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Between 160 and 170 persons attended last Friday morning’s (Feb. 17) annual Chillicothe FFA and Chillicothe Area Chamber of Commerce “Salute to Agriculture” breakfast, sponsored by Woody’s Automotive Group. The event took place in the Mervyn Jenkins Expo Center, on the grounds of the Litton Ag Campus, between 6:30 and 8:30 a.m.
A selection of mixed fruit, pancakes, sausage, coffee, milk, and juice, among other items, were available for ag-related patrons in the community. The breakfast is an annual tradition amongst multiple FFA chapters across the nation, and kicks off National FFA Week, which is hosted between Feb. 18 and Feb. 25.
Chillicothe FFA Chapter President Lynzie Colvin emceed the event’s proceedings.
Chillicothe FFA Chaplain Haley Thompson gave the invocation, and Mayor Chuck Haney welcomed the gathered crowd.
Jason Bone, of Woody’s Automotive Group, spoke in representation of the event’s sponsor.
“When you’re successful,” Bone told the crowd, as well as the FFA members present, “we are too.”
“I’m really honored to introduce our speaker this morning,” Haney then said, before presenting Missouri State Senator David Pearce.
“What a great crowd, and a great breakfast,” Pearce said, as he came to the podium.
“I was talking to this gentleman named Jon Black the other day,” Pearce said, referring to the 2010 Chillicothe High School graduate who serves as the Missouri State FFA President. Pearce, himself, once served as State FFA President.
“Have you ever heard of him?” he joked.
Pearce commended the R-2 students who came out and worked the early-morning breakfast meal, serving patrons on a day when they did not have school, due to teacher meetings.
“These kids who came out today deserve a round of applause,” he said.
The theme of Pearce’s speech was the future of agriculture, and how the people in the room at that current time were that future. He spoke the first lines of the FFA creed, concentrating on the belief in “the future of agriculture, with a faith born not of words, but of deeds.”
“You all have a fantastic ag program here in Chillicothe,” he said. “[The Litton Ag Campus] is one of the best [facilities] in the state — one of the best in the nation.”
Pearce stated that his father was a vocational agriculture teacher, so he was raised into the lifestyle. He said that his father taught literally thousands of students in his tenure.
“They would say ‘He’s the only teacher who ever believed in me,’” he said. Pearce said that was what teaching was about — believing; and that belief was what it would take for agriculture’s future to sustain.
Between 160 and 170 persons attended last Friday morning’s (Feb. 17) annual Chillicothe FFA and Chillicothe Area Chamber of Commerce “Salute to Agriculture” breakfast, sponsored by Woody’s Automotive Group. The event took place in the Mervyn Jenkins Expo Center, on the grounds of the Litton Ag Campus, between 6:30 and 8:30 a.m.
A selection of mixed fruit, pancakes, sausage, coffee, milk, and juice, among other items, were available for ag-related patrons in the community. The breakfast is an annual tradition amongst multiple FFA chapters across the nation, and kicks off National FFA Week, which is hosted between Feb. 18 and Feb. 25.
Chillicothe FFA Chapter President Lynzie Colvin emceed the event’s proceedings.
Chillicothe FFA Chaplain Haley Thompson gave the invocation, and Mayor Chuck Haney welcomed the gathered crowd.
Jason Bone, of Woody’s Automotive Group, spoke in representation of the event’s sponsor.
“When you’re successful,” Bone told the crowd, as well as the FFA members present, “we are too.”
“I’m really honored to introduce our speaker this morning,” Haney then said, before presenting Missouri State Senator David Pearce.
“What a great crowd, and a great breakfast,” Pearce said, as he came to the podium.
“I was talking to this gentleman named Jon Black the other day,” Pearce said, referring to the 2010 Chillicothe High School graduate who serves as the Missouri State FFA President. Pearce, himself, once served as State FFA President.
“Have you ever heard of him?” he joked.
Pearce commended the R-2 students who came out and worked the early-morning breakfast meal, serving patrons on a day when they did not have school, due to teacher meetings.
“These kids who came out today deserve a round of applause,” he said.
The theme of Pearce’s speech was the future of agriculture, and how the people in the room at that current time were that future. He spoke the first lines of the FFA creed, concentrating on the belief in “the future of agriculture, with a faith born not of words, but of deeds.”
“You all have a fantastic ag program here in Chillicothe,” he said. “[The Litton Ag Campus] is one of the best [facilities] in the state — one of the best in the nation.”
Pearce stated that his father was a vocational agriculture teacher, so he was raised into the lifestyle. He said that his father taught literally thousands of students in his tenure.
“They would say ‘He’s the only teacher who ever believed in me,’” he said. Pearce said that was what teaching was about — believing; and that belief was what it would take for agriculture’s future to sustain.
“This community is so focused on agriculture,” Pearce said.
He commended also the Chillicothe Chamber of Commerce, for all that they do for the growth and sustainance of the Chillicothe community.
“You don’t have to be a member,” he said. “But I wouldn’t want to live in a town without a chamber of commerce.”
He noted the impressive recent delegations at Great Northwest Days, as well as at hospital meetings in Jefferson City as proof of his claims about Chillicothe.
“We have huge issues,” Pearce said, of the state of Missouri. He mentioned Missouri River problems, agriculture versus conservation / hunting rights, and Proposition B, and the harmful nature of the Humane Society’s attempts to pass the bill as it was worded.
“There’s no one in this room who’s for animal abuse,” he said. “But [as it was written, Prop B] could have put you out of business.
“Keep an eye out,” he warned. He said the group has recently been making attempts to push measures to sign into law bills that are passed immediately afterwards, regardless of needed legislative wording changes to protect individual rights and freedoms.
“It’s just important in agriculture for us to not leave it up to others,” Pearce said. “We always have to work together.
“Keep up the good work,” he said. “We are the future of agriculture.”
At the conclusion of Pearce’s speech, Adam Warren was announced as the winner of a raffled gift basket.
