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HERE IS THE LINK TO OUR COVERAGE OF THE 2008 OKLAHOMA YOUTH EXPO- MARCH 10-20, 2008 AT THE STATE FAIR PARK IN OKLAHOMA CITY

Below is our coverage of the 2007 National Convention- that was held in Indianapolis!!!!!!!!

We have our 2006 coverage of the National FFA convention on an archive page, which you can go to by clicking here.

Saturday evening- The New National Officer team will be lead by a pair of young people from Big 12 country- Zach Kinne of Missouri is the new National President while the new National Secretary is Becky Sullivan of Kansas.  Click here for a picture- news releases and even an interview link of the six FFA members that make up the 2007-2008 national officer team.

Saturday- October 27- It’s the final day of the 80th National Convention of the FFA- and the big event this morning happened at the football stadium in downtown Indy,  the RCA Dome. That’s where the American Farmer Degree Ceremony was held- I know, they don’t call it the “Farmer” degree anymore- but it just loses something when you don’t include that in the title. Here is a link to the listing of the Oklahoma FFA members that received their American degree here in 2007.

10:00 pm Friday- We did get word on our speakers that were in the final four in two separate contests- Mason Jones of Calera placed third nationally in the Prepared Public Speaking Contest- while McKenzie Walta of Kingfisher finished Second nationally in the 2007 Creed Contest- runnerup to the California contestant who I placed as no better than third. McKenzie did a whale of a job- here’s another link to our conversation with her and her recitation for us of the Creed.

8:40 PM Friday- A few more of our judging teams have placed here in 2007- Highest placing team thus far is the Horse Evaluation Team from Adair- they finished in 2nd place to California. The Livetock Judging Team representing Oklahoma this year was also from Adair- and they finished 8th nationally. And the Meats Judging Team from Porter finished 8th Nationally as well.

8:00 PM Friday- The State of Oklahoma brought home a HALF DOZEN National Winners in the Proficiency Awards announced here in Indy. Our SIX winners were second to only California which claimed 7 Proficiency National winners- just behind Oklahoma were Kansas and Wisconsin which each boast of five winners each. This is the link to the full list of 39 winners and a thumbnail sketch of them all. Here is a list of the winners from our state:

Slade Nightengale, Cordell FFA- Beef Production Entrepreneurship

Laramie Estes, Glencoe FFA- Diversified Livestock Production- Placement

Bradley Bradford, Atoka FFA- Forest Management & Products

Clay McCarley, Central FFA- Home and/or Community Development

Ty Runyan, Atoka FFA-  Outdoor Recreation- Entrepreneurship/Placement

Chase Alan Kokojan, Drummond FFA- Wildlife Production & Management

4:00 pm Friday- We will have results of the Proficiency Awards later this evening- as well as know how Mason Jones and McKenzie Walta did in their national speech events- We do know that in the judging contests that we have gotten info on thus far- Oklahoma placed ninth in the Ag Sales Contest- Oklahoma represented by Amber-Pocasset while in the Ag Mechanics competition- the team from Elgin placed fourth nationally.

1:30 PM Friday- Just got to the Broadcast area behind the main stage in Conseco Field House- traveled across the downtown to the Convention Center where we set with a group of Oklahomans and watched the Final Four in the Creed Competition. McKenzie Walta was the fourth and final speaker- after we heard from a young man from Illinois and two females- one from Minnesota and the other from California. YES- I did interview her and YES, I did ask her to recite the Creed for us. Take a listen and you will be impressed- knowing that she sounded even more dynamic and alive on stage then she did standing there after the competition

10:30 am Friday- They have run the Honorary American Degree folks through the line and we caught up with State Rep. Don Armes to catch his reaction to this honor bestowed on him by the National FFA. Click and Listen!

