On Wednesday, November 1 a bus with about 50 FFA members and advisors left the state of Minnesota to get to Illinois for the night. The next morning that same bus left the hotel and headed for the Amish community and later to the final destination Indianapolis, Ind. for the FFA 96th annual National Convention.
When arriving at the farm members took notice of the lack of power lines and the most noticeable difference from our everyday lives a horse and buggy on the roads. The first thing members looked at was a furniture store with handcrafted pieces priced anywhere from 15 to 50,000 dollars. The tour guide also explained that he has six kids, two of whom have left the Amish community to become Mennonite. The son who had left to become a Mennonite is still working with his dad at the furniture store and because of his decision, the store is able to use power and computers.
After looking at the store members were brought to the barns to take a look at the draft horses that are used in the fields, to pull a buggy, or transport goods from one place to another. Once in the barn, everyone was able to look around at the horses and also at the equipment used to keep the horses in working condition.
When turning a corner in the barn members took notice of the excessively
large horseshoes and nails which they learned were for the draft horses.
Members were also able to tour the wood shop and then ventured over
to an Amish grocery store. The store sold a variety of items ranging from whole frozen bunnies to tomatoes larger than your fist. Members were then given the privilege of eating a meal with the Amish consisting of fried chicken, meatloaf, homemade bread, apple butter, salad, mashed potatoes, gravy, fresh corn, chicken noodle soup, and two types of homemade pie.
“The Amish live in a way that amazes me in which I don’t think I could ever live, it’s super cool and fascinating,” said sophomore Zelli Kamm. Members were surprised with how much gets done by hand. When one student purchased something at the furniture store she was surprised that the receipt was written by hand even though they had a computer and printer.
After finishing the tour at the Amish farm the bus finished the drive to the convention where some kids went to see Lainey Wilson perform live and the rest went to top golf to enjoy a couple of hours conversing with each other. After the long two days of travel students had Thursday through Saturday to learn new things and attend sessions to advance the mission of FFA.
