Post Messenger Recorder -

During the last week of October, the Belleville FFA attended the 88th National FFA Convention and Expo in Louisville, KY.  The 10 Belleville FFA members that attended were David Statz, Adam Laufenberg, Tara Hanna, Matt Mussehl, Clarice Loeffelholz, Denise Rankin, Brianna Halverson, Dan Meier, Tyler Varney and Tony O'Connor.  The chapter traveled on their coach bus with the Argyle, New Glarus, Monroe, and Verona FFA chapters.  The theme for the convention this year was "Amplify," so members learned how to amplify their lives and participation in the FFA organization.  They attended convention sessions and listened to guest speakers that were motivational and showed the students the activities of other members from around the US.  They went to Louisville Slugger, which is where they make baseball bats.  Members saw the museum and also got a tour of the production line where they are making bats for the World Series.  The other tour they had was at Churchill Downs, which is where the Kentucky Derby is held.  Members were able to walk through the museum and also have a tour of the track area.  It was interesting because they got to see them exercising the horses out on the track.  The tour guide was very informative and encouraged us to come back to see a race sometime.  They also got to attend the Jake Owens and Maddie and Tae concert, which was a lot of fun because it was only for FFA members at the convention.  Overall, the members had a fun time on the trip and look forward to attending the convention next year in Indianapolis!