Friday morning- October 26-Howdy Neighbors and Good morning from Indy! The first session of the morning is underway and several folks from our state will be honored by the FFA. Receiving a national VIP Citation is retired State Advisor and head of Ag Education in the state- Eddie Smith. Among those receiving Honorary American Degrees from the Association- State Representative Don Armes and Vice President of the American Farmers and Ranchers- Terry Detrick

At 11 am this morning- McKenzie Walta of Kingfisher presents the Creed as a part of the Final Four Nationally here at the Convention- This afternoon- the Profiency awards will be handed out- and Oklahoma has 18 National Finalists- so we are hoping for several National Winners!

9:00 PM Thursday : Chance Simpson WINS!!!!! Chance is the new American Star in Agri-Placement for 2007- Here’s another link for that audio interview that we did with Chance on Wednesday- and here is the link at the National FFA site of the news release detailing his victory!!!

ALSO- McKenzie Walta did succeed in the semis- and is a part of the National Finals in the Creed that will be held Friday morning!!!

3 PM- October 25: McKenzie Walta of the Kingfisher FFA advanced this morning in the Creed Contest- and competed in the Semis this afternoon- we hope to know in a couple of hours if she has made the Finals that will be held tomorrow morning. Mason Jones of Calera competed this morning as one of four finalists in the National Prepared Speaking Contest- we have to wait until tomorrow evening (Friday) to know how Mason placed in this Final Four competition.

Stopped and saw the folks representing three of Oklahoma’s ag related institutions of higher education- NEO, Redlands Community College and Oklahoma State University. It is truly amazing how many colleges and technical schools have booths in the Career Show at the National Convention.

October 25 twelve noon- It has been a fairly quiet morning here in Indy- lots of judging going on today and the Chapter Awards will be handed out this afternoon- here is what I wrote in today’s email about the nineteen Oklahoma Chapters that are getting the Gold Emblem award- Three Stars!   One of the highlights today will be the presentation of the national FFA Chapter awards- Oklahoma has one of the largest number of chapters in the country receiving the Gold Award- Three Stars- for the highest rating a Chapter can get from the National organization. We have 19 here in 2007. That list includes Cache, Calera, Chickasha, Cushing, Elgin, Elk City, Fairview, Frontier, Jenks, Lone Grove, Medford, Minco, Norman, Okemah, Oklahoma Union, Prague, Tecumseh, Thomas-Fay-Custer, and Yukon. We should know fairly soon if McKenzie Walta from Kingfisher advanced to the second round of the Creed Competition.

THURSDAY October 25: Howdy Neighbors and Good morning from the National FFA Convention here in Indy. A couple of notes on speakers. Mason Jones of Calera advanced out of the SECOND round and is now in the Final Four Nationally and will be speaking today for the National Championship. Chelsea Clifton hit a tough topic in her second round in Extemp and did not advance to the finals. Later today, it is the National FFA Creed Contest- and Oklahoma has McKenzie Walta of Kingfisher vying for national honors there. Last night- we had the chance to visit for a few moments with Austin Akins- State President for the Oklahoma FFA here in 2007- he is from Chickasha and is currently a student at OSU- click on his name to listen to he and Ron visit.

5:30 pm October 24- We have had a chance to catch up with Oklahoma’s two Star Finalists as they prepare to be judged Thursday afternoon- just ahead of the annual Stars Over America Pageant tomorrow night- Click on their names to hear our conversations with Nocona Cook of Cordell- Finalist for Star Farmer of America- and Chance Simpson of Timberlake FFA- Star Finalist in Ag Placement. Take a listen!

2:00 pm October 24- We just talked with Kent Boggs and Jack Staats- Kent is our Executive Secretary while Jack is our new State Advisor for Oklahoma- they report to us that Chelsea Clifton and Mason Jones both advanced in their speech competition to the second round that is going on this afternoon- if they win this second level- they will be in the Final Four of their respective speech competitions. Chelsea is in Extemp- her topic in the first round was “If you were hosting a person from a big city for a day in the country- what would you show them and why?” Mason’s Prepared Speech is on Urban Sprawl and the desire that many city folks have to buy a parcel of land no matter what the cost or ramifications to those in production agriculture. One of our Oklahomans that did not advance was Laila Hajii- she did not make the preliminary cut in her quest to be a National Officer. We did sit down and visit with Jack Staats about FFA members from Oklahoma and their involvement here in Indy.

