Nearly 300 Mapleton FFA members, family and friends gathered to celebrate their successful year of working the fields of agriculture.
Numerous certificates, awards and recognitions were presented during the evening activities held at the Ashland University Convocation Center.
The officer team presided over the evening, including President Jonni Rohr, Vice President Christine Ritchie, Secretary Paige Rohr, Treasurer Kristy Kline, Reporter Diana Burton, Sentinel Jared Wynn, Student Adviser Billy Keener and Historian Emily Ford.
Degrees
Honored were Molly Steffen, John Rice, Tiffany Elson and J.R. Keener who have been notified that they will be receiving their American FFA Degree during the national convention this fall.
State FFA Degree recipients included: Alyssa Christian, Jonni Rohr, Diana Burton, Christine Ritchie, Laura Crumrine and Rudy Koberstein. They will receive their award at the spring Ohio FFA Convention.
Bill Keener was presented as the DeKalb Award winner. Keener, the son of Frank and Jackie Keener, has been active in FFA for four years, participating in contests, conventions, fair projects and as an officer.
The Star Ag-Business 2 Award was presented to Emily Ford. The Ag-Business Co-op Award was presented to Brad Harper. The Star Ag-Business 1 Award was presented to Diana Burton.
Presented as the most outstanding officers were Kristi Kline and Jonni Rohr.
The Star Chapter Award was presented to Jared Wynn. The Star Ag-Science 2 Award was presented to Shelby Rohr. The Star Greenhand Award was presented to Shelby Rohr. The Star Ag-Science 1 Award was presented to Deandra Lowman.
Honorary members
Named as honorary chapter members were Chris Strine, Terri Rafeld and Kory Warthling.
The Most Outstanding Judging Team Award was presented to the parliamentary procedure team. The members included: Jonni Rohr, Christine Ritchie, Shelby Rohr, Diana Burton, Kristy Kline, Laura Crumrine, Jared Wynn, Shelby Emmons, Emily McKinley and Kate Briggs.
Christine Ritchie was the Public Speaking Award winner. She has earned her way to the past two state contests. Travis Frye earned the Big Buck Contest with his harvest of a nine-point buck. Jared Wynn was the recipient of the General Livestock Award.
The Ashland County Junior Fair Award was presented to Laura Crumrine. Emily Ford earned the Job Interview Award for her consistent top team placement.
Dairy and equine
Ashley LaFever earned the Dairy Foods Award for her first placement in the state contest. Annie Chereson earned the Equine Management Award for her consistent top team placement.
Brandy Mennell earned the Dog Obedience Award. She was third at the state contest.
The Senior Parliamentary Procedure Award was presented to Jonni Rohr and the Junior Team Award was presented to Kate Briggs. The Rural Soil Judging Award was presented to Bobby Steiskal. The Urban Soil Judging Award was presented to Taylor Donley. Both represented Mapleton well at districts.
The top fruit salesman with over $1,000 in sales was Jesse Elson.
The FFA chapter seniors were recognized and presented sashes to be worn at graduation. They included: Bill Keener, Alyssa Christian, Emily Ford, Brad Harper, Erin Patton, Jill Rohr, Amber Sisinger and Paige Rohr.
New officers
Announced as the newly elected 2008-2009 officer team was: President Jonni Rohr, Vice President Jared Wynn, Secretary Shelby Rohr, Treasurer Kristy Kline, News Reporter Christine Ritchie, Student Adviser Diana Burton, Sentinel Emily McKinley and Historian Shelby Emmons.
