FFA’s Blue Jeans Ball

It’s time to celebrate Wyoming FFA and all it does for our state’s young people! On Sept. 29 at the Parkway Plaza in Casper, the Wyoming FFA Foundation and Casper’s FFA chapters will be co-hosting the annual Blue Jeans Ball. The event itself has a long history, but 2012 marks the third year in recent history that the event has been held.
    There’s much reason to celebrate FFA across Wyoming and in Casper in particular. Casper is home to Wyoming’s newest FFA chapter, Windy City FFA at Kelly Walsh High School. Kelly Walsh’s new chapter joins Casper FFA at NC and the program at CY Junior High School. With numerous state officers in recent years, several nationally competitive teams and countless positive projects, great things are happening within the Casper FFA program. Later this year teams from Casper will represent Wyoming at the National FFA Convention in Farm Business Management and Parliamentary Procedure. Wyoming FFA Parliamentarian Lisa Andreen hails from Casper and 2011-2012 State FFA President Asher Markworth also calls the community home. That’s only the beginning of the program’s success stories!
    The Blue Jeans Ball begins with a social hour at 5 p.m. followed by a prime rib dinner and a presentation from National FFA Secretary Jason Troendle. Jason is from St. Charles, Minn. and served as his state’s FFA President prior to joining the National FFA Officer Team.
    “Through FFA and agricultural education,” says Jason, “I have been able to learn many things. I’ve learned it is vital to set short and long-term goals that can guide me where I want to go and what I want to do. I’ve learned that doing the right things, being committed to myself and others and taking responsibility for my actions are the only ways I will succeed.”
    It will be fun to have Jason in Wyoming for a long weekend later this month.
    Members of the Wyoming FFA Officer Team and the officers of the Casper FFA chapters will be in attendance for the evening. We hope you’ll join us and visit with these young leaders about their FFA projects and goals within the program. Take a minute to ask them about projects their chapters are carrying out. Whether it’s the corn maze on the edge of Casper or the work they do to benefit others, they have an impressive list. In their agriculture education classrooms, they’re gaining a greater appreciation for agriculture. That appreciation carries over into their everyday lives, their community service projects and their presence as young leaders in our communities.
    Many opportunities exist for those of us who believe in the FFA program, or perhaps benefitted from it and would like to give back, to help. Individual tickets are available for $35 each and can be ordered online at WyoFFAFoundation.com/donate or by calling 307-351-0730. We’re also gathering table sponsorships and corporate sponsorships. Both packages include eight tickets with the corporate sponsorship including an ad in the post-event edition of the FFA Times, Wyoming FFA’s quarterly publication. We’re also gathering items for the auction. With support from those of us who believe in agriculture education and FFA, we can ensure the influence of FFA can continue to have an ever-growing presence.
    I hope to see many of you in Casper on Sept. 29! FFA in Casper and across Wyoming has much to celebrate.
    Jennifer Vineyard Womack is executive director of the Wyoming FFA Foundation and a freelance writer. She can be reached at Womack@Wyoming.com or at 307-351-0730.