Vote now to show your FFA pride

The Online Store for the National FFA Organization is conducting a survey through March 17, encouraging people to vote for six of the top 12 designs in the nationwide FFA Chapter T-shirt contest. Hundreds of entries were submitted from chapters all across the country.

I learned today that Wabasso FFA Chapter's T-shirt design has made it to the Top 12.

Some of you may know that I was editor of the weekly newspaper in Wabasso for four years before I moved back to my hometown to become a reporter at the Daily Globe. Wabasso is a small town in the heart of Redwood County, with a population of 642 when I lived there. They have an excellent ag program, lead by a top-notch ag teacher. (Mr. Klaers and his family were also my next-door neighbors.)

A Facebook message posted by Bill's wife, Jane, this morning alerted me to the T-shirt contest and the exciting news for the Wabasso FFA Chapter. Bill and his students designed the T-shirt, which is shown here.

FFA members (actually anyone) can visit this site to vote for their favorite T-shirt designs. Each person can vote for up to six designs.

The six T's with the most votes will be featured in the 2010-2011 Blue catalog, which goes out to FFA Chapters and members across the country.

The site does not state what chapters submitted the entries, but I do know that Wabasso is the only FFA Chapter from Minnesota to have a design in the Top 12. There are some pretty cool designs, and of course, Wabasso's T-shirt received my vote.

Voting began Thursday and will continue through next Wednesday.

Posted by: Julie Buntjer on 3/12/2010 at 9:04 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Tags: ffa, wabasso

Join in the fight

Do you know someone who has died of cancer? Do you know a cancer survivor, or someone going through cancer treatments now?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, we could sure use your help in the fight against cancer.

The Nobles County Relay for Life hosted its kick-off event Tuesday night in Worthington. Team packets were distributed, ideas were discussed and the date was announced for this year’s Relay for Life event at the Nobles County Fairgrounds in Worthington.

Several new changes are planned for this year’s Relay - changes we hope will encourage more people to come out and help the hundreds of survivors and team members Celebrate, Remember and Fight Back.

For starters, the Survivor’s Supper will not be the same night as the Relay this year. A special banquet is planned in their honor on June 15, at the American Reformed Church in Worthington. The evening event will recognize all who won the fight against cancer. Survivor T-shirts will also be distributed at this event.

Hosting the Survivor’s Supper a few days prior to the Nobles County Relay for Life on June 18 is hoped to give organizers an opportunity to be more involved in the actual events on the night of the Relay.

In the past, Relay volunteers have been so busy cleaning up and putting things away after the meal is served that they miss important Relay events like the butterfly release, the survivor recognition and the speakers.

This year, the Relay’s opening ceremony will begin at 7 p.m. on June 18, with closing ceremony planned for 7 a.m. June 19.

In 2009, Nobles County’s 21 Relay for Life teams raised nearly $93,200 for research and advocacy for the American Cancer Society. It was the highest fundraising year for Nobles County, and we’d sure like to surpass it this year.

We are still looking for more teams to get involved. Families, church groups, youth groups, small businesses, large businesses, friends ... the team opportunities are endless.

If you would like more information on forming a team, contact Nobles County Relay for Life Chairperson Kim Lambert at 372-5305.

This year’s Relay for Life theme is “A World with more Birthdays.”

As the American Cancer Society’s slogan states, “We save lives and create more birthdays by helping you stay well, helping you get well, by finding cures and by fighting back.”

Posted by: Julie Buntjer on 3/10/2010 at 9:45 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Tags: cancer, nobles county, relay for life

Just me and the girlz

Every so often, my niece to the west and my niece to the east hatch a plan to get together, and when they do, it often becomes a "Girlz Night" with Auntie Julie in Worthington.

I don't mind. I like spending time with them (aka taking them out for supper, going to a movie or renting a stack of DVDs and staying up half the night!)

I think they come for the pizza ... and because I don't threaten to toss their constant texting machines (cell phones) out into the snowbank like their Buntjer grandparents out on the farm.

Yes, it's a big decision for them to make ... Grandma's home cookin' on the farm, or Auntie's tolerance of technology. Sometimes I win, sometimes I lose!

When the almost-16-year-old called me this afternoon and suggested dinner and a movie, it didn't take me long to agree to it. It's been an extremely long and busy week at work. So what if I have notes for two stories to write, so what if I have another interview on Saturday afternoon ... work can wait ... for 24 hours, at least.

We spent our supper talking about boys and babies (there were a couple of cute ones at the pizza place of their choice ... babies, not boys), and then we went to a movie ... again their choice.

After shelling out the cash for the flick, I figured it was my right to complain afterward. We should have seen the romance movie instead.

If I see a Jabberwocky's head bouncing down a spiral staircase in my sleep, I'm going to scream loud enough to wake them from their slumber in my living room. It's just a little thing called payback!

