California FFA News Fall 2017 | Page 12

Woodlake FFA Grocery Cart Race Submitted by Kiara Benavides fallbrook FFA Chapter Officer Candidate Dinner Submitted by Kiara Benavides This year after our chapter officer elections, all the officer candidates and retiring chapter officers headed over to our local Denny’s to have dinner together. This dinner provided the first of many bonding moments between the newly elected officer team, and one of the last times the retiring officer team would spend together. As for the candidates who did not receive a position that night, they were reminded that they would still be able to serve their chapter with the people sitting around them, but in just a different manner. Overall, it was a night of laughter, harmony and ice cream, and spirits were high as the newly elected officer team saw a glimpse of what the year ahead of them held. On March 26, during National Agriculture Week, the Woodlake FFA Chapter joined with the Tulare County Farm Bureau Young Farmers and Ranchers in their annual Grocery Cart Race community service event held at the FoodsCo Grocery store in Tulare. Participants were given a large list from the local food pantry with several different items that were to be collected throughout the store. Team members had to successfully make sure they accurately gathered all items, did not go over their spending limits, and were fast enough to check out at the register first in order to win this race. All items collected in this fierce competition were donated to the Tulare County Foodlink. This year, Woodlake FFA and the competing teams triumphantly collected over 1,700 pounds of food! This annual event is an extremely fun way to not only advocate the importance of agriculture, but to also give back to the community. Gustine FFA Floral Night Submitted by Marco Marsigli The Gustine FFA Floral Design Club hosted a Floral Design Night on Wednesday, April 12th, in the cafeteria. The Floral Night was an event where people learned how to create a round flower arrangement. Students from the floral design class taught community members how to make arrangements based on what they have learned in class. They were taught how to properly add greens and flowers to their arrangement. Some members of the Floral Club helped lead and demonstrate the process. During the event, there were appetizers provided by the Gustine FFA Food Science class, such as sausages and chocolate covered strawberries. Over thirty people attended the Floral Night. Gustine FFA was excited to see the community’s participation. Everyone enjoyed themselves and designing the floral arrangement. The Floral Club hopes to host another floral night in the near future. Bret Harte FFA Calaveras Community Pulls Together A Bret Harte FFA member has been long battling an illness. When he fell ill at the local Calaveras County Fair and was taken to the hospital fellow Bret Harte members took over in his absence and walked the hog through the sale ring. The auctioneer explained that things have been pretty hard for the family, in addition the student’s mom also had cancer. In no time the bid went up to $45 a pound! But that was not all... the Deputy Sheriff’s Association said they would like to put up another $500 and from there several more bidders placed their hand in the air to add on what they could. The hog ended up selling for $27,000. But the generosity was not yet over. The following Bret Harte FFA student said she would donate $200 of her sale money to her fellow member in need, followed by the next few Bret Harte FFA members and even a 4-H exhibitor as well. { Continued on page 14 } California FFANEWS • Page 12 • Fall 2017