I can't believe it's October already! I talked to Mom earlier today and she said it's time to sell FFA fruit. This is my sister's freshman year, so she was heading out to do the rounds.
I miss those days of traveling around to neighbors, friends and family selling fruit for the annual FFA fundraiser. This chilly air brings back memories of my four years of doing the rounds.
Fruit selling was an excuse for me to go and talk to the people I might have seen often but rarely had long conversations with. I've always liked to hear peoples' stories about the past and what's going on now (hmmm, sounds like a good trait for a journalist!). Plus, the money raised went towards funding all the leadership and ag education opportunities we got involved with through the year. Win-win situation!
My senior year, I was in the class that put the fundraiser together. We brought in several fundraising companies to give us sales pitches, chose which companies we were going to sell from, motivated each class to sell, and then took care of all the orders and money.
It was a busy, busy ordeal, and what an experience! It was difficult and I must admit I was glad when we were done, but I honestly think I learned the most real-world skills through that one experience than I did in any other class or project. I learned to be extremely detail-oriented, which helped me later on in my internship this summer.
This fall I'm not out selling fruit, but I am learning valuable skills for the future and talking with people.
In my Multimedia class I've discovered I can put a video together, and it's actually kind of fun. I'm not going to neglect my pen and paper, but if there was a story that would be better in pictures and audio I feel confident I could put something together.
I've been working with Strawberry Hill Farms, just south of Columbia. The owners go to the church I've gotten involved with down here, and they have been really great about helping me get my projects done.
Strawberry Hill Farms has a pretty neat story. Gary and Joyce Sapp started the business in 1980, and they passed it off to their son and daughter-in-law a few years ago.
Joyce actually grew up nearby on a century farm her parents still live on. The land Strawberry Hill Farms is on was actually "the farm next door." For my next class project, an audio sound clip, I'm hoping we can focus on this aspect.
The farm started with a U-Pick strawberry patch, but it was the greenhouse operation that caught on. Right now the big seller is mums, pumpkins and gourds, but in spring there will be a wide variety of flowers and bedding plants. Reminds me of my floriculture contest days!
So far, I've done a short video spotlighting Joyce Sapp and her love of plants, a TV-Style video covering a hayride Strawberry Hill Farms hosted for their church and 3 photo series on their products and the challenge of our recent frost. I'm looking forward to hearing more about the century farm, and hearing more about the people behind the farm.
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