Community members of all ages enjoyed an evening of fun and learning at the FFA Community
Farm Fair this spring. The event was held at Weston-McEwen High School and featured
livestock, booths highlighting agriculture-related businesses, community colleges and FFA and
4-H projects, activities for kids and the FFA Plant Sale.
Emily Hansell, district teacher and member of the Weston-McEwen FFA Alumni Supporters, said
the group wanted to organize an event to celebrate agriculture and the FFA program. When
they talked about doing this event, they didn’t know if many people would attend. “It’s above
and beyond what we thought it would be. We wanted to showcase that there are many
different things you can do in our FFA program, from working with animals to robotics, and that
the program builds independence and success for students in multiple ways,” Hansell said.
During the event, free hot dogs were given out; community members strolled through the
booths and bought flowers and plants; children petted goats, sheep, calf and a very social black
pig and competed in hay bale stacking and driving nails into tree rounds.
Drew Leggett, Precision Ag Instructor at Blue Mountain Community College, brought the
school’s mobile precision ag lab to show people how the school uses the drones and side-by-
side vehicle. Leggett provided information to attendees about the varied agriculture degrees
someone can earn at BMCC, which are diverse and range from the business side to crop
production, while also being a good way to get started on a four-year degree.
“BMCC has a 100-acre farm, the largest of any community college in Oregon, so the hands-on
aspect is really valuable to some students, and our smaller class sizes allow us to do more,”
Leggett said.
WMHS and their alumni thank everyone who participated in the Community Farm Fair and
those who attended.