Fessenden-Bowdon at N.D. FFA Convention

Nineteen members of the Fessenden-Bowdon FFA Chapter recently participated in the 95th North Dakota State FFA Convention. The Convention was held on the NDSU campus June 3-6.

Highlighting the major accomplishments of the week were the naming of six Fessenden-Bowdon FFA members to the State FFA Degree, two members who were star finalists in their respective SAE divisions and four members who were finalists in their respective proficiency award areas.

Austin Brame, Donavin Bartz, Delaney Erfle, Kendra Hoff, Gavin Mason and Ryan Snively were named as State FFA Degree Recipients while Erfle and Mason were state finalists for Star Farmer and Star In Agriculture Placement Awards. Four members were also finalists in their respective Proficiency award areas and included Donavin Bartz (Agriculture Processing), Delaney Erfle (Beef Production), Gavin Mason (Diversified Agriculture Production) and Rylee Jones (Vegetable Production).

Lane Risovi and Carter Laber represented the chapter well in the Basic and Intermediate Agriculture Mechanics Events. Risovi earned a bronze award while Laber finished as a silver award recipient. The Advanced Agricultural Mechanics team earned a bronze award as did all members of the team which included Brame, Mason, Boston Fike and Porter Johnson.

The highest placing team for the chapter this year was the Environmental and Natural Resources Team. The chapter made the main stage as the third place team. Ryan Snively, Logan Schimelfenig and Donavin Bartz all earned gold awards with Snively finishing 11th overall. Chloe Bartz and Westin Opdahl earned silver individual awards. The ENR event had 218 individuals and 57 chapters represented in the competition.

The Food Science team had a great day as they finished in seventh overall. Delaney Erfle led the team with a gold this year while Rachel Neumiller, Donavin Bartz and Rylee Jones each earned silver awards. There were 221 individuals and 58 chapters that had members participate in the Food Science Event.

The Meats Evaluation team finally found a third member this year and were able to compete as a team. Ryan Snively finished with a gold and a 20th place finish while Hanna Widicker earned a silver and Grace Bruer earned a bronze. The team finished in 12th place overall earning a silver team award in an event which saw 42 chapters represented and 137 individuals competing.

The Small Animal Care team finished as the 14th place team earning a silver team award and was led by Rachel Neumiller who earned a gold and finished in 51st place. Rylee Jones and Delaney Erfle both earned silver awards individually. There were 258 individuals and 69 chapters represented in the Small Animal Care Event.

The Floriculture Team consisted of four freshman members which finished in 16th place overall. Hanna Widicker led the team with a gold award finishing 15th out of 203 participants. Braylee Keller and Lane Risovi earned silver awards. Brody Jones also participated in the event just missing a bronze award. There were 66 chapters represented in the floriculture event.

The chapter had four individuals that competed in the Nursery and Landscape event with the Fessenden-Bowdon team finishing in 17th place overall. Lucas Copenhaver led the team with a bronze award finishing 60th overall. Logan Schimelfenig, Boston Fike and Westin Opdahl all earned bronze individual awards in the event which saw 121 individuals compete with 35 chapters being represented.

The Courtesy Corp was represented by Chloe Bartz from the chapter this year. The Courtesy Corp provides an extremely important link between the convention activities and their success. Bartz earned a bronze award for her daily work on the courtesy corps.

The chapter was represented by five seniors, four juniors, two sophomores, six freshmen and two eighth graders. All members gained valuable lifetime experiences in their events, Leadership workshops and convention sessions.