Going to the FFA National Convention is something Landon Pottebaum always gets excited about.

Especially when it’s scheduled on his birthday.

“It’s always been something that I enjoyed and looked forward to doing,” the Montgomery County FFA president said. “I know a lot of people and I worked hard to achieve the trip. You really get out of it what you put in. You can do all of the fun stuff, but if you don’t go to the booths, don’t make new friends or don’t network with people, then you’re not going to have as much fun as someone who does all of the things.”

The MCHS and Wellsville-Middletown FFA chapters visited this year’s national convention at Indianapolis, which was held on Oct. 23-26.

Pottebaum’s birthday was on Oct. 25. Chapter members had planned on doing something special for Pottebaum that day.

“We had a kitchen (at the hotel) where we were going to cook Landon some pancakes for his birthday, but we woke up too late,” MCHS senior Beckham Cothren said.

Still, Pottebaum got to enjoy many activities at his Indianapolis trip, such as going to the Career and College Expo, having dinner with his chapter mates at Texas Roadhouse, touring a flour mill and visiting Connor Prairie, a living history museum located outside of Indianapolis.

“It’s such a great experience to meet with 70,000 other members and staff from across the country just to see the advancement agriculture is making, the impact the FFA has had not only in our own communities, but in the city of Indianapolis and around the country,” said Pottebaum, who is a senior. “It was great for me since I went to NextGen and WLC this past summer. I got to meet a lot of people I met there that I haven’t seen since then, so it was great to meet with new friends and make a bunch of new ones.”

The MCHS FFA chapter had 25 students go to Indy, while the W-M chapter had 12. Advisers from both chapters also attended.

“We were really lucky as an FFA chapter to bring 25 because I know many people from around us and different states get to go for free,” Pottebaum said. “We paid a small fee for one of the activities we were doing. Some of these kids don’t get to go at all unless they make a national contest or something like that or they have to pay $500 or more to go to national conventions so we’re really thankful for the community that we have that supports us to allows to do these trips.”

First-year W-M advisers Courtney Ankrom and Larissa Gamm went to the national convention for the first time as advisers. They went to the convention when they were students in high school.

“It was a different experience going as a teacher instead of a student,” Gamm said. “I really enjoyed it a lot and seeing the kids’ smiles and stuff like that.”

The W-M chapter listened to Temple Grandin speak at one of the general sessions, shopped at the Convention Expo and Shopping Mall and went on a hayride.

“I think it went good,” Ankrom said. “We had a lot of things planned and the kids seemed to enjoy it.”

Both chapters got to hear a retirement address from Grant Norfleet, a senior from the University of Missouri-Columbia who was selected to serve as the National FFA Secretary.

“Avery, Landon and I met him two years ago at FFA camp,” Cothren said. “It was cool seeing him get elected last year and hear his retirement address this year.”

MCHS senior Avery Ridgley went to the national convention for the third time. She said she enjoyed going to Indy for the final time.

“I always loved going,” Ridgley said. “This year, I met up with a bunch of people that I met at other FFA events, so it’s really fun that we all get to come back together in one place. It always seems that the people in Indianapolis love having us, so that makes it really enjoyable and they’re so welcoming. We all get to be together and have fun.”

Also, five MCHS and W-M graduates received their American FFA Degree. Cora Johnson, Annie Robinson, Carie Schroer, Anna Sinclair and Brianne West represented MCHS, while Carly Henderson, Libby Kleinsorge and Kaleb Peak were the W-M representatives. The American FFA Degree is the highest honor anyone in the National FFA Organization can achieve.