The 43rd annual LHS community show, from October 9th-11th, was a celebration of arts, crafts, food, and farming. From auctioning off cakes, to providing crafts and games for the kids, the FFA works hard to provide a show that will keep people coming back.

On the first night of the community show, the FFA held a dinner and an Ambassador ceremony, where Emily Sherwood was elected 2016-2017 Linganore FFA Ambassador.

There were three candidates for ambassador. Emily Sherwood competed as a first-year member last year in horse judging and vet science. She attended the Maryland State FFA Convention in June as well.

The ambassador of the FFA represents the chapter, and she promotes and gets others involved in events that are held both in the school and the community. It is their goal to make sure people know about certain activities held, and the community recognizes them as the face of the FFA.

The club continued the night with their annual cake auction, selling cakes as low as $15 to as high as $975. The highest selling grand champion cake, made by Nate Myers, sold for $975.

The following Tuesday was a hit for the elementary school kids. Children from Green Valley Elementary and New Market Elementary came to the show from first to third period. The children had a variety of activities to choose from: they could color, plant seeds, get their faces painted, or even go on a hayride around the school.

The FFA wasn’t the only group of people working hard to create the show — Linganore students helped out during the school day as well. Students from Mrs. Pat Beachy’s and Mr. Tom Hawthorne’s classes, as well as the National Art Honor Society, assisted in showing the children what to do at each station.

Student Karly Fink, class of 2019, is a second-year member of the FFA. She is one of the FFA historians, along with Jackey Hinkson. Fink said, “It’s a good way to get connected with your community, and all of the different activities you can get involved in with our school and the schools around us. The more people involved, the better, so getting to be a part of the show is fun and it lets you meet new people and enter your different projects.”

Hinkson brought in her horse, Bandit, to let the children pet and watch her ride. Another student from the class of 2019, Carsyn Frey, brought in her Angus calf to show the children.

The dog show was held that evening. The 10th annual “Strut your Mutt” dog show, sponsored by the LHS Pre-Vet/Small Animal Care Class, was split into seven classes: Best Trick, Largest Dog, Best Rescue Dog, Best Veteran, Prettiest Eyes, Smallest Dog, and Best Costume.

More than two dozen owners and dogs competed. The dog that won the class for largest dog was Max, a Great Pyrenees owned by class of 2018 student, Clay Yingling.

Along with dogs, there were many projects entered in the show. Dog leashes made from plastic bags by Mrs. Beachy’s Pre-Vet/Small Animal Care class, photographs from Mrs. Ellis-Guss’ classes, woodworking projects by Mr. Rudderow’s FOT class, and ribbon roses from Mr. Hawthorne’s Horticulture class were entered.

Entering a project in the community show is fairly simple, as there are many categories and crafts to choose from. There are 36 departments, including youth, children’s, junior, and adult divisions. Enroll in an agricultural class or speak to Mrs. Beachy or Mr. Hawthorne about entering a craft next year!