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Graham Blagg FFA State Vice President 2008-2009
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September 3, 2008 Hey everyone, I hope you are all had a great summer and are enjoying getting back in the swing of things with school starting. Right now I am back home in Grass Valley on a home break. Since I have been home I helped my parents process calves and vaccinate cows, and clipped a few show heifers. It has been an extremely fun and exciting summer for me and the rest of the State officer team. It all started off with Kristen and I traveling back to Washington D.C. for the State Presidents Conference. During SPC we had the opportunity to meet with other State Officers from across the nation, tour Washington D.C., decide the delegate issues for this year’s National FFA Convention, and meet with our government officials. The very next day after we got back into California, we all packed our bags again and loaded up the van and headed to Boise Idaho for the National Leadership Conference for State Officers (NLCSO). We pulled into Idaho two days early and grabbed our swim suites and board shorts and headed for the Payette River where we went white water rafting. It was a so much fun and something I recommend doing as an officer team. Once the conference started we had the chance to meet the State Officers from Oregon, Idaho, and Washington, as well as two of the National Officers. It was a great conference and one trip that will always be remembered. Once we returned from NLCSO the State Officer team went to my county fair to watch the steer show. From the fair we went traveled to Cal Poly Pomona for our training with Mr. Heiss and Ms. Weisbart. From the training we attended the Southern Region Sectional Officer Leadership Summit. It was a great conference that was put on by the regional officers and a great opportunity to get to know the Sectional Leaders from the Southern Region. As soon as we returned from Southern California we headed to Bakersfield to go on industry visits. We started our tours with Dreyers Ice Cream. It was awesome to eat fresh ice cream right off the line and see how it is all made. From Dreyers we went to Bolthouse farms to see how carrots are processed. It was fascinating to see so many carrots all in one place and see how many uses that they have. From Bakersfield we headed straight to Sacramento for the California State Fair to judge the herdsmanship awards and assist with the awards ceremonies. It was great to go to state fair and see all of my friends that I show livestock with and watch the shows. Then as soon as we were finished at state fair we headed to Fresno for our training with Fresno State, Dr. Vaughn, Dr. Rocca, Jackie, and Sean. It was a great training where we worked on developing our skills relating to dealing with the media. Once we completed the training we loaded up into the van and headed for Exeter for the San Joaquin Region Sectional Officer Leadership Conference. At the San Joaquin SOLC there was a volleyball tournament, and let’s just say the State Officer Team cleaned house, until we played the advisors! It was a blast getting to know the Sectional Officers and seeing the Regional Officers again. From there we packed our bags and headed back up to Galt for a couple days. Once we were back home it was time for training with UC Davis. We spent two days with Stacie Hewitt, Lyn Martindale, and the rest of the UC Davis gang learning about current agriculture issues. After the training we headed down to Hanford for a tour with the E.A.T foundation. E.A.T. stands for Education and Teaching Together. We spent a day and a half touring Land O Lakes, the World Ag Expo Museum, a crop dusting company, a dairy, and numerous other interesting places. Once we finished the tours we ended the day by going to the Superior Dairy Products Ice Cream Parlor where Ryan, Brad and I shared a 7 scoop sundae! It was good but I had my fix of ice cream for the entire month with that. Then we headed back up highway 99 to Galt. We arrived back home late that night and got ready for the next day, cause we were going on a tour of the Cambells Soup Seed Division were all of the vegetables that go into the soups are tested as seedlings and grown in different studies and experiments. Once the tour was over we headed back to Galt to pack our bags so we could head home for a week long break. We are getting ready for the South Coast Region SOLS and our final training with Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. I can’t wait to see all of you at either a COLC, SOLS, or on a chapter visit! Have a great time at school and see you all soon!! Graham Blagg July 15, 2008 Wow! What a crazy couple weeks I have had since I moved in. I packed my bags in Nevada City and headed for Galt on Monday the 16th of June. It all started out with the six of us reviewing the National delegate applications and selecting the applicants to fill the delegate positions for California at National Convention. From there we had BLAST OFF Training (Building Leaders and Successful Teams of Officers), it was a great experience to learn more about us as individuals and prepare us for the coming year of service. Our trainer that was sent from the National FFA was Kristyn Sheets from Arkansas. It was a great three day conference that we all got a lot out of. As soon as we took our BLAST OFF trainer to a Sacramento River Cats game, which they won 8 to 2, we took her back to the airport to catch her flight. We had a day off and then it was back to work, as we loaded up the van and made our way to the CATA conference in San Luis Obispo. At CATA conference we had the opportunity to meet with the College of Agriculture Deans from the five major agriculture collages in California. In addition, we attended numerous sessions during the conference and were able to introduce our Ag Teachers on stage. Later in the week we participated in the low ropes course as a team building activity at the Chumash Challenge at Cal Poly SLO. Also, we utilized all of our spare time to develop workshops, a theme presentation, patriotic observance, and reflections for ROLC. From the Cypress Tree Inn in Cayucos, which is where we stayed, we packed our suite cases yet another time to travel down highway 101 to Costa Mesa. If you’ve never been to the Cypress Tree Inn in Cayucos, then you need to check it out! In Costa Mesa we were scheduled to present our patriotic observance to the participants of the National Ag in the Classroom conference. Then, we loaded up the van for a long ride home. From Costa Mesa, which is below LA, to Galt it is about 7 hours. Then once we arrived back in Galt we put the finishing touches on the different items for ROLC and then we had a few days to go home. It was great to get home to see my parents, family, and my livestock that are in the show barn. On the 5th of July we all traveled to San Francisco for the Giants game. Brad’s uncles arranged for us to have seats in the Emerald Nut private box seats and we were in the pop fly contest!! From there we made our way to Bass Lake for ROLC. The regional officers all did an amazing job and should be congratulated for all of their efforts and hard work. It was a successful week and one that will never be forgotten. Next week I will be in Washington D.C. for SPC (State Presidents Conference)! I am truly looking forward to meeting President George Bush! Hope everyone is having a great summer and see you all soon! Graham Blagg Name: Graham Blagg |
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