By Tanner Kent

Free Press Staff Writer

LAKE CRYSTAL — Jake Pahl had brothers in FFA. So did Lacie Brandts.

Andy Papp’s dad was a member and his brother was an FFA president.

On Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorials’s School Board, six of the seven members own the FFA’s traditional blue corduroy jacket. And Sheryl Meshke, the chair of the FFA Foundation Board, could almost see her family’s farm from the agriculture wing of LCWM High School.

The FFA’s roots are strong in Lake Crystal. This year, the local chapter celebrates its 70th anniversary while the high school agriculture department celebrates its 95th anniversary.

To honor that tradition, the FFA Foundation Board — which typically meets in the Twin Cities — held its regular meeting in Lake Crystal on Wednesday. It marked the first time in the board’s history it met at a high school.

“I grew up on a farm,” Pahl said. “And FFA is just what cool farm kids did.”

Derek Meshke said: “FFA is kind of a community thing.”

And it was apparent Wednesday.

Dozens of people were on hand to take tours through LCWM’s recently completed secondary school and view its agriculture department. There was at least one FFA Hall of Famer — Norm Sieling, who taught agriculture at LCWM for 39 years — as well as several alumni of the local chapter and almost all of state officers in attendance.

For complete story, see the Thursday, Feb. 21, 2008, print edition of The Free Press or sign onto our e-edition.

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