FFA awards night sees students honored as well
Local farmers who have put in decades of work between them out in the fields and with livestock became the first inductees on Friday night for Polk County’s newest Hall of Fame.
The Future Farmers of America’s annual awards banquet was held at Brandywine Farm on May 5, where students were also honored for their participation in various programs throughout the year, and to award scholarships as well.
However toward the end of Friday evening’s banquet, Young Farmer Instructor Jeff Hawkins announced the big news of the night: the newly-formed Ag Hall of Fame in Polk County is getting their first inductees.
Larry Haney, Van Powell, Michael Reed, James Casey, Glenn Robinson, Glenn Sorrells and Richard Harris were all the first inductees for the new Ag Hall of Fame. They’ll now form the board to decide who will be the next inductee joining them when the 2024 FFA Awards Banquet is held. Harris was the only one who was unable to attend and receive honors on Friday night.
Along with the honors, each member got a new jacket featuring the Hall of Fame logo to wear and show off around the community.
GALLERY: Students honored during FFA Awards Night
Though the Ag Hall of Fame got some of the spotlight on Friday, the main focus of the meeting was to honor the students in the Future Farmers of America chapters at both the middle and high school level.
Dozens of students were honored for their accomplishments in Career and Leadership Development competitions ranging from Ag Communications to Livestock Judging, seniors this year were honored for their participation in all four years of ag studies in the high schools, FFA leadership were named for the 2023-24 school year, and scholarships were handed out.
Polk County Livestock Promotion gave Sarah Smith this year’s Greg Mitchell Memorial Scholarship, announced by Joan Mitchell.
Additionally, the Cody Singleton Memorial Scholarship was presented to senior Trinity Farmer.