Edon FFA celebrates successful year

EDON, OH -- The Edon FFA Chapter celebrated a very successful year at their 77th Annual Parent-Member Banquet on March 22nd at Edon High School with over 400 people in attendance. The evening began with a delicious meal and musical entertainment by FFA members Kaitlyn Sonneberger and Jacob Long. The program continued with awards recognition, which included an impressive array of accomplishments by members at the district, state and national levels.

Chapter President, Tyler Seaman, hosted this years’ event, which recognized supporters of the chapter through certificates of appreciation and donor acknowledgement. Students were awarded for success in district and state level career development events, as well as achievements in their supervised agricultural experience programs through numerous proficiency awards. The chapter was proud to recognize eight members that will be receiving their State FFA Degrees in May at the Ohio FFA Convention. Those earning this honor are Levi Brandt, Evan Fisk, Preston Klingler, Carley Muehlfeld, Hayden Runyan, Paige Schaffter, Samantha Trausch and Jordan Winebernner. Earning the highest degrees the FFA can bestow, Edon graduates Kyle Long and Garrett Trausch will receive their American FFA Degrees this October at the National FFA Convention.

Members also took time to recognize those in the community who have made superior contributions to the chapter over the past year by awarding them with Honorary Chapter Degrees. This year’s recipients were Mr. Scott Dick, Mr. Joe Radabaugh and Mrs. Trish Tingley. Chapter Advisor, Mrs. Hannah Everetts, conducted the special awards portion of the program to recognize incredible achievements of members through the DeKalb Award, Star Degrees, Outstanding Degrees, senior members and retiring officers recognition.

Earning Star Discovery Degrees this year were Tatum Schaffter and Shane Zulch, with Outstanding Discovery Degrees going to Aidan Muehlfeld and Alea Brandt. The Star Greenhand Degree went to Jordan Runyan, with Schylar Bergman and Naomi Hickman earning Outstanding Greenhand Degrees. Sophomore Emily Fox earned the coveted Star Chapter Degree, while Olivia Radabaugh and Sara Hiller were awarded Outstanding Chapter Degrees. Everetts went on to honor fourteen senior FFA members in the chapter with FFA graduation cords and flowers, while detailing their involvement and future plans for the audience. Finally, DeKalb Leadership Awards were given to seniors Carley Muehlfeld and Tyler Seaman for their tremendous impact on the chapter, and Carley, Tyler and fellow senior Crista Wortkoetter were honored as retiring officers.

The award presentations were followed by a “Year in Review” slide show recapping events of the chapter. Outgoing president Tyler Seaman concluded the banquet with the installation of the 2016-2017 Officer Team, with Eliza Zulch taking over as president for the coming year.