With the closing of October, the Elmwood FFA joined up with nearly 55,000 other FFA members by attending
the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Ind. There were 25 members who made the 4 1/2-hour trip and
kept busy with a variety of activities.
The trip started with a tour of the Indianapolis Zoo. This is one of the finer zoos in the country,
featuring animals from all seven continents. Following this, the chapter attended the opening convention
session featuring motivational speaker Scott Hamilton.
On Wednesday and Thursday of convention week, the chapter’s Ag. Mechanics team competed in the national
contest. Making up the team were Casey Heller, Robbie Sigler and Isaiah Lundquest. Their competition
required them to complete a variety of mechanical skills including welding, motor controls, skid loader
assessment and fluid flow calculations. The team ended up receiving a silver rating as did Heller and
Sigler, individually, while Lundquest earned a bronze rating.
On Thursday, the rest of the chapter visited the National Agricultural Career show and the FFA shopping
mall. At the career show, chapter members were able to view many agricultural businesses as they
displayed their products and services. Along with this, several colleges were present to discuss what
post-secondary options were available for FFA members. In the FFA shopping mall, many members found FFA
apparel and collectible farm toys.
Later that day, the chapter toured a honey farm to view the production and processing of multiple honey
products. To round out the day, members attended a rodeo and enjoyed seeing the riding of bulls and
bucking broncos.
On the third day, chapter members attended the fourth convention session.
At the conclusion, the chapter toured a large hog processing facility in Logansport, Ind. Nearly 15,000
hogs are processed at this location every day. This is the largest facility of its type east of the
Mississippi River.
The chapter used some of its free time Friday evening to visit a go-cart and arcade entertainment center.

Closing out the convention, Elmwood had three of its four graduate members present to receive their
American FFA Degree, which is the highest degree of advancement in the FFA. Achieving this honor and in
attendance were Amanda Peters, Josh Schnipke and Staci Thomson. Isaac Shaffer, though not in attendance,
also earned the highest honor.
Look for more information on these outstanding FFA members on special pages in the Sentinel-Tribune on
Nov. 16.