Indianapolis, IN ~ The 94^th National FFA Convention and Expo was held October 27^th through the 30^th in downtown Indianapolis. Over 55,000 FFA members and guest attended this year’s event. In 2020, the organization canceled the in-person event due to the COVID-19 pandemic and instead offered a virtual experience. 

Seven general sessions were held at Lucas Oil Stadium and a special event was held on Saturday to bestow the American FFA Degree (highest degree for an FFA member).

The local chapter had 12 members and their advisor attend this year’s event. The chapter traveled with four other chapters and used Northland Travel agency as their booking agent. The other chapters who shared the chartered bus were members from Ballard, Des Moines, Roland-Story and South Hamilton. 

Those attending locally were Carly Davis, Kyleigh Erritt, Jenna Hanson, Chloe Hurtado, Breck Mills, Shelby Mills, Leilah Olson, Alexis Peterson, Bella Pudenz, Maddie VanSickle, Haylee Welter, and Jillian Woodruff.

The chapter visited the Indy 500 Race track and Museum and went on the “Kiss the Brick” tour. The next day they toured Ozark Fish Hatchery at Martinsville, Indianapolis which was founded in 1926. The hatchery raised Koi and Goldfish for commercial use. The last toured the members had was the traditional visit to the NCAA Museum. They were able to view and learn about the history of college athletics and how the organization of NCAA was founded.

They attended the Opening Session of the 94^th Convention and heard remarks from Courtenay DeHoff, founder of the brand “Fancy Lady Cowgirl”. She grew up in rural Kansas and through her experiences in television broadcasting as a reporter she had many ups and downs throughout her career. She then found herself advocating for agriculture while living in New York City. She began posting agriculture topics on social media and started to receive over 1.5 million views. It was then she founded “Fancy Lady Cowgirl”.

The chapter also attend Session three and listened to the retiring address from National FFA Secretary Anna Mathis from the state of Arkansas which was titled: “Embrace, Encourage, and Enjoy”.

The group returned to home late Friday afternoon.