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!