Should FFA be a Sacred Cow?

What you are getting ready to read may not affect your community or you directly but save for the grace of God there could go any of us.

I got some disturbing news last week that the Lawton public schools would be cutting one of the Ag teachers in what has been one of the largest FFA chapters in the state for a number of years. The position being cut will be the horticulture teacher at Eisenhower High School. Now you might wonder why that would matter since I graduated from McArthur High School back in ‘79 and spent part of my Ag teaching career at Lawton High school and my daughter is in FFA out at Cache High School. But as I thought about it the FFA family in southwest Oklahoma is very intertwined. I’ve gotten calls from all over southwest Oklahoma about this potential cut to the program and I think everyone’s concern is very valid. And the basic concern is this: once you cut a program, even a small piece of a program it’s very hard to get it back. A great many of the people whose kids are in FFA in outlying communities were at one time FFA members when they were young. So everyone is concerned whether they live in Lawton directly or are alumnus of one of the best Ag programs in the state.

This ball started rolling with the resignation of Jeff Durham who was a former Lawton FFA member himself and was also the head of the department. I’m not completely sure what the situation was but it seemed like there was some bad blood between he and the administration at Eisenhower High School. His untimely exit created a hole that the administration of the high school as well as the superintendant at Lawton decided not to fill. Now to fully understand the Lawton FFA you have to understand that all three schools in Lawton are one combined FFA chapter. For instance, when I taught at Lawton high, I was in charge of cattle and if a kid attended Eisenhower or McArthur, they would attend class under whichever teacher was stationed at that school. And then if they showed cattle, I was the supervisor of their livestock project. Back in the old days under Marvin Bicket, who by the way, started the program in 1943, the teachers actually rotated from school to school, which exposed those FFA members to all three teachers. As the horticulture program was added, in later years, and the number of teachers went to five, the rotation became a little cumbersome and so teachers remained on their campus and each had responsibility for either a greenhouse or a certain species of livestock.

Now as I said before it may be strange to some why anyone would be concerned outside of the boundaries of their school district. Except when you start looking at the family tree of the Lawton FFA. I graduated in 1979, my main Ag teacher at McArthur was Jay Woodward who is from the Indiahoma community but also has reentered the teaching profession and is now the Ag teacher at Geronimo. Jay is obviously concerned because he has spent a great many years teaching in the Lawton program and is still very active as an Ag teacher. My daughter is the President of the Cache FFA this year, which I’m very proud of by the way, but I’m a product of the Lawton FFA and was taught not only by Jay Woodward but also Marvin Bicket and Ron Long. Three men that had a great deal to do with the development of a young kid from a broken home with plenty of excuses to go wrong.
Another interesting side bar, the new young Ag teacher at Cache is a lady by the name of Lindsay Thomas. Lindsay Thomas’ mother Melody and I, as well as Denise DeMastus, who has been the familiar face as the crossing guard at Cache for years, are all three former Lawton FFA members and we all spent many hours traveling to livestock shows together. And that’s just one class. We were the’79 models. So just that small illustration, I hope helps you understand how far reaching the tentacles of the Lawton FFA actually are. That’s just a couple of communities where people live that were once Lawton FFA members. I could write 30 pages of that family tree and show you why there’s great concern all over southwest Oklahoma about one seemingly very small position at one of the high schools. I think most realize that once you go downhill it’s hard to back up.

At the time I’m writing this article I’m just trying to answer some questions as best I can to those who have been calling. Many are concerned and I share that concern a great deal. I’m not sure what the final outcome will be but I have a feeling and I know the reason we’ll be told will be budget cuts. I could complicate this more by adding the how the state money flows to Ag chapters from Career Tech but that really would complicate things more than they need to be. The issue is an administrative decision to cut a teacher from a very viable and tradition rich program. Which from a budget standpoint probably makes sense. I don’t really think this is a call to arms although I know that could be effective. I guess at the time I’m writing this I’m trying to decide whether or not I’m willing to die in this ditch. I’d be interested in your input.

And here’s a little somethin to think about as you’re goin down the road.

No one can whistle a symphony it takes a whole orchestra to play it.
H. E. Luccock

THERE IS HOPE

Last week, about mid week, we finally got a whiff of cooler weather. It was about the time the rodeo kicked off which, for some reason, seems to be a time that the weather cycle always, at least tries, to change. A big front blew through, changed the wind direction and some of us even got some rain. The official Armes gauge which is the one I live and die by showed half inch. Summer is by no means over but at least we know that this high pressure dome might not be welded on top of us. We’re still in a drought, still got lots more hot days ahead and yes kids, school will be open soon. That little change of weather, I believe, actually perked everyone up and boy did we need it. That little brief respite will pale in comparison to the first good rain we get, when that happens, but the important thing is we may be close to breaking this strangle hold that mother nature seems to have on our part of the world and as they say “it aint’ over till it’s over” but I’ll guarantee ya at some point its coming. I’ve talked to people all over this part of the country especially farmers and ranchers and they are all pretty down but its coming guys and its going to look different. Before you global warming folks all start tuning up and arguing that we’ve killed our planet with hairspray and cars just remember that some parts of the United States are dealing with mud. I had a couple of bulldogger friends that rested some horses at my house during last week’s rodeo and they said that up in Kansas they were dealing with a muddy arena so it’s not everywhere but it is our reality here. Speaking of rodeo, what a great show the Lawton Rangers put on this year. With a record hot summer and a tough economy those guys cowboyed up and brought it. No reason to doubt them because they’ve been bringin’ it for 73 years now. One thing I did happen to see as I was visiting with Charlie Throckmorton the announcer was the number of scratches on the entry sheets. Those guys can travel thousands of miles and not make a check and with fuel as high as it is it makes it tough for them to travel and if they don’t draw well they almost can’t afford to come, even so a large number still made it to the Rangers Rodeo this year. So I hope everyone got to go out and enjoy one of the biggest events we have here in Southwest Oklahoma.

