The Greene County High School FFA Banquet was held last Friday. However, the majority of the ceremony was done in a unique style.

Power was shut down during the ceremony, due to a storm that knocked out power to 2,500 homes and businesses that evening. FFA Advisor Katie Akers says they carried on their banquet, but it certainly had its moments.

“I really credit Donna Carhill. She said, ‘You know what, we’ve got tons of candles that we use in the Ram Restaurant for the tabletops.’ And she said, ‘Why don’t we just light them and we’ll eat by candlelight tonight.’ It was very, I would say well attended. It was very intimate. We are sitting there in the dark together and we’re still celebrating all of the success of the year.”

Along with the normal awards was a new award called the Pat Fields Good Neighbor Award. Akers says the award is in memory of Pat Fields, who passed away in a tractor-related incident last year. She points out that Pat, as president of the Greene County Cattlemen’s Association, bought the FFA jackets for new members for a couple of years.

“He really cared about the kids and cared about the community. So then with his passing we decided to do an award with his name to honor his legacy and to hopefully promote those types of good character traits in our students.”

The first-ever recipient of the award was Gwen Black. A full list of all of the awards and the recipients, can be found below.

Community

Distinguished Service to the Greene County FFA Chapter – Michael Schnoes

Outstanding Support to the Greene County FFA Chapter – Dave Walker

Pat Fields Good Neighbor Award 

The purpose of the award is to recognize a deserving FFA member for qualities such as integrity, leadership, selflessness, good moral conduct, and overall exemplary character. The recipient was senior Gwen Black.

Senior Recognition 

Gwen Black

Emily Finch

Tom Gannon

Ben Bravard

Curtis Muir

Abbie Sparks

Onica Delp-

Emma Larson

Caden Wilson

Jasmine Fox

Kolin Reed

Nic Killion