FFA organizations celebrate 100 years in Virginia

FORT DEFIANCE, Va. (WHSV) - Members of the National FFA Organization came together during the last week of February to celebrate the annual National FFA Week.

For officers, students and advisers in Virginia, this year’s observance marked a special milestone: 100 years of FFA in the commonwealth. During FFA Week, Virginia state officers, along with their adviser, travel across the state to visit local FFA chapters.

Emma Alexander, who serves as the Virginia FFA state president, said the officers travel for two weeks during this period on what they call a “goodwill tour.” This year’s tour theme was “Journey,” and Alexander said “that’s nothing short of what it is.”

“It is a journey for us, but it’s also a journey — it wasn’t us that got us to where we are today. Every single year, every single state officer team prior to us brought us to where we are today, and we couldn’t have done it without them," Alexander said.

On this journey, officers reflected on what FFA means to them.

“FFA is just an agricultural leadership organization, an organization that kind of allows students to grow together and to grow to what they want to do and to grow to be the next generation of leaders using each other as support,” said Franco Abuc, Virginia FFA vice president.

This year, members across the state are coming together not only for FFA Week but also to mark a century of FFA in Virginia.

A student at Fort Defiance High School is among those showing gratitude for the celebration of 100 years. The Future Farmers of Virginia, formed in Weyers Cave in 1925, served as the model for the national organization known today as FFA.

“This year and next year are going to be really special because the FFA is celebrating our 100th anniversary,” said Christy Kerr, FFA adviser and agriculture teacher at Fort Defiance. “Starting with the Weyers Cave chapter in 1926 and the first state convention and the first state officers, we’re going to be celebrating for about a year and a half here at Fort Defiance and across the commonwealth of Virginia.”

Fort Defiance FFA Vice President Janie Davis said the organization has brought her a sense of community and that she hopes FFA continues to succeed for another 100 years.

“Living very close to Weyers Cave growing up, I didn’t exactly know that Fort Defiance was the remnants of the first chapter,” Davis said. “But once I started to realize the importance of that and how strong our chapter is, and our advisers truly help us continue this legacy, and our supporters in our community are always there for us, especially our alumni. Those are key essentials to having a strong FFA chapter, whether you were the last organization or the first organization. Being from the first is just so special to me because it just enhances my experience in FFA so much.”

Mari Winn, Fort Defiance FFA sentinel, said that being where FFA started carries a lot of meaning for her as well.

“FFA has come so far in the last 100 years,” Winn said. “Being where FFA originally started, we have so many deep-rooted traditions that we continue to follow, like our Venison Feast, which we have done for many, many years, where we can bring alumni in, and our members can also come. It’s very much a communal thing.”

Rachel Bergdoll is the historian for Fort Defiance FFA, and she has her own family history with the organization. Bergdoll said she’s the first girl on either side of her family to be in the organization, which includes FFA members stretching back generations to her grandparents.

“It was huge for them. They got this jacket, and that was like the jacket that they had. And it made them feel so special that they could be a part of something new,” Bergdoll said. “When I got to, it feels like there’s so much rooted tradition, even here, being the remnants of the original FFA chapter from FFV, that we are continuing to build off of what my granddad did to what my grandkids might do.”

As the organization’s youth continue to follow in the footsteps of the leaders who came before them, state leaders said they are mindful of the legacy they are carrying forward.

“It’s just a privilege to think that this will be my 51st state convention to attend and to think how much FFA’s changed, how we’ve grown, how we’ve expanded opportunities so that we’re offering different programs for kids, no matter what their interest is,” said Andy Seibel, executive director of the Virginia FFA Association. “It’s just been, honestly, a privilege to be a part of that journey and to help keep FFA going.”

Along the way, members are celebrating not only FFA’s history, but also the agriculture that is deeply rooted across Virginia.

“It is in the mountains, and it was a whole, entire new world that I never would have seen if it wasn’t for state office and it wasn’t for FFA,” Abuc said. “I think that’s what it means to celebrate Virginia. From the cities to the oceans to the mountains, we all have a common interest and love of agriculture, and it’s really beautiful.”