October 24- We have finally arrived in downtown Indy- have run the gauntlet and gotten our media credentials- smiled for my picture!- and we have our first interview from on site- our long time friend Bill Staggs from the National FFA office here in Indy- Click to listen to Staggs talk about some of the flavor of this 2007 event! AND- three farm broadcasters teamed up to ask a few questions for the current President of the National Organization- Beau Williamson- click on his name to take a listen as we grabbed him before he ran on to his practice session for the opening festicities now just a few hours away!

October 13- This week’s TV segment, IN the Field with Ron Hays, featured Laila Hajii of the Guthrie FFA Chapter- she is the 2007 National Officer Candidate for Oklahoma as we prepare for Indy! Click here to watch Laila from this segment that aired on KWTV News9.

September 30- On our Saturday morning TV segment In The Field with Ron Hays, we had as our guest on Sept 29 Chelsea Clifton of the Kingfisher FFA Chapter and one of the current Oklahoma FFA State Officers (She is State Secretary). We wrote about her unique quest to complete the full run of representing Oklahoma at the national level in the four event in four years- and hoping her experiences will place here in a position to bring home that National Championship in the Extemp Speaking Contest. Click here to take a look at our conversation on News9 with Chelsea (This segment ran a little earlier than normal on News9 than our normal air time of 7:40 am- so our apolgies for those who thought it would be on then and were disappointed.)

August 20, 2007- From the Oklahoma FFA site- here is the list of 185 Oklahoma FFA members that will walk across the stage at the RCA Dome this year to recieve their American Farmer Degree- Congrats to one and ALL!

August 16, 2007- We wrote into in our DAILY Email a note about two OKlahoma FFA gals that could be destined for greatness in October in Indy- “Our best wishes go out to two young ladies that we have watched and judged down through the years as they have worn the Blue and Gold jacket of the FFA. Laila Hajji of Guthrie has been selected to be the national FFA officer candidate to represent Oklahoma here in 2007- and she's getting herself prepared for perhaps the toughest series of interviews in her young life in front of the selection committee that will pick out the six national officers of the premiere rural youth group in the country. We also wish Chelsea Clifton of Kingfisher the very best as well, as she completes a trifecta of representing Oklahoma in the three national speaking competitions that are held annually. She represented Oklahoma as a freshman in the National Creed speaking Contest, then has represented the state in the National Prepared Speaking Contest and this fall will have Oklahoma's honor on her back as she speaks in the National Extemporaneous Speech Contest. She was actually supposed to do this in 2006, but choose not to speak in the national event, as she chose instead to be a leader on the Kingfisher National Livestock Judging team that Crushed the rest of the competing teams, with Chelsea the high individual by a mile in last fall's event. We wish her the best as she ends what has been an incredible run as a speech contestant here in the state of Oklahoma and at the national level.”

August 13, 2007- We begin our coverage of the 2007 Convention by reporting some great news from those Oklahomans who will to be there as they represent the state in the Stars Competition and the National Proficiency Awards.

In the Stars competition- Oklahoma has two regional Stars that will be judged for national honors in Indy- Nocona Cook of Cordell is the Regional Star in Production Agriculture(The traditional and original Star Farmer competition), while Chance Simpson of the Timberlake FFA is a regional Star in the Placement in Ag Production category. Click here to review the full list of Star Finalists for 2007!!!

Meanwhile, Oklahoma remains an “ELITE” state when it comes to the Proficiency Award competition, as we battled the other traditional powerhouse state when it comes to such honors- Wisconsin and we came out even at the top of the pack. Both states have 18 National Finalists in the Proficiency Awards, while California had 16 and Georgia garnered 14 National Finalists. To see the Oklahoma Proficency Award List, click here to take a look. These announcements are a great start to the Oklahoma story of the 2007 National FFA Convention- and the 2007 school semester is just starting!

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