Brentin
Dunning, 5, of Fremont won
his age division in the pedal tractor pull
that was part of the Jan. 21 centennial
celebration at Fremont High School.
Tommy Sparks won the title in the
older age division.
Hal
Hoppa (right) wore his 1964-65
Fremont FFA jacket to the
centennial celebration.
Photos
by R.C. Wheater Sr.
Fremont
Celebration marks
100 years of ag education
By
R.C.Wheater Sr.
Scores
of alumni and friends and families met at Fremont High School on Saturday, Jan. 21 to
celebrate a unique anniversary: 100 years of agricultural education at the school.
The
teachers who have directed that education for most of the last 50 years were there to
celebrate with several generations of FHS ag students.
The
celebration featured food and games, plenty of pictures and memories, and congratulations
from state and local officials.
Fremont
High School has one of the nation’s longest-running agriculture programs. It started
in 1912. The National Vocational Education (Smith-Hughes) Act, which provided federal
funds to schools for agriculture education, was not passed until 1917. Fremont FFA,
started in 1929, is one of the original charter FFA chapters in the state. The Fremont FFA
Alumni and Friends and the Fremont FFA Chapter organized the Saturday celebration.
Michigan
Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Director Keith Creagh came to deliver his
congratulations, and State. Rep. Jon Bumstead added his well-wishes.
Creagh
encouraged the current students and young farmers to continue upholding the tradition that
has been built in Fremont. “It’s up to you to do the heavy lifting in the
future,” he said.
“Agriculture
is so important to our area,” Rep. Bumstead said in his remarks. “In Michigan,
if it isn’t number one, it’s number two and growing.”
Fremont
FFA President Abby Spickerman thanked Bumstead and Creagh for joining the celebration and
presented honorary local FFA memberships to both of them.
Fremont
Mayor Jim Rynberg presented FHS ag teacher Rebel Smith and Principal Scott Sherman with a
plaque bearing a copy of a city council resolution marking the centennial. Fremont FFA
Alumni and Friends President Loretta Towne presented a special award to alumnus Hal Hoppa,
who wore his original FFA jacket and competition uniform from the 1964-65 school year.
Groups
of graduates gathered for pictures with their teachers, including Jack Sanderson, who
taught the program at FHS for 28 years before retiring in 1988. He holds the record for
the longest tenure in the job. Sanderson won the Outstanding Educator Award in 1989.
Frank
Konkel (FHS Class of 1976) of Silver Sky Dairy said that, while he and his wife Shari
enjoyed the memorabilia, he especially enjoyed the opportunity to spend time with
Sanderson. Konkel credits his own farming direction to his teacher, who helped an
uninterested student grow into an FFA student leader who has since served in several board
and committee positions in Farm Bureau and the Michigan Milk Producers Association.
Students
also posed with Phil Rottman, who taught at FHS from 1990 to 2005, and with current
teacher Rebel Smith, who started in 2005.
Four
students who pre-dated Sanderson’s tenure, FHS alumni Harley Boes, Valmond Smith, Bob
Rasmussen Sr. and Frank Blain, also posed for a picture together.
The
picture-taking also included at least two photos spanning three generations. Dave Bennett,
son Aaron Bennett and grandson Travis Bennett posed for the one of the pictures. Dave
Bennett’s father, Chuck Bennett, was also in FFA in his high school days but was out
of state and not available for the picture. Valmond, Doug and Jason Smith posed for a
similar three-generation photo. All three Smiths have won State FFA Degrees; Valmond Smith
received his in 1944, son Doug Smith received his in 1972 and grandson Jason Smith
received his in 2010.
Frank
and Shari Konkel noted that ag education will continue to grow in importance as the world’s
population and the challenges of food production continue to grow. They said that these
challenges make it increasingly important that ag programs like FFA be supported and
funded in the future.
As
he thanked people for joining the celebration, teacher Rebel Smith noted that the FHS ag
program is already benefitting from the new opportunities that are coming along with the
new Fremont High School facility, which will include a five-acre “land lab” and
“an incredible classroom.”
“We’ve
got a lot of tradition and we have a lot of potential for the future,” Smith said.
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