At my first national FFA convention, which was also my first time in official FFA dress, I was Brandon Roop. That was the name embroidered on the right side of the borrowed jacket I wore.
Before my next official event, with permission from my advisor, Mom and I carefully snipped away the gold threads and the town’s seamstress stitched my name in place of Brandon Roop. That was my first ‘official’ FFA jacket.
Every jacket tells a story. It tells you the student’s name, under which might be inscribed a title (president, reporter, etc.) and under that a row of medals to explain the student’s honors – the highest degree earned, the highest award achieved in a career development event, and a medal representing achievement in a supervised agricultural experience. On the back, you’ll learn where the student is from – the state and chapter / school. Emblazoned on the front and back are FFA emblems. In 2013, the National FFA Organization celebrated the 80th birthday of this iconic symbol. They offered a great write-up and summary of the jacket’s storied history.
For many students, the receipt of their very first jacket is an exciting occasion. For others, receiving a jacket many years after the fact is just as special. The first year I co-managed the national FFA convention, I discovered the 1932 National FFA Vice President hanging out in the career expo. He was proudly wearing a brand new jacket purchased for him from the local chapter. His original had been lost in a flood in 1950. I took him over to the farm broadcasters booth where he spent the afternoon relating the story of his jacket to media and members.
This national FFA week, a close family friend shared the following.
“The FFA has been an important youth organization for my family over the years. Just have to start the week off with a pic of my dad’s blue jacket and road sign. The jacket has indeed lost its dark blue color over the years…and even has a few repair patches sewn into it by my grandma. Guess my dad decided to wear it as a chore coat after high school…which is actually quite fitting as he started his own future in farming. He sure loved being a farmer…and honestly believed in the future of agriculture. I am blessed that he passed on his love of agriculture, farming, and the FFA to me!”
My jackets hang in the closet, and the kids often ask about them. “Why do all those kids wear the same clothes? Why do you, Aunt Stacey and Uncle Brian talk about FFA all the time? Why do you volunteer for FFA all the time?” Often, through my own tears of happy memories, I mumble something about feeling wanted, feeling powerful, feeling part of something bigger, of something good.
One day, concerned, I’m sure, and definitely confused by his mother’s emotion, my farm boy said, “Mom you don’t need a jacket anymore to do good things.”
No. But I needed it to get here.
One of my state officer jackets became my farm boy’s first jacket. He was just four months old.
I was a state officer in Ohio 1998-99, but now an Iowa farm wife and momma. Love your posts!
Just a few years after my sister and I served in Illinois! Ag circles are small indeed! Thanks for reading and commenting.
My husband lost his beloved FFA jacket when our house burned down in 2002, and I know that he misses having it hang in the closet. 4-H and FFA were a huge part of our lives, so much so that our honeymoon was at the 1988 National FFA convention in Kansas city! Thanks for spotlighting this great organization.
Thank you for sharing your blue and gold passion. I’m so sorry to hear your husband’s jacket was lost. My Farmer was not in FFA and questions me as to why my jackets hang in the closet “taking up space”. There’s just something in that corduroy, I guess.