Young Farmers Committee Meets
The Young Farmers Committee met at 7 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 20 and were led by Corey Brandau, with the following members present: Kyle Johnston, Austin Brown, Courtney Sowa, Ed Sullivan, RJ Nugent, Jarrad Mulderink, Joe Davis, Scott Brummel, District 5 Rep and out going state young farmer member, along with new District 5 Rep Michael Bernhard, and Mark Schneidewind, Farm Bureau manager.
The committee reviewed the last pedal pull of 2023 and that will be held at Christmas in the Village at Peotone on December 9 at Dralle Chevrolet. It will have registration at 11 a.m., and the pedal pull at noon. They developed a work schedule and will have some assistance from the FFA class.
The group then looked at what pulls they would consider for the 2024 year, and they are as follows: Family Fun Night on July 11, Threshermen’s Show on July 20, Symerton Home Coming on August 18, Will County Fair on August 24, Chasing Cans for Cancer on August 31, and they will donate a pedal tractor raffle event to the FFA Auction on February 25. RJ mentioned that we still have one outstanding pull to do the one we sold at the golf outing, which Ryan purchased. All the above pulls were approved for the 2024 year. Austin reported that Dralle had posted the Christmas in the Village Pull on Facebook recently that they were hosting the pedal pull, and the FFA reposted as did Farm Bureau.
The group decided to hold the following programs in 2024: Focus on Youth, Christmas party will be in March with everyone’s schedule not working in December or January, and the event location was not having anything in February. They discussed retirements for 2024, and RJ and Kevin Ardaugh are turning 35, so we will make plans for a 2024 retirement event. They will cook at PrimeTimers Picnic on August 7; Truck Regulations meeting is February 28; two pesticide applicators testing programs set for us, with the first being February 9 and the second on March 28, so watch for more details in January.
They spent 30 minutes on the golf outing, and while they have it set currently with Green Garden Country Club, the new crew wanted to ask more questions, so we will discuss it over the next 60 days and will report back in January. The biggest concern with the crew is eating in the dome as compared to the club house. They discussed costs, workers, games, sponsors and more.
Corey reported that the Will County Farm Bureau Annual Meeting will be held January 27 at the atrium in Peotone, and covered the 3 current raffles. There will be a live auction as well as an online auction. Details have been advertised, so sign up to attend. They have agreed to provide the Ag Olympics for the 2024 year. For the FFA Acquaintance, they looked at the request from the FFA groups to go back to Northern Illinois Food Bank. Joe Davis reported on the harvest dinner he assisted with 129 guests, 38 volunteers which was a nice time and was very educational! As far as an event in 2024 it has not been decided upon yet.
The final item of business was the election of officers for the 2024 year, and they were elected as follows: RJ Nugent, President; Austin Brown, Vice President; and Jarrad Mulderink, Secretary/Treasurer. RJ will provide refreshments at the next meeting, which is set for January 18 at 7 p.m. at Austin’s machine shed.
The crew thanked Corey for his years’ of service, as this was his last meeting, and thanked Scott Brummel for serving on the state committee as well as welcomed Michael Bernhard as the new District representative. The meeting adjourned at 8 p.m.