By the time this hits the paper and your mailbox, the kids will be headed back to school and before we know it it’ll be Fall fair time and we’ll look up and it’ll be cooler, people will be out moving, buying and selling, swapping and trading, and the wheat drills will be rolling in anticipation of next years wheat crop. We’ve got some rough waters ahead but if we get a little bit of rain and some wheat starts coming up this country will look good again.

In the political arena Congress is in recess, but at least they hammered out somewhat of a budget deal, and the fact that no one seems happy may indicate that it wasn’t too bad. I think most Americans just want them to handle it and get things done and try to stay out of our lives as much as they can. On the State level the budget seems to be looking up and I really believe as we come out of the doldrums of this extra hot summer, business across the state will pick up as people get out and about. We’ve seen the State revenue flatten over the last few weeks and I can’t help but think some of that has to be heat but I’m optimistic about fall and of course all of you sportsmen know what September 1st means, it’s almost dove season and if it continues to be dry they’ll be easy to spot, just find what’s left of a water hole and I think you’ll find birds. So even though we’ve been through the toughest summer I can remember, I have to think that there is hope.

If you would like to contact me while I am at the Capitol, please do not hesitate to call 1-800-522-8502 or send an e-mail to donarmes@okhouse.gov.

And here’s a little something to think about as you go down the road:

Both optimists and pessimists contribute to our society. The optimist invents the airplane and the pessimist the parachute. ~Gil Stern

Milestones

This has been quite a summer; there have been a lot of big happenings, things I would consider as milestones and major events. This is the summer the space shuttle ceased operation, Lucille Ball would’ve turned 100 this year, and even kids who were born after she passed know of her because of TV land. I guess the big one for me was hitting, as my auctioneer buddies say, "half a hundred", the big one you know, with the black balloons. One of my best friends, Terry Davis turned 50 about the same time I did. When Terry and I turned 40, we had a party at my place and we cooked way too much brisket and had a big time. There were about 150 people sprawled out all over our place. It was an eclectic mix to say the least. A lot of you who are reading this were there. We had everything from bikers to cowboys and I really don't know how to describe the rest who were sitting on tailgates celebrating two old guys turning middle aged. In addition to the cowboys and bikers, due to the fact that I was the Ag news guy on channel 7, we even had a couple of TV personalities. My old buddy Tom Charles, who is a legend in Southwest Oklahoma, was there. We called it our 80th birthday. It was a great time. When we both turned 45, (our 90th) I think we had 20 people there. I think the 100th birthday, when we turned 50 was worlds apart because we just let it slip into the night, we really didn’t do anything, I think everyone expected a huge blowout but we just let it go pretty much unannounced because I’m not sure we could’ve rented enough recliners to make that deal work. So, I guess that 50 marks a milestone for most and I'm no different. I hope the cliché is true, 60 is the new 40. Lots of things have changed, I've kicked it up a notch with the reading glasses, its harder to lose weight, I have less energy but I am fortunate enough to enjoy pretty good health and the ability to do just about whatever I want to and I know not everyone can say that. I'm a pretty blessed man. As an interesting side bar, the President also turned 50 this year. I don't ever remember being older than a sitting President and in my opinion, I'm not old enough to be President and he’s not either. Another major milestone as we’ve mentioned in several previous articles will be this major drought of the summer of 2011. It may be the first time in over twenty years that I haven’t owned cattle and I know I’m not alone in that because cattle are still moving through the sale barns in record numbers and many producers are in the same boat. This is one we will tell the grandkids about, it’s been rough. It’s also pretty evident that this drought is widespread. We took a little quick trip down through the Texas hill country last weekend and its amazing how far this drought reaches; all the way to New Braunfels, Texas we saw dry grass, baked earth and very little hay.

One bright spot that remains consistent no matter the weather is the Lawton Rangers Rodeo which runs all through this weekend. I’ve never seen the Lawton Rangers cancel a rodeo due to heat. It is a major event in Southwest Oklahoma and I would encourage everyone to come out and enjoy professional rodeo at its finest. Usually by that time in the evening it’s starting to cool off and by the time the lights come on and the sun sets, the action heats up. I can promise you this year we’ll have no mosquitoes’.

If you would like to contact me while I am at the Capitol, please do not hesitate to call
1-800-522-8502 or send an e-mail to donarmes@okhouse.gov.


