The grant will be used to provide scholarships to the five selected students; each will have $5,000 a year applied to their tuition and other college expenses for up to four years.

Criteria for students selected to join the scholar program include academic ability, commitment to a career in the food and agricultural sciences, social and economic background, and chosen major. Applicants need to be admitted to an academic program in the College of Agriculture at Purdue. Along with an application, students must have three letters of recommendation.

Applications are due Feb. 15 and can be found at www.agriculture.purdue. edu/oap/multiculturalprograms.asp More information is available at www.agriculture.purdue.edu/diver sity.multicultural_scholars_program.htm

Ft. Recovery FFA hosts area leadership night
FT. RECOVERY, Ohio — On Jan. 17, the Ft. Recovery FFA hosted an area FFA Leadership Night.

Approximately 80 members from surrounding FFA chapters attended. Three state officers presented leadership sessions on FFA opportunities, teamwork, focus, vision, discipline and persistence.

The evening ended with pizza, dodge ball, basketball and line dancing organized by the Ft. Recovery FFA officers.

In other chapter news, the Ft. Recovery FFA Chapter held a canned food drive in early December. The food was donated to needy families around Mercer County.

Classes competed to see who could bring in the most cans. Approximately 750 canned goods where collected. The third period senior class won the competition with a 15-can per person average.

MSU student named first runner-up at AQHA Congress
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State University (MSU) student and Michigan Quarter Horse Association queen Lisa Ondersma realized one of her life’s goals recently when she was named first runner-up in the All-American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) Congress queen competition in Colum-bus, Ohio.

Ondersma, a 22-year-old animal science senior from Holland, Mich., competed against 32 other contestants.

The Congress queen contest is sponsored by the Ohio Quarter Horse Association in conjunction with the AQHA Congress in Columbus, Ohio.

States send representatives for the contest. To compete in the AQHA Congress queen competition, one must first be named a state queen. Ondersma was named Michigan Quarter Horse Association queen in 2004, a title she will hold for three years. Contestants were judged on their performance in the interview (40 percent), results from the rulebook test (40 percent) and a horsemanship ride (20 percent).

Ondersma scored perfectly in the interview portion and on the written exam and placed well in the horsemanship ride to finish first runner-up.

Ondersma was awarded an English saddle, jewelry, artwork, grooming supplies and other prizes.

This farm news was published in the February 1, 2006 issue of Farm World.