As much as I was excited to meet the members of Grand Rapids FFA , my eyes were glued to the walls within the ag room. Not only were the walls covered with the accomplishments of the chapter members at the regional and state level, but with mounted ducks, owls and a giraffe. Now the... Oh, wait. YES I SAID GIRAFFE.
Mr. Linder, was lucky enough to get his hands on a large collection of exotic animal mounts ranging from hyenas, to wildebeest to the long-necked giraffe. I felt like all of my childhood dreams came true. Don't you wish your ag room had a giraffe?As much as I would love to talk about giraffes, I will regain my train of thinking and give you a little insight on the members I met in Grand Rapids:
Ryan ... currently "wrastles" (yes, I intended to have the 'a' not "e") for Grand Rapids and will be competing in Indianapolis at National Convention in the Forestry CDE. In the future, he hopes to continue to pursue his interest in Forestry and work for the industry.
Maia ... gave a great speech at the Rotary International meeting we attended Monday night. She spoke on behalf of the other State Champion CDE Team, the Horse Evaluation Team. Maia enjoys horses as much as she enjoys 4-H, and she would like to work with extension in the future.
Jessica... placed 3rd overall in the Forestry CDE this past April at State. While visiting the Forest History Center, she helped me assemble a bear trap out of Lincoln Logs, in addition to helping me identify different trees. I learned that Jack Pine, is definitely not Jessica's favorite tree. She will represent Minnesota FFA at the National level this October!Lauren... was my host for the night. But before staying at her house, she drove Jessica and I to Wal-Mart to explore and to buy some delicious Ben & Jerry's Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream. YUM. But it doesn't stop there. Lauren's mom greeted us with some fresh, home-made apple pie. I was already ridiculously full from eating at Arby's, then Rotary (we didn't know we would get a meal), then Ben & Jerry's. But, who cares! I DON'T. It was soo good. Lauren has worked at the local vet clinic and has traveled to Peru and Sweden.
Here are some other TOP 5 cool things from our time in Grand Rapids:1. Visiting the Forest History Center and learning about the Forestry industry of Northern Minnesota and the devastating 1918 Cloquet fire. We got to sit through an interactive theatre that told us the story. This was eye opening, and quite sad to hear the testimonies. One voice that resonates in my minds still was when a boy told the story of coming home to find his home, barn and cattle all destroyed by the fire.
2. Having "BLOB" races , and spending time with members!3. A rabbit racing into the bathroom just as I opened the door. (At 5:00 am, I wasn't sure if I was dreaming)
4. A nice comfy, fluffy, amazing bed to sleep in! (Beats my dorm bed)
5. Rotary International donated a check of $250 to the 2 State Champion Teams traveling to National Convention!! One day and 234 miles behind us... Can't wait for more!
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