Each year, FFA chapters around the country celebrate National FFA Week. The week-long tradition began in 1947 when the National FFA Board of Directors designated the week of George Washington’s birthday as National FFA Week in recognition of his legacy as an agriculturist and farmer. The first National FFA Week was held in 1948.
Today, FFA Week always runs Saturday to Saturday and encompasses Feb. 22, Washington’s birthday. The Fairbury FFA Chapter celebrated this week in a fashionable and fun way. Each day was a specific theme for the staff and students of the high school to show their FFA pride. The theme for Monday was America Day as students were able to dress in their best American pride clothing. Tuesday’s theme was FFA/farm shirt day as FFA members dressed in their red FFA shirts and the rest of the school wore their favorite farm shirt. This was also the day for the annual FFA Ag Olympics convocation.
FFA members entertained the student body with multiple activities throughout the afternoon. The first event of the day was the Hay Bale Relay where a team of four competed to claim the prize of best straw bale hauling team. The second event was corn shucking where 6 individuals pulled the husks and corn kernels from two ears of corn. The third event of the afternoon was a search and find contest where six individuals looked through buckets of corn and candy to find a small cow figurine and claim their prize. The fourth event of the day was name that country song where six individuals competed to name an older or current country song. A small part of the song was played and the first person to write down the correct answer was the winner. The fifth event was the egg roulette competition where six individuals competed against each other by hitting eggs over their head. Each dozen of eggs had ten hard-boiled eggs in them and 2 raw eggs. The first person to crack a raw egg over their head lost and did not move onto the next round. The last event of the afternoon for the Ag Olympics was the food tasting contest where six individuals ate Chicken in a Biscuit, Pickled Eggs, Pork Chop, Pork Liver, Steak and Beef Tongue. The person that ate all six food items was crowned as the food tasting champion.
Wednesday’s theme was blue and gold/official dress day as FFA members dressed in official dress and were served pizza for lunch. The rest of the school wore their best blue and gold clothing to represent the colors of FFA, which are National Blue and Corn Gold.
Thursday’s theme was Ford vs. Chevy vs. Dodge day as students represented their favorite brand of truck by dressing in their favorite Ford, Chevy, or Dodge apparel for the day. This was also the day that the FFA members cooked breakfast for all of the teachers and staff of the Fairbury Public School District and also for any FFA Alumni/supporter. Members of the FFA started cooking breakfast at 5:30am in the Ag Shop and fed over 60 people throughout the morning. This is an annual tradition for the Fairbury FFA Chapter that the members enjoy doing because it helps them remember that being of service to others is the main focus of the National FFA Organization.
Friday’s theme was Jeff Pride day as students wore their best crimson and gold apparel for the day. February 22nd through the 26th was a very busy week for the Fairbury FFA members but all of them enjoyed the fun activities and experiences of the week.
