HNHS Future Farmers of America hosts “Blue and Gold Rush”

HNHS Future Farmers of America hosts “Blue and Gold Rush”
Posted on 03/20/2023
FFA Banquet HallBy Kenzie Gamlin | HCCSC Communications Intern

HNHS FFA students and committee members hosted the “Blue and Gold Rush Huntington North Alumni Banquet.” This annual event took place Feb. 25 at the Huntington County Fairgrounds to appreciate alumni and other supporters. The supporters enjoyed a night that included dinner and was sprinkled with music, entertainment and an understanding of how their donations serve the HNHS FFA program.

Alumni walked into the fully lit Heritage Hall building with anticipation; salads and desserts were plated alongside blue and gold-themed silverware, tablecloths, treats and centerpieces. Instrumental music played in the background and two teams judged a video collection of livestock in the front of the room.

The two teams competed against each other; one team consisted of current high school students Austin and Aaron Amick, Isaac Lilly and Allie Raab; the other team consisted of various alumni that were selected from the audience. Once all the guests arrived and were seated, the judging was completed and put on pause so the team members could have time to communicate and complete their ratings and reasons.

Meanwhile, HNHS junior Phoebe Landrum introduced the banquet as a whole and HNHS senior Abagayle Wright gave the event and dinner a blessing. After this introductory ceremony, dinner was served. Students handed out full plates to tables and refilled refreshments and continued to tend to their own designated tables as the night progressed.

Conversation flowed through the night as alumni and donors shared their stories with fellow guests. The decorations and music were admired while eating dinner and supporters thanked students for their dinner service and students thanked them right back for their continuous assistance for the HNHS FFA program.

While dinner concluded, HNHS FFA sponsors and alumni committee members Emily Brite, Jamie Buckland and Abby Park recognized all of the HNHS students for their year-long efforts and explained their responsibilities throughout their respective seasons.

Each HNHS FFA team was recognized by name and congratulated for their performances. Students had the opportunity to continue the night by giving demonstrations of their competitions and some of the knowledge that must be understood and memorized before their competitions.

Joshua Hill and Dylan Miller started the demonstrations off strongly by showing the audience how to create a piece of an engine. They gave insight into how their competition worked while listing instructions on how to create this piece.

Wright and the rest of the parliamentary team continued the demonstration by showing how a parliamentary meeting occurs and information on how their teams compete and win a parliamentary competition.

HNHS sophomore Kirah Klepper demonstrated horse judging and showed visuals of the good and bad aspects of horses. Klepper taught the audience different terms and ratings of horses and spread information on how their judging is scored.

Finishing the demonstrations, HNHS sophomores Izzy Miller and Lainey Thompson shared their facts about plants and insects with the crowd. They informed their audience about the different diseases both the plants and insects could obtain, how to discern each species from another and how their competitions work.

While wrapping up the night, there was still one more event that everyone was on the edge of their seat for: Who won the livestock judging contest that started off the banquet?

Both the high school and alumni teams marched up to the stage to share their ratings of the livestock that they previously viewed. An official judge was set up to listen to both of them and give an honest, informational assessment of their ratings. After explaining her judging step by step, she declared the high school FFA team the winner.

The night ended on this positive note as committee members thanked the crowd and dismissed them and the high school livestock judging team left with smiles on their faces.
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