About The Millen news. (Millen, Jenkins County, Ga.) 1903-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 25, 2024)
Page 12 - Wednesday, December 25,2024 The Millen News themillennews.com Jenkins County FFA competes in Area 4 competition Jenkins County FFA mem bers competed in the Area 4 Competition in several areas: Vet Science, Floriculture, Wildlife Management, and Lawnmower Operations and Maintenance. They were trans ported by bus to the competi tion by School Superintendent Dr. John Paul Hearn. In Floriculture, the Junior team placed second and is headed to the State compe tition. Members are Alivia Davis, Belle Flakes, Sidnee Lanier, and Gracie McFarlin. Davis was named Top Individ ual. The Senior Team placed eighth. Members are Bethany Asbury, Aubrey Davis, Joseph Kay and Cayley Linder. In the Lawnmower Opera tions and Maintenance com petition, Ethan and Ian De La Cruz both placed Top 10 Lively Continued from 4 Jenkins County FFA members are shown at the Area 4 Competition held last week. Ray individually after performing a written exam and driving test. The Vet Science competi- Continued from 9 a 2013 Yamaha Apex snowmo bile just to get the higher horse power engine for the plane.” And, that was just the be ginning! He installed better landing gear that prevents bouncing upon landing. The wings are covered with Oratex fabric that provides better protection and which had to be “ironed” before applying. A vortex generator creates a tiny airstream, energizing the normally stagnant layer of air on the wings which helps with slow flight. The plane uses a stick and rudder control that ma nipulates the flight controls. An AEN computer screen monitors the en gine. LED landing lights were installed so others could see the plane. The plane also features nu merous other safety features. To accomplish all of this Leonard turned to online sourc es of information, including videos showing how to per form the work. “You can find just about hours of flight time and must have 40 hours to leave the test area,” Leonard said. “The test area is confined to a 50 square mile area of the airport. That is for the public’s protection. If I get in trouble I can always land at the airport.” tion saw the Junior and Senior teams place third. Junior team members are Avari Bennett, Stella Giles, Polli Renn Powell, and Alyssa Smith. Senior team members are Jay lee Bennett, Laura Gayle Dailey, Abby Mc- Farlin, and Layla Proctor. Dai ley placed as Top Individual. Wildlife Management Junior and Senior teams represented Jenkins County well. Junior members are Gunner Simmons and Jaydon Vasquez. Senior team members are Brie, Dryer, Noemi Gonzalez, Bailey Pend- ergast, and Ian Proctor. of the family for a gathering at my Grandmother’s house. The house was the heart of many family get-togethers but Christmas Day was by far the biggest. We would compare our Christmas bounty with the other cousins and after dinner several of us would head to the woods for a pine cone war, or gather in somebody’s pasture for a game of touch football. When I was raising my own kids Out West, I tried to estab lish our own traditions. Like most parents I always went way overboard with Holiday spending, buying them what ever the latest craze called for, but I also always bought them each some really goofy looking underwear and I would make sure they opened them all at the same time. They always acted embarrassed but they loved the tradition. We sometimes get the feeling that traditions aren’t as impor tant to younger folks as they are to older, but I found out that might not be true. One year, after we had all scattered, I sent each of my three grown kids a calendar from Colorado, to remind them of home. Then in the years that followed, I would send them a calendar with pictures from wherever I happened to be living. It got to be a joke and they would razz me every year about giving them calendars. So, after several years, I didn’t send them. We were all living in different places and I found out later that, on Christmas af ternoon, they all started calling each other. “Hey, did Dad send you a calendar this year?” “No, what about you?” “Me either. Do you think he’s alright? Is anything wrong?” One of them was designated to call me at which point I assured them I was tine but I didn’t think they cared about the calendars. I was assured I was wrong. Last week I mailed out three colorful calendars from the great state of Georgia to three different addresses. Because traditions matter. Merry Christmas, Y’all. Virgil Gaston Ray was a pilot in the VMF 214 Black Sheep Squadron and was MIA in the Pacific Theater, WWII.
