The Lewis Cass FFA has hosted a banquet for 60 years. This is a significant event recognizing all the FFA members who work so hard to become successful in FFA contests. There are certain categories that the competitions fall under. The categories are career development events and leadership development events.
At this banquet, they also recognized the retiring officers and inducted the new officers. The retiring officers are the following; president Maggie Taylor, vice-president Kyle Henry, 2nd vice-president Kinsey Mennen, secretary Carter Armstrong, treasurer Michael Myers, reporter Matt Minnick, 2nd reporter Jackson Hedrick, sentinel Kruz Freeman, parliamentarian, Trinety Gilem, historian Alyssa O’Neil, 2nd historian Allara Henry, student advisor Jacob Kincaid, growing leaders chair Alaina Sanchez, strengthening agriculture chair Morgan Leight, and building communities chair Drew Sailors. The newly inducted officers are the following; president Michael Myers, vice-president Carter Armstrong, 2nd vice-president Riley Johnson, secretary Lilly Yax, treasurer Trinety Gilem, Reporter Matt Minnick, 2nd reporter Lexi Gotshall, sentinel Brystalian Gilem, student advisor Allara Henry, parliamentarian Alaina Sanchez, historian Isabella See, 2nd historian Bekah Birkey, growing leaders chair Morgan Leicht, strengthening agriculture chair Alyssa O’Neill, and building communities chair Maddy Willis.
This banquet was also special because this was Mr. Plank’s first banquet here at Lewis Cass as a teacher and FFA Sponsor. Future president Michael Myers was asked if he felt Mr. Plank helped the banquet run smoother and he said, “Having Mr. Plank as a new addition was a very helpful experience for the FFA. His presence helped us stay on task and move the meeting along quickly and efficiently.” Mr. Plank was asked if he brought new ideas from his past school, and he said, “Yes, we had FFA banquets in a similar fashion and Mr. Appleton and I talked about some of the things we were doing for the banquet at Delphi, and added some ideas to the banquet here at Cass.” President Myers was also asked how he hoped to improve the FFA’s future, and he said, “Being that this year was a conversion year, we had a lot of new ideas and concepts that we tried out throughout the year in our FFA. A lot of these new additions and activities were successful and helped the FFA grow as an organization within Lewis Cass. My goal is to help maintain these traditions and create concrete events that people can enjoy and look forward to for years to come.” Mr. Plank was asked how he felt the banquet went, and he said, “We had an excellent and successful banquet celebrating member involvement and achievement through FFA.”

The departing seniors went out with a bang. Kyle Henry was awarded the Bountiful Harvest Award, the Mike Whitehouse Scholarship, and the Minnick family scholarship. Kinsey Mennen was awarded the District Star award, the Dekalb Agriculture Accomplish award, and the Cass County Young Farmer scholarship. Jacob Kincaid was awarded the Ben Miller Plow Award. Maggie was awarded the John and Jane Wilson Scholarship. Congratulations to all FFA members on a very successful year!