Take it back now, y'all

I have to once again catch up!

Sunday, Oct 17th-- Oasis & Madisonville Park

The Pennyrile Region officer team met to catch up and set plans for their Chapter officer retreat Night coming up soon!

Friday, Oct 29-- Madisonville North Hopkins High School

I had a blast at MNHHS. I got to see a lot of members/friends I haven't seen in a while. Also, Mr. Moore, my former regional advisor and Hopkins Centrals retired advisor was substituting so I got a treat getting to see him.

The groups were huge, which was great! I had great participation as well. As always a record was broken during the orange eating activity. TRAVIS BREWER ate an orange in 19 seconds!!! BUT.. it's not over yet. He was determined to beat that time. The next time he came in he tried again.. 12 SECONDS!!! I've never seen someone inhale an orange so fast in my life! Aside from that Madisonville has a great group and has a bright future ahead of them with new teaching staff.

Friday, Nov 5th-- Christian County High School

Well to start the day off there was a meeting before school. I was impressed by the attendance. There is a lot of dedication in the CCHS chapter. It's not every chapter you have members that will get up early and come before school. I first want to commend them for that. They are also working very hard to help us achieve our state goals.

Also, to start off the day I received breakfast from McDonald's courtesy of Mallory Morris. Christian County had one of the most interactive groups I have yet to experience. We had a great time and I truly feel like they members got something from the workshop. I had so much cooperation and had zero problems. Y'all did great guys! Christian is looking strong this year so watch out!

Sunday, Nov 7th-- Tumbleweed

The Pennyrile regional officer team met to make preparations for their CORN (Chapter Officer Retreat Night). We had a good time with some good food and laughs. This team is on their A-Game!


Well that's all.. for a bit, at least.

EMBRACE THE CHALLENGE!!

Audie Cherry
Pennyrile Region State Vice President

National Officer Magic

Did you ever wonder who elected the 6 national officers? I never really thought about it until this summer when I had the opportunity to meet 3 national officers. It was then I realized that there were 9 members who had the chance to meet so many national officer candidates.

After being nominated by a national officer, I had to fill out an application. I was then selected by the 6 national officers out of 48 candidates.

A conference call would be made to the 9 selected for the committee and the adults who would oversee us.

The next 6 weeks would be filled with reading 36 applications. I would also learn the ins and outs of the process in which I would put my complete trust into so we the nominating committee could select the 6 best to serve our organization as the National Officers. Eventually I would learn each of these candidates and feel like I had known them forever.

When it was time to drive to Indianapolis on Thursday Oct. 14, 2010 I was so excited. I felt unprepared, but that's why we had 3 days of training before interviews started. On Friday morning I met the other committee members and training began. I retained so much information in those 3 days, because I wanted to find the 6 BEST, to serve for our organization.

Then, Sunday night rolled around, which was the first time we were actually able to meet the candidates and put faces to names. We began to learn more and more about these candidates and the process had began. The real process, the interviews started Monday morning at 7. We were excited and nervous. I can't imagine how the candidates felt, because we felt like we were about to be judged.

Round 1 was on Monday, Round 2 was on Tuesday. Then the cut would be made on Tuesday night. We all felt horrible, because we weren't going to get to know half of the candidates. The group was narrowed down from 36 to 19. Round 3 and 4 were held on Wednesday. That night after interviews we had our casual activity. We went and ate and went bowling with the candidates, and it just gave us a real chance to see how these candidates intereacted outside of the interview room. The last and final round was held on Thursday morning, and it was becoming more real to us that during that night we would hold the biggest secret.

After making our decision we were seculded and we were to keep the biggest secret of our life, until it was announced on Saturday afternoon. Friday afternoon, we, the nominating committee, watched the National Officer jackets be made, that was one of the most amazing feelings ever. As I pressed start on the name of a jacket, it had officially sank in that I had a part in helping our organization.

Friday couldn't have gone by any slower, I was anxiously awaiting the moment when my secret would be public knowledge. And then the moment came, and I was nervous, and sick to my stomach. Again I can't imagine how the candidates felt, because I knew who the officers were but I felt like I was waiting for my name to be called.

Then the moment came when all 6 names had been called and I watched the other 30 candidates cry as their dream had been reached by others. Then I watched the 6 on stage who had reached their dream. The reactions were the same, shock, some had been heartbroken and some cried tears of joy. My heartbroke as I watched those who weren't selected because I knew how great of people they were. I remembered so many people telling me I wasn't ruining their dreams, I was helping them take a step towards where they needed to be.

Since Convention, I have been able to keep in touch with the retired national officers, the nominating committee, the candidates who weren't elected and the new national officer team. I have gained so many amazing friends, who help me daily and I'm so thankful for that. I am so thankful for the opportunity that was given to me, and for having the supporting teammates who allowed me to take time away from them so I could serve in this way.

And that's the magic of the National Officers and how they get there!

Gabrielle Burgess

Barren River State Vice-President

"Embrace the Challenge"

Chapter Visits and CORN!

Hey guys! I would first like to remind everyone in the Purchase Region that there will be a Chapter Officer Retreat Night(CORN) at Graves County High School this Tuesday, November 16th from 4:30 to 7:00. There WILL be Pizza ordered and entry costs $5:00 a person. The goal of CORN is to bring all chapter officers in the Purchase Region together for a night of mingiling, fun, and leadership activities! Its gonna be a BLAST so I hope everyone who wants to come will! I will be present as well as Audie Cherry too so if there are ANY questions you have you can contact me, Jake Adair at 270-994-6181 or Mr. Howard from Graves County at 705-7318.
On the other side of the spectrum Chapter visits, hay rides and bonfires have been keepin me pretty busy! Calloway, Carlslile, Hickman, and Marshall have had me come down so far, and the books are gettin full with everyone else as well! Just want to say to you, the members, that YOU GUYS ROCK! I have had AWESOME participation in the games weve played in the workshops and your enthusiasm is AMAZING! So keep up the good work guys! Ill be around to the rest of the region ASAP!

Jake Adair
Purchase Region Vice President,
Kentucky FFA