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Sectional Information - Section Three
Laura Hornby - Sentinel
Viroqua FFA Chapter - Section 3
lhornby@wisconsinffa.org
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Saying Goodbye to Summer
Aug. 31, 2010
This week I have been at home working on various projects for workshops and other fall FFA events as well as catching up with family and friends. The day after we got back from Jag Lake, I went to the Wisconsin FFA Alumni Day at the Brewer’s Game. Whitney was there as well. Despite the nearly unbearable heat, and the score of the game, it was still a lot of fun. On Thursday night I had the wonderful opportunity to go to a Packer game and spend time with my sister and brother-in-law. We also had a lot of fun – plus, the Packers won by A LOT! On Sunday the team got to see each other again after being a part for the longest time since June when we were elected. We were invited to Alicia’s house with our families. It was fun getting to meet everyone’s parents and siblings. After the disappointment of an empty piñata, we headed to the Illinois border to take a team picture, as Alicia only lives half of a mile away from it. Tomorrow the team will be meeting up again at the Mauston High School to have a work day together for SLWs. They are coming up so quickly!
I have posted my fall newsletter in the “What’s New” column. Feel free to check it out and see what’s happening in section 3!
As many will be starting back to school tomorrow, have a great first day!
~Laura
Jag Lake
Aug. 23, 2010
The Wisconsin FFA Camp in Jag Lake is beautiful, even when it rains. The state officer team was at Jag Lake from the 17th to the 21st. It rained almost every day we were there, so we were stuck inside most of the time, but there were a few days that it was sunny and warm. A few of the officers wanted to swim to the island in the middle of the lake during an afternoon off, so the rest of the team got in the boats and headed there with them. It took way longer than I thought it would, but we all made it there. Nice job swimmers! We had a great time and got much accomplished while on our retreat. After being together for seventeen days with only one day to break those up, we will miss each other as we spend time at home. Once again, many memories were made on this trip.
We also filmed our SLW promo video before we left. Be watching for that to come out!
Have a great last week of summer!
Start getting excited for school, chapter visits from the state officers, and Sectional Leadership Workshops!
~Laura
Last Day of the Fair
Aug. 15, 2010
Today is the final day of the Wisconsin State Fair. I worked at the Veggie Races all day yesterday. I was able to hear the Wisconsin FFA Honors Band and Chorus perform on the Ag Oasis stage. They sounded amazing! They were definitely my favorite performances from that stage. Great job Wisconsin FFA Honors Band and Chorus!
Today I will be in the Discovery Barnyard for the last time. The team will help with clean up as much as we can tonight, then we will head home. We have one day to do our laundry and repack before we head to Jag Lake for our officer retreat. Monday will be a busy day for us at home! I’m very excited to go to Jag Lake with the team. We always have a great time together, whether it is at work or at play. Jag Lake will include both work and play for us, so it will be a great time.
Have a fantastic rest of the weekend!
~Laura
Let the Fair Begin!
Aug. 13, 2010
My very first visit to the Wisconsin State Fair has been quite the experience. I have gotten to spend much time in the Discovery Barnyard working with FFA members from the Suring, Lodi, and Big Foot chapters. We’ve had some really fun times, especially in the vaccination booth or during chore time. Veggie races have been fun too. We’ve raced many different kinds of veggie cars down our track and will keep it going right up to the end of the fair.
We’ve also had some illness here. I hadn’t been feeling 100% and Tuesday morning the wonderful intern, Tia, took me to a clinic. I had strep throat. That is definitely something that I won’t forget about my first time at the state fair. Some of the other state officers have fallen to other types of illness, keeping everything interesting for us. We are all finally on the road to recovery!
I also had a chance to walk around the grounds. I was on the search for the most interesting thing on a stick, like many fair-goers are. The one thing that I saw a sign for and would like to see for real would be spaghetti and meatballs on a stick. How do you think that works?
Have a great Friday!
~Laura
Wisconsin State Fair!
Aug. 03, 2010
Tomorrow the team will be meeting at the state fair grounds to get organized, informed, and prepared for the ten days of the Wisconsin State Fair in West Allis. While at the fair we will be working in the Discovery Barn, as well as leading the Veggie Races.
I have never been to the state fair and I am so excited to see what it is all about. I know that there is a lot to see and it is never possible to be bored. Let’s not forget all of the yummy fair-food! If you have never been there or are looking for something to do, come to the grounds and visit the state officers in the Discovery Barn or at the Veggie Races! What better way to wrap up the summer than by going to the Wisconsin State Fair?!
