Blue jacket legacy

National FFA Week is a chance to recognize the importance of agricultural education and the impact FFA experiences have on youth. Papers, magazines and radio stations all jump at the chance to highlight local FFA chapters and members during this week. When I was a farm broadcaster, I would interview members from several different chapters about their FFA experiences to produce special reports that aired during the week. I enjoyed talking with the FFA members but would sometimes question if that was what I sounded like when I was their age.

I thought we were more polished and mature back then, but as I look back through my high school yearbooks, my memories start to focus on the facts. I was tongue-tied and giddy. My view of life was very narrow, too. I had no clue of what lay ahead of me, but the experience of wearing the blue jacket did help push me forward to develop my voice and broaden my views.

I was the first girl in my class to join FFA in 1977. Girls were allowed to join in 1969, but joining and being accepted are two different realities. Luckily for me, I was just “one of the boys,” and FFA fit like a comfortable jacket. I learned to weld. I climbed into the soil pit to study soil profiles. I presented reasons for livestock judging. At one of our chapter banquets, the regional president was the keynote speaker. She opened my eyes to the possibilities of how I could be involved in agriculture as a career off the farm, even if I was a girl. Two years later, the first girl was elected to the state officer team as reporter. We would both end up at the University of Illinois in the college of ag. Today, women and men play an equal role in FFA and the future of agriculture.

Why all this reminiscing? I popped down to Illinois to visit my mom for a few days this month. When I left Minnesota, it was in the upper 40s. It felt great and wrong at the same time for early February. Since I was heading south, where it should be warmer, I forgot to grab my jacket. Apparently, I brought cooler winds with me and had to look for a jacket to wear.

There were only two of my dad’s jackets hanging in the coat closet on the porch. Dad passed away eight years ago; Mom has moved many of his things to family members and donation sites, but she kept back some special reminders. The one I grabbed was his Illinois Beef Council windbreaker. Dad was always promoting the beef industry through his hats or his jacket. It fit like a glove as I snuggled into it.

The other jacket Mom kept back was one I had never seen Dad wear. It was well over 70 years old, but I recognized its significance. She kept his faded blue corduroy FFA jacket, introducing me to my dad’s youth. Written in perfect yellow script was Larry Dowell. I turned the jacket over to see the names of my state and hometown surrounding the FFA emblem.

I have seen black and white photos of my dad wearing his jacket, but I had never touched it before. I don’t know where it had been stored all these years, but it seemed like the perfect time to “reappear” and reconnect with Dad. As I studied his jacket, I wondered how much it had changed over the years.

The FFA emblem was adopted in 1928 with five key symbols woven together. A spread-winged eagle perches on top of a cross section of an ear of corn. Inside the cob, a rising sun emits its rays as a promising horizon behind the owl resting on the handles of a single bottom plow. The symbols represent the history, goals and future of the organization, agriculture and the young people who wear the jacket. It would remain like this for 60 years. In 1988, the words “vocational agriculture” were changed to “agricultural education” in the design. Otherwise, it is still the same jacket.

It’s strange how something so simple as a jacket can bind generations together. We have multiple jackets hanging in closets around our house. There are Mark’s and Austin’s chapter and regional jackets and a jacket each for Jonathon and Michael. I also have two jackets, one blue and one white.

At one time, FFA had white corduroy jackets which were presented to Chapter Sweethearts. The members selected a young lady passionate about ag and presented her with a white jacket introducing her in perfect yellow script writing and a small emblem adorning the front of the jacket. The Chapter Sweetheart recognition faded away with the rise of more girls becoming involved with FFA.

As I rub my hand over the faded ridges of corduroy, I feel a legacy left to me through these jackets, a sense of unity, progress, hard work, wisdom and freedom symbolized in the emblem. Even though the jackets are a bit tight, the lessons learned and the experiences gained have expanded our worlds while binding us together.

As their four children pursue dairy careers off the family farm, Natalie and Mark Schmitt started an adventure of milking registered Holsteins just because they like good cows on their farm north of Rice, Minnesota.