Posted by: Julie Buntjer on 3/05/2010 at 10:41 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Tags: family, home, movies, work

Shedding some light on HSUS

This press release was posted to my Facebook page earlier today. I wanted to share (enlighten) all of my Farm Bleat readers about the Humane Society of the United States. I have been inundated with information about HSUS in recent weeks, thanks to commodity organizations and new watchdog groups standing up for agriculture. Read on:

Nationwide Poll: Seven of 10 Americans wrongly believe the Humane Society of the United States is a pet-shelter "umbrella group"
Less than One Percent of Donations to HSUS Benefit Local Pet Shelters

WASHINGTON, D.C. (PRNewswire-USNewswire) - Seventy-one percent of Americans questioned in a new opinion poll wrongly believe the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is an "umbrella group" for America's local humane societies. Sixty-three percent incorrectly think their local "humane society" is affiliated with HSUS. And fifty-nine percent falsely believe HSUS "contributes most of its money" to local organizations that care for cats and dogs.

The poll, which sampled the opinions of 1,008 Americans, was commissioned by the nonprofit Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) and conducted by Opinion Research Corporation (ORC) of Princeton, N.J.

"These numbers indicate that Americans don't really know what the Humane Society of the United States is all about," said CCF Director of Research David Martosko. "HSUS intentionally uses those sad dogs and cats in its TV infomercials as props in an animal rights fundraising shell game. Meanwhile, thousands of American pet shelters are underfunded and struggling." Martosko blogs about HSUS at www.HumaneWatch.org.

According to the federal income tax return filed by HSUS for the tax year 2008, less than one-half of one percent of the organization's budget consisted of grants to hands-on pet shelters. HSUS does not run a single shelter for dogs or cats anywhere, and it is not affiliated with any local "humane society" organizations.

Martosko continued: "This poll indicates that most Americans think HSUS is a worthy charity. But very few Americans understand what HSUS really is — a super-rich lobbying group that puts more money into its executive pensions than in the hands of local humane societies."

Survey Methodology

The survey of 1,008 adults nationwide was conducted by telephone Feb. 25-28, by Opinion Research Corporation. The margin of error is plus or minus three percentage points.

Questions:

I'm going to read you the names of several nonprofit organizations. For each one, please tell me if you are very familiar, somewhat familiar or totally unfamiliar with the organization.

The Humane Society of the United States: 79% familiar ("very"/"somewhat" net)

I'm going to read you several statements. For each one, please tell me if you think the statement is true or false.

71% "TRUE": The Humane Society of the United States is an umbrella group that represents thousands of local humane societies all across America.

63% "TRUE": My local humane society or pet shelter is AFFILIATED with the Humane Society of the United States.

59% "TRUE": The Humane Society of the United States contributes most of its money to local organizations that care for dogs and cats.

48% "TRUE": My local humane society or pet shelter receives financial support from the Humane Society of the United States.

(Tax records filed by HSUS show that all four statements are false.)

To learn more about the Humane Society of the United States, visit: www.HumaneWatch.org.

Posted by: Julie Buntjer on 3/02/2010 at 1:45 PM | Comments (2) | Permalink

Tags: agriculture, farm, hsus, humane society of the united states, humane watch

The family tree

It has been a long-running joke in the Daily Globe newsroom that I’m either related to, went to school with or just plain know everyone there is to know in this town I’ve called home for most of my life.

It’s a pretty far-fetched joke, but my nieces and nephews who have joined me out and about might agree. With a wave here or some friendly chit-chat there, I’ve been told more than once by the kids that, “You know everybody!”

Between the people I’ve met through work and those I remember from the hallowed halls of Worthington High School, Worthington Area Junior High and West Elementary, it amounts to a lot of people.

That brings me to my family.

A while back, I was talking with my parents about Southwest Minnesota Honor Flight and the weekly interviews I’ve been doing with veterans. My dad was but a child during World War II, but he completed a tour of duty in the Army during peace time.

Now, my dad has a lot of relatives. Oh, he only has one brother and one sister, but both of his parents were from large families. Grandpa Henry was one of eight children, while Grandma Hattie was one of 12. Between the lot of them, my dad has 50 first cousins.

You may think that’s not very many, but there’s a good reason for it. There were three Buntjer kids that married three Aielts kids for, you guessed it, three sets of double relation! My grandparents were one of the Buntjer-Aielts combinations. Aielts, by the way, is spelled three different ways among the 12 siblings and now, their offspring.

Anyway, getting back to the 50 cousins. I was curious about our family’s role in World War II. Mostly, with our German heritage, I wanted to know if we had family that fought against the Americans.

It appears as though we didn’t, thank goodness! Our German ancestors were among those who fled the country for a better life in America.

My dad did, however, have nine of those 50 first cousins serve in the United States military during World War II.

That’s when the story grew interesting.

Of the nine, three are still living ... Fritz and David Aielts, and Wilber Jacobs. I haven’t heard their stories of World War II, but I’d sure like to.

And then there are the other six ... all of whom I expect had fascinating tales as well. They included Ray Buntjer; Merle Buntjer - he was shot in the arm in the war; Leo Buntjer; Marv Aielts - he lost his leg in battle; and brothers George and Ray Habben - the two that were taken as German Prisoners of War and survived the hell of a prison camp in Africa.

If there’s one thing I’ve realized during these past two months of World War II veteran interviews, it’s that we should be recording and sharing their stories before it’s too late.

It’s too late for me to interview most of my family members who battled for this great country of ours. I sure would have liked to hear their stories.

Posted by: Julie Buntjer on 2/26/2010 at 10:00 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Tags: family, home, southwest minnesota honor flight, veterans, world war 2