Contact: Regina Oldendorf
Ph: 608-989-2187
Email: execdir@wisconsinffaalumni.org
Wisconsin FFA Alumni Convention held the 31st Convention at the Ramada Inn of Stevens Point, Wisconsin February 11-13, 2011. More than 240 FFA Alumni members, State FFA Officers, FFA Advisors and guests participated. The convention themed “POINTing in the Right Direction” was hosted by Sections 1, 2, 3, & 7 and chaired by Eric and Karen Trzebiatowski of the Stevens Point FFA Alumni. The event kicked off Friday evening with a live auction provided by Joe Bunczak of Bunczak Real Estate and Auctions. The evening concluded with entertainment by DJ Casey Gumney.
Saturday morning was filled with sectional meetings, luncheon and the annual business meeting. Some of the topics covered at the business meeting were approving updates to the bylaws, reports from the FFA Family members (WAAE, FFA Center, DPI and FFA Foundation), and the election of the 2011 – 2012 Wisconsin FFA Alumni Vice President. The luncheon’s keynote speaker was the nationally known author and humorist, Michael Perry.
In the afternoon, there were educational workshops presented by Mr. Trevor Wuethrich, “Grassland Dairy Products, Inc.”, Mr. Jeff Hicken of the Department of Public Instruction “Opportunities and Challenges for Agriculture Education”, Ms. Melissa Klein “Northcentral Technical College”, Mr. Gary Slaats, “Peace Corps”, BJ Chrisler, Ms. Jamie Renier and Ms. Molly Heintz “Global Food Crisis – How Does the FFA Alumni Get Involved”, and Mrs. Darlene Arneson and the Wisconsin FFA Officer Team “Telling Agriculture’s Story”.
The Saturday evening banquet was full of awards and sponsor recognitions. The evening started with a reflections ceremony presented by the 2010 – 2011 State FFA Officer Team. The awards presented were the Outstanding Affiliate, Scrapbook winners, Outstanding Contributor, affiliate member increase awards, Eagle Award, Dr. Virgil Martinson Award, and the Ann Martinson Memorial Award. The platinum, diamond and gold levels of sponsorship were presented with plaques. The evening was concluded by a live basket auction which was followed by Bobby Danczyk and the Polish Memories Band.
The Wisconsin FFA Alumni Association is currently the largest FFA Alumni in the USA. There are currently 8,323 members state-wide. The association is proud to have support nearly 18,000 FFA members this past year. For more information on how to become involved please visit their website at http://www.wisconsinffaalumni.org
