I was lucky enough to be asked to speak at a local FFA Chapter last night in honor of FFA week. I haven’t been to a FFA meeting in over 10 years, I’ll admit, I got a whisper misty eyed when the members were performing their opening ceremonies.
Mr. Jim Holt, was also a speaker. When I attended CSU Chico, Mr. Holt was “THE Meat Guy”. I worked for him in the meats lab my Junior and Senior year. I was the offical jerky girl, which was pretty awesome. The best part about it was after a long day of making jerky and being a college kid, my friends and I would meet up for some cold, refreshing adult beverages at the local water hole. Let me tell you what, being a cute, blonde girl that smells like jerky in a bar full of drunk college boys is the perfect recipe for free drinks. Not that I would know.
Mr. Holt stressed that the meat industry needs good people. That there are jobs available to people that want to work hard. If he would have gone on much longer, I would have applied to CSU for a masters in meat science.
Colleen Cecil spoke about the Farm Bureau and how wonderful it is, and all the opportunities available to its members – regardless if you farm or ranch for a living or not. Seriously non-aggie people, think about joining your local Farm Bureau, it is a great group, I have lot of fun and learn a lot through this organization.
This is a slide from my PowerPoint. I basically told them FFA gives them life skills that will enable them to do anything. It’s the truth, I know my time in FFA prepared me for almost anything!
When my talk was over with, the President presented me with a hand-written thank you card and gift. Very classy, I was very impressed.
I had a ball getting to talk to these kids! It was fun to speak in public again, I miss it. I have a feeling this is a start of a new hobby for me!
