FFA Harvest Ball Royalty Announced

By ELISE DALLEY

The Progress

It is a time-honored tradition for the Moapa Valley chapter of the FFA, that first year member receive a Greenhand Degree to celebrate their first step in FFA. This year the presentation ceremony was extra special because it was combined with both FFA Thanksgiving and the traditional Harvest Ball Dance. All of these took place on Friday, November 18 at the Clark County Fairgrounds Livestock Barn.

In order to earn the Greenhand degree, new FFA members must have plans for Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) and demonstrate knowledge of the FFA creed, code of ethics, motto, salute, emblem, official dress, and important dates in FFA history. Approximately 143 FFA members earned the Greenhand degree at this year’s ceremony.

Following the presentations, there was a Thanksgiving dinner. All FFA members were asked to bring a dish to share with their peers and their parents. The grand dinner was decorated with festive blue and gold tablecloths.

Students running for Harvest Ball Royalty also brought a pie to share. Parents and students donated money for the pies they liked best, and the pie with the most money placed on it received a winning category. The donations were put towards fundraising money for the FFA program.

The winner of the Pie Contest was sophomore Harvest Ball candidate Audrie DeVoge.
“My favorite thing about FFA Thanksgiving was the pie contest!” said chapter vice president Taytum Yardley. “I think it was super cool to see all of the talent baking pies that our chapter has and the creativity that was shown.”

Immediately after the dinner, announcements were made of the Harvest Ball Royalty. Freshman Class Harvest Ball Royalty representative was Janet Werner. Sophomore Class Representative was crowned Lauren Williams. Junior Class Harvest Ball Representative winner was Allie Nelson.

The winners for King and Queen Harvest Ball received a scholarship. The 2nd runner up for Harvest Ball Queen was Senior Sophia Rowley. 1st runner up was Taytum Yardley, and the 2022 Harvest Ball Queen was Shaylee Adams.

The Harvest Ball King winner was Iain McMurray.
“Being junior class princess was so rad and it means a lot to me because FFA is such a big part of my life,” said junior class Princess Allie Nelson. “The values FFA implement, such as Learning to Do, Doing to Learn, Earning to Live, Living to Serve are important for everyone to consider.”

Following the announcement of the winners, the Harvest Ball Barn Dance began. All sorts of students showed up for this popular event. As music filled the area, swing dancing and laughter was plentiful.
“The Dance was super fun!” said junior Dalton Marshall. “I think the best part was that I got to learn how to swing dance better with my friends. It brought everyone together because we all wanted to dance and we were dancing with each other and having a blast!”

Harvest Ball Queen Shaylee Adams stated, “I feel very flattered to have won, FFA has been such a huge part of my high school experience. All around it was a wonderful evening and a very successful event!”