Flash Flood of Experiences
Jul. 26, 2010
On Saturday the 17th of July, Alicia, Sam, Ethan, and I flew out of the Minneapolis airport. We were headed for Knoxville, TN. While in Tennessee, we learned about cooperatives and also had a lot of fun meeting new people. We had an awesome time at Dollywood. There is some cool stuff to see there, including Dolly Parton’s tour bus, roller coasters, and all kinds of neat shops. We came back to Wisconsin on Wednesday the 21st and got caught up with the rest of our team. Thursday morning we all got up with the sun. Well, at least at the time the sun would have gotten up. It was pouring rain, but we headed to the Farm Technology Days farm so that we would be ready to give tours. To make a long story short, it unfortunately never stopped raining and they had to close the show before we got a chance to give tours of the farm. The ground had turned into a gigantic puddle. Ethan’s car needed an extra boost to get out of the parking lot (which was a new seeding hay field). We had a long, almost flood-like, adventurous morning, but it was nothing compared to the other volunteers who were still trying to make it work out and helping to make it a success regardless of the rain.
Yesterday I attended the Vernon County Holstein Association Daylight Meeting at the Kontur-Maal Holstein farm with my family. We enjoyed a lunch, dairy judging, and custard! For me, it had been awhile since I had judged cows, but I was only one point shy of placing third! I was also the guest speaker at the event. Thank you to Ralph, Nicole, Kathryn, and Tahmara Hendrickson for hosting the meeting on that wonderful sunny day!
Make this week the best one of the summer!
~Laura
A Great Week Ahead
Jul. 16, 2010
This next week is going to bring some great experiences for the officer team. Sam, Ethan, Alicia and I will be traveling to Knoxville, TN for the National Institute on Cooperative Education (NICE) Conference on Saturday. It will be a lot of fun to learn more about cooperatives and meet many new people. We will be there until Wednesday, then returning to River Falls.
From Tuesday the 20th through Thursday the 22nd, the Peterson family near River Falls in Pierce County will be hosting Wisconsin Farm Technology Days. There is much to see and do at this year’s event. They have demonstrations with hay equipment, tilling equipment, and combining. There are farm tours given- the state officer team will be helping out with these! There will also be tours on the sand separation and ventilation facilities and the precision manure placement system. Let’s not forget the tractor driving and land evaluation contests! Good luck to those competing.
Hope to see you there!
~Laura
NLCSO
Jul. 12, 2010
Our team traveled to Springfield, Illinois on Monday, July 5 for National Leadership Conference for State Officers. We went to the Illinois FFA Center that evening to meet the other state officer teams from Missouri, Indiana, Kentucky, and of course, Illinois. The five teams spent Tuesday through Friday with National FFA Southern Region Vice President Chelsea Doss and Eastern Region Vice President Alex Henry, who presented many topics to us. We learned more valuable ways to become a stronger team and better presenters. On Wednesday afternoon we went to the Abraham Lincoln Museum in Springfield. We spent three hours there and time went by so quickly; there was so much to learn about this man. I would recommend this museum to anyone, even if history has never been of much interest to you. On Friday afternoon we said our good-byes and headed home. This week brought many memories our way and it was so much fun learning from other state associations as well as the national officers.
~Laura
Planning for the Year
Jul. 02, 2010
The new team has now completed our first official week of training at BLAST Off. It was an amazing experience! We covered so many great topics – from levels of leadership to the magic formula of a speech. We began planning for the year by developing ideas for the state theme, fall conferences, and designing our team shirts. We may have only known each other for two weeks, but we have an enormous amount of respect for one another and that showed as we made these important decisions.
On Sunday night we came together again in Madison for the Wisconsin Association of Agricultural Educators Professional Development Conference. This week we focused on understanding FFA opportunities that are available to all of the members. We continued our planning for conferences and determined our team goals. It was another great week with the state officer team. This weekend I will be spending time with my family and getting ready to go to National Leadership Conference for State Officers (NLCSO) on Monday.
You can now meet me in the ‘what’s new?’ section on the right.
Something to ponder over the weekend is this year's state theme: Powered by Potential!
Happy Independence Day!
~Laura
Let's Get it Started!
Jun. 20, 2010
Hello Wisconsin FFA!
Congratulations to everyone, from the volunteers to the award winners, who participated in this year's convention. It was a great success and the changes that occured will be fun to build on. The year that has been laid in front of me is going to be amazing. I'm looking forward to all of the chapter visits and meeting the members of the Wisconsin FFA!
This year's officer team will begin our training with BLAST OFF in Spencer, WI Monday through Thursday this week. I'm excited to get to know everyone better and learn more about what it takes to be on the state officer team. It's going to be a great year, so let's get it started!
Have a fantastic week!
~Laura
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