VERSAILLES — Local FFA and FFA alumni hosted an omelet breakfast Saturday to recognize and promote the local agriculture industry. The event took place in the cafetorium of the Versailles Performing Arts Center, and also included a farm toy show, as well as displays and artwork created by local youth.
Omelets, pastries, orange juice, frozen yogurt, and chocolate milk were on offer in a buffet-style setup, with most of the food being donated by Weaver Eggs, Dannon, and Reiter Dairy. Local bank Farm Credit Mid-America was also a major sponsor.
In addition, 25 miniature farm dioramas were on display at the event. That’s more than at last year’s fair, according to Versailles FFA advisor Dena Wuebker. The models were judged in four different age groups, and came from FFA members throughout Darke County. The displays were judged prior to the breakfast and displayed on long tables next to the facility’s seating area.
Winning entries in a local coloring contest were also on display.
“National Ag Week is coming up,” Wuebker said, “and I had this as a vision to promote agriculture, and the community of Versailles, which is so tied to agriculture. It’s also a great way to display things the youth have done.”
Another goal of the event, according to Wuebker, is to raise money to start a scholarship in the name of Versailles FFA student Zach Kelch, a 16-year-old who was killed in February of last year in an automobile accident near Versailles and Darke-Shelby Road. The scholarship will be presented to a graduating Versailles senior.
Darke County Commissioners Mike Rhodes and Matthew Aultman were also present for the event.
“This is a great thing,” Aultman said. “It really brings together the ag community, the non-ag community, and shows the value that Versailles FFA has.”
Aultman is president of the Darke County Farm Bureau, which donated pots and pans and other utensils for the event.
Finally, farm toy displays were set up along the perimeter of the large cafetorium. One of the vendors, Jim Ford, is a retired Data Center Manager at Ohio University who attends fairs, motorcycle shows, and ag-related events from southeastern Ohio to as far west as Lafayette, Indiana.
“Our local ag teacher knows the ag teacher here – they were friends in college,” Ford said. This connection, according to Ford, is what brought him all the way from Athens County to help promote the FFA.
“I’m a huge supporter of the FFA down home,” said Ford, whose son is also an ag teacher. Ford himself is the treasurer of his local FFA chapter. “I think it’s one of the best programs out there for youth. It really teaches them to be citizens.”
Ford said he was happy to come out to Darke County for the event.
“Anything to promote the FFA,” Ford said. “That, and the omelets are pretty good, too.”
