Yeah! It's a party in Region VIII !

Earlier this summer I was fortunate enough to be asked to serve as a Region VIII Greenhand Camp Rec. Director! From December 4-6, 2009 over 50 greenhands from the chapters in Region VIII MN FFA, assembled at Ironwood Springs Christian Ranch in Stewartville,MN for 3 days of fun, friends, and FFA.
Kirsten , a fellow Region VI-er, joined me as the Rec Director team! I had a complete blast interacting with FFA members, watching the Region officers in action and helping with all of the behind the scenes work with Kirsten at camp.

The Region VIII Officer Team ... The banquet committee (future region officers ???)

My 3 highlights from Camp are:

- Camp service projects

- Ag Olympics

- Getting to know Region VIII FFA members

As a part of showing our gratitude to the men and women at Ironwood Springs Christian Ranch, we all took part in a variety of service oriented projects such as splitting wood, cleaning the lodge, removing buck thorn and cleaning out horse stalls. I found it especially humbling to have given service to people who have served, and will continue to serve, people of all abilities for many years. It also brought life to the meaning of "Living to Serve." Too often we think of the 3 other parts of the motto, "Learning to Do, Doing to Learn & Earning to Live." Service is integral to our organization and to our own personal growth! Make sure to report your hours to the LAND OF SERVICE , mnffaservicehours@hotmail.com

(LEFT) Mike of P-E-M FFA with members: Dylan, Luke and Justin of Winona FFA

(RIGHT) Kyle of the Lanesboro FFA helps with the removal of invasion Buck thorn during a service project

Late on Saturday night, after much preparation, Kirsten and I let the region officers relax from their busy sessions, and entertain the Greenhands with the 2nd Annual Ag Olympics! 10 teams competed in the: Ironwood derby horse race, butter carving, animal idol, cow-pie-eating, nail driving, nose-egg race, sunflower spittoon and a little surprise for the region officers. Blake was victorious in animal idol (animal calling contest) with his impersonation of an ostrich. Even though his egg broke half way through, Taylor finished the egg-rolling race with his nose. Except, he only finished with the hard boiled yolk, the rest was destroyed on the race course.

Little did the region officers know, we left some surprises in their ice-cream...

(Cayenne pepper, Chili powder and Curry powder)

Finally, one of the most rewarding things about going to camps and conferences like this, is meeting members...
Cabby, Southland FFA... made my day just as I was playing shuffle-board with her and completely missed the board, she said, "FAIL... Epic FAIL." It was a pretty funny moment.

Taylor, St. Charles FFA... is one of the most athletic people I have met. Just as a freshman, he started every single football game in just about any position you could think of including, TE, WR and RB. On top of his skills on the grid-iron, Taylor can do 3 back flips consecutively... Talk about talent.

Faith, Leroy-Ostrander FFA... is still looking to find the CDE just for her. She is really interested in Horses, so she hopes to make it to State Convention in Horse Evaluation! Faith also received the award for most Personal Growth. Well deserved.

Nick, Mabel-Canton FFA... loves to judge livestock. He has a diverse knowledge of the terminology and features of most species. He raises Jersey dairy cattle, and loves to judge them.

Kamyn, Pine Island FFA... is a ninja-cow pie eating master! How do I know? Well, when it comes to playing ninja, she always seems to just disappear and then-BAM!- you are out. Also, she was one of the top 'de-wormers' in the cow pie eating contest.

Blake, Plainview-Elgin-Millville FFA... was cabin-mates with me, again! The first time being FILL conference, and second RGC. However, I learned this time that Blake has quite the interesting story involving a hot pink helmet, and a deer antler glued to the top. Quite simply, within 5 weeks, he had 5 different injuries to his head, so his chapter gave him the helmet to keep him safe!

Yeah Region VIII ! It finally snowed = SNOW ANGELS! Calli and I, and the Paul jumped in!

Go Steve Go! Becky, giving the thumbs up to my numerous pictures! Just before everyone left.

I took over 700!!!!

Thank you Ironwood Springs Christian Ranch for your continuous support of MN FFA members, and thank you Chelsea, Jason, Calli, Steve, Katie, Jenny, Mike, Jared, Lauren, Kevin, Mr. Lubahn and Mr. Brown for giving me the opportunity to serve MN FFA members in a new way! Your team did an excellent job interacting and inspiring the future of our organization...