota team. We weren't just 'there' by ourselves, we were joined by two outstanding National Officers: the Eastern Region Vice-President, Hannah Crossen and the National Secretary, Nessie Early. From my experience with the two for the week, they exceeded my expectations of what it means to be a National Officer and taught me a lot about how to be an effective team member and officer.
Here are some fun things I learned from my friends at NLCSO:

Garrett the State President from Kansas, was one of my room-mates for the week along with Zach and Mike. He qualified for the National Extemporaneous Public Speaking Contest this fall at National Convention ! It was cool to find someone else who shared my passion for speaking on the fly like Garrett and also attended the Washington Leadership Conference.

Dani from Nebraska, shares my same desire to work on an international level with agriculture and teach people new ways to raise their livestock and crops for sustainibility. ( It was a cool moment )

Chelsea from South Dakota, is the most extreme 4-wheeler/dirt-bike rider I have ever met. Her scar story definately tops the puny one on my arm.

Hannah from Ohio, was hoping for a tornado during our week. ... Her wish did come true, and we spent a good 45 mintues in a Conference Room huddled together under a table waiting and hoping and praying for the best. At first I thought it was a joke, or not too serious, so I began doign the "twist", in tribute to the twister. Then things got serious as we were told of the location and direction of the storm, towards Aurora. Covering our heads, we prayed. (This was my FAVORITE memory for the week because it showed how united we were, although from many different backgrounds, that night. Someone just started praying, and everyone joined in. Powerful.) Thankfully, we were all safe from the 1/4 mile wide tornado that ripped through a house, trees and damaged an Iams Food warehouse, but no one was hurt. :)

Sydney from Nebraska, is one of the funniest people I have met and I can't think of a better story teller than her. Sydney would like to become a medical doctor.

Amanda from Nebraska, is a beast on the basketball court. Playing a game of two-on-two with her against Garrett and Zach was to my advantage because she dominated. I can proudly say we one, but it is more like she won.

Brady the State President from South Dakota, is a genuine gentleman and a great guy. I have met few people like Brady that care so much about others, and agriculture.

Nessie from California, is short, sweet and a fan of the Cal Poly team that beat my home town college, SMSU at the NCAA Elite Eight. BOOO! . I remember her from the Minnesota State Convention and how she just sat down with my Crops Team and talked. Nessie is a great leader and example, and she is a part of the motivating force for me to asipre for more beyond state level leadership.

Zach from Kansas, is crazy fun. I honestly felt like it was "friend at first sight" because of the similarities I have with Zach and his enthusiasm. He will be competing at National Convention in the Horse Evaluation CDE, and knows a lot about H2O.

Hannah from Kansas is, just like me, a proud Roman Catholic! Watch out 2009 delegation, because she plans on having an Elephant proficiency award area opened up. Hannah is a lot of fun, and knows how to have fun.

Katie the State President from Nebraska, is a true team player. She shares my love of speech and is memorable, in my book, for her reflection on building.

The time I had this week with the Minnesota Team was definately worthwhile as we worked on finalizing workshops for the State Greenhand Leadership Conference (the next week), made vision and mission statements for or chapter visits in Region I & II, survived a tornado, killed each others cows and (Drum roll please... ) decided the theme for the 2009-2010 year!

Minnesota FFA members, I am proud to announce this years theme is...

...on the next blog!

A big thank you goes out to our NLCSO sponsors: The Monsanto Company, ADM Company, John Deere, Land O' Lakes, Wrangler and The Mosaic Company.

Special thank yous to the representatives from Monsanto and Mosaic for their presentation, and to Wrangler for their donation of a pair of pants!