by JESSIE WHITEHEAD, Polk County FFA Federation Vice President
The end of January and February means the end of the Polk County Youth Fair and Florida State Fair. The Polk County Youth Fair went off without a hitch and was amazing, as always. The Florida State Fair was also amazing as usual, and Polk County FFA members really showed up and showed out at this year’s event!
Polk County FFA members brought home many Grand Champion banners from all different divisions at the State Fair. Some of these students and their achievements are:
- Haylie Stephens (Lake Gibson Senior FFA) Grand Champion Crossbred and Overall Supreme Champion market hog
- Elizabeth McDowell (Frostproof Middle & Senior FFA) Youth and Open Show Grand Champion Charolais heifer
- Paige Blankenship (Bartow Senior FFA) Youth Show Grand Champion Santa Gertrudis bull
- Lane Walker (Bok Academy North FFA) Youth Show Grand Champion Red Brangus bull
- Madilyn Nichols (Kathleen Middle FFA) Youth Show Grand Champion Ultra Brangus Cow/Calf pair
- And more!
The Florida State Fair also was a hit for Polk County as many of its FFA chapters competed in state contests and qualifiers! Some of the schools that placed for the high-school in-person preliminaries and middle school finals for livestock judging are Lake Gibson Senior FFA, Auburndale FFA, and Bok Academy North FFA.
The state Milk Quality CDE was also held at the Florida State fairgrounds where Lake Gibson Senior FFA placed second in the state and Lake Gibson Middle FFA placed fourth in the state in their respective divisions!
To round off the state fair, the Agriculture Hall of Fame banquet was held where some of the youth from Polk County served as mentees at the event, Weslee Howell from Lake Gibson even was able to become a presenter at the event after serving as a mentee for the past two years.
The biggest excitement from this event, though, was Mr. Cary and Mrs. Marcia Lightsey of Polk County’s Lightsey Cattle Company getting inducted into the Hall of Fame. Both of them have served not only Polk but Florida agriculture for many, many years and have dedicated their lives to preserving traditional agriculture. The couple has also spent recent years working to aid the conservation of Florida land and wildlife, which was highlighted at the Agricultural Hall of Fame induction ceremony. The Lightseys are continuing to serve all of Florida agriculture through their cattle company but also by instilling their beliefs and hard work into their children and grandchildren who have already started to carry on their legacy.
The Florida State Fair brought many fun nights and achievements for the people of Polk County, but the activities aren’t over yet. The Central Florida Youth in Agriculture show is right around the corner at the end of March. There are also many more state contests that Polk members will be participating in during the coming months, such as Nursery and Landscape, Aquaculture, Land Judging, Livestock Judging finals, and more!
The coming of spring also brings many Florida FFA Conferences and State Officer screening, and members from our county can’t wait to participate! Polk County is buzzing with many agriculture-based activities, and this year is looking even better than the last!