Carter County FFA attends 96th National FFA Convention in Indianapolis

submitted by Carter County FFA

Seven members from Plevna FFA, Mrs. Menees and 7 members from Carter County FFA took a long bus ride to Indianapolis. We left here on October 30th and returned on the 5th of November. While on our journey and once we got there we were able to explore some amazing places.

Our first tour was the Mammoth site in Hot Springs, South Dakota. It was interesting because we got to find out how it started and go look at where they started to find the mammoths. It was really fun to find out how deep the sinkhole is that the mammoths would fall into and couldn't get back out. We got to find out what they used to get the mammoths out of the sinkhole and how they did it without breaking them. We also got to see how they kept the mammoth bones from breaking when they were storing them. Then we got to see what tools they used to carve the mammoth bones out of the rocks. (Christian Ashbrook)

One tour that we did on our way down that I found the most interesting was the Darr Feedlot in Darr, Nebraska. The feedlot holds around 48,000 cattle, so there is a lot of interesting technology used to run this many animals. One of the technologies that they are in the process of building is a corral system that will allow them to sort cattle up to seven different ways when they come out of the chute. We also were able to see how they feed the cattle by mixing minute amounts of certain feeds to cause the cattle to gain more efficiently. This was a very interesting tour because they run so many cattle but also just to see how other parts of the country can feed their cattle differently because of their different climates. (Travis Schallenberger)

Another of the stops we made was at the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri. We all got out and started taking pictures. Most of us were in awe - realizing how tall it was. Mr. Whitney made a deal with us kids saying, "Whoever makes it back to him with the right reason why the arch was built, will get a teenage beverage at the next stop." We all made it back close to the same time but only a few girls from Plevna had the right answer, which was that the memorial marks St. Louis' role in the westward expansion in the 19th century. After that we went underground to look around in the museum. There was lots of different information and things to look at. Once everyone had their fair share of reading we loaded up and headed off to the next place. (Corlan Laughery)

The shopping center had many popular stores such as Ariat, Montana Silversmith, Dale Brisby, boutiques, and many more. The Dale Brisby booth was probably my favorite just because I got to get a picture with him and two of his interns, Jordan and Donny. I have never met Dale Brisby nor his interns before and now I can say I have. I also made my brother very jealous by having a picture with him. At the Ariat booth, Elva Steinmetz, a barrel racer and Blake and Nick of the "Tratter House" were there. Bella, Corlan and I wanted to get a picture with them so badly but the line to see them was way too long of a wait. There was this one boutique that was from the top by the border of Montana and Canada, with some people from Plevna working there. The shopping center was filled with blue jackets. It was amazing. I met so many different people from different states. They were all so kind. (Madalyn Bechtold)

On Friday November 3rd, we visited the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. When we arrived we drove around the track and learned things from the yard of bricks to how fast the fastest lap around the track was. The fastest lap around the track averaged 236.103 mph. One of my favorite parts about it was getting to look at all the different generations of race cars and getting to see the finish line of bricks that are still left. The Indy 500 is the world's largest single-day sporting event and draws more than 300,000 people every year. In 2022, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway had over 325,000 fans attend the Indy 500. I was grateful for the opportunity to get to go see such a cool place. (Bella Jensen)

The Indianapolis Zoo was large and full of animals from all over the world. The first things we saw when going into the zoo were some very large hedge plants carved into some of the animals that lived at the zoo. After we had walked by the plants we went to the main area of the zoo where the animals' enclosures were. The first animals we saw were some chimpanzees and seals. The seals were constantly swimming whenever we saw them and they never put more than their face above the water when we watched them from above the water. The dolphins were the next animals we saw. Then a group of animals that make the desert their home. We saw multiple kinds of tortoises and lizards. As we started to leave the desert area we entered a hallway that had snakes of all kinds on both sides. Many of the snakes come from other parts of America, and others from around the world. The most interesting snakes were the Black Mamba, and a leaf viper. After our walk through the hallway we made our way to the Africa area. The first animals we got to see were two very large rhinos that were napping at the time in some mud. We then saw an ostrich, wildebeest, and a zebra all in the same enclosure together. The five elephants were their neighbors. After we had seen all of the larger animals of Africa we got to see some African porcupines with some warthogs in small enclosures. After we left the Africa area we went to the area they called 'The Forest.' There we saw grizzly bears, tigers, kangaroos, and multiple species of birds and monkeys. After we had seen all of the animals we stopped in the gift shop and bought a couple of coins that had some of the animals at the zoo imprinted on them. (Cole Rost)

We would like to thank everyone that made this trip possible.