And here’s a little something to think about as you go down the road:


The secret of staying young is to live honestly, eat slowly, and lie about your age. ~Lucille Ball

My Way or the Highway. How's That Working Out For Ya?

By the time you read this, the deadline for congress to reach its budget agreement will have passed. It seems to be a great big national level game of blink. With both sides digging in their heels threatening to load their toys and leave the sandbox. Plenty of political posturing, chest pounding and I’d venture to say some yelling and screaming too. Everybody seems to be taking the “my way or the Highway stance” unfortunately nobody has all the marbles in this game. And I can tell you from ten years in the state legislature neither side will get what they want. And as always we Americans love a good bloody fight. Few of us will admit it but our dark side loves a slug fest. Just think about how many people tune in to watch UFC fights and how many of us grew up believing that championship wrestling was real. Professional rodeo has almost taken a back seat to bull riding because it’s almost as if rodeo itself was too tame. It’s as if we as a society thrive on blood sport. Unfortunately politics seems to be following the national trend. And of course the media sells lots of airtime and newspapers handicapping this fight and in this new millennium the bloggers are in heaven. Obama and his crew want to raise the debt limit and tax us some more, the republicans want to force a balanced budget amendment and somewhere in the midst of all of that there is probably going to have to be a compromise. The lack of a compromise will cause a government shut down and of course both sides are threatening that they will force a shutdown if they don’t get what they want. In the meantime, the public is about to blow up and I think that if congress continues to play the “how big an ol’ boy are ya” game, nobody will win. The threat of government shut down has everyone fearful.

A friend of mine asked a question the other day about the mechanics of a balanced budget amendment and what that would entail. Quite honestly I had to do a little studying because I’ve never been through that, but I did find the answer to his question. Should a balanced budget amendment pass in Washington it would be the first step to changing the US Constitution. Assuming that it passed in Washington in both chambers and received the Presidents signature, my understanding is that the next stop would be each state legislature in all fifty states. The legislature could then vote with a super majority and pass the measure or the other option would be the legislature could put the amendment on the state ballots and let the people vote and then it would have to pass a majority of the states to actually become a constitutional change and if my information is correct that ballot question would have to appear in the same year as a Presidential election. I think it would pass in Oklahoma because we operate our state that way now. We can’t spend money that we don’t have and I think most Americans would vote for that. I think it makes fiscal sense, I’m not sure with the current national debt we could ever get to a position of a balanced budget but I think people would be for it and I know it would be an easy “yes” vote for me if we saw that measure in Oklahoma but at the same time that could be a two edged sword. In bad economic years the federal money could dry up much like it does here in our state and that always creates a great deal of waling and gnashing of teeth. I guess in regular people terms it sounds real good if you say it real fast but the getttin’ it done part would be probably the toughest test our country has ever seen. It would be like walking into a daycare center and gathering up all the bottles. The cries would be deafening. I think for the long term financial health of our country it would probably be good but as I said I don’t think it would be without casualties. One of which could be the military. So to put the congressional tussle in perspective, what we are witnessing is the push and pull that has to occur to keep our country from going too far right or left. I think it’s a normal and natural process but it can also provide balance and can serve to keep us out of the ditch on either side, keep us traveling down the road. It’s important to remember that one of the things that make us the greatest country in the world is that not all of us think exactly alike. Thank goodness!

If you would like to contact me while I am at the Capitol, please do not hesitate to call
1-800-522-8502 or send an e-mail to donarmes@okhouse.gov.

And here’s a little something to think about as you go down the road:

“You don’t get harmony when everybody sings the same note.”-Doug Floyd

My Way or the Highway. How’s That Working Out For Ya?

My Way or the Highway. How’s That Working Out For Ya?

By the time you read this the deadline for congress to reach its budget agreement will have passed. It seems to be a great big national level game of blink. With both sides digging in their heels threatening to load their toys and leave the sandbox. Plenty of political posturing, chest pounding and I’d venture to say some yelling and screaming too. Everybody seems to be taking the “my way or the Highway stance” unfortunately nobody has all the marbles in this game. And I can tell you from ten years in the state legislature neither side will get what they want. And as always we Americans love a good bloody fight. Few of us will admit it but our dark side loves a slug fest. Just think about how many people tune in to watch UFC fights and how many of us grew up believing that championship wrestling was real. Professional rodeo has almost taken a back seat to bull riding because it’s almost as if rodeo itself was too tame. It’s as if we as a society thrive on blood sport. Unfortunately politics seems to be following the national trend. And of course the media sells lots of airtime and newspapers handicapping this fight and in this new millennium the bloggers are in heaven. Obama and his crew want to raise the debt limit and tax us some more, the republicans want to force a balanced budget amendment and somewhere in the midst of all of that there is probably going to have to be a compromise. The lack of a compromise will cause a government shut down and of course both sides are threatening that they will force a shutdown if they don’t get what they want. In the meantime, the public is about to blow up and I think that if congress continues to play the “how big an ol’ boy are ya” game, nobody will win. The threat of government shut down has everyone fearful.

A friend of mine asked a question the other day about the mechanics of a balanced budget amendment and what that would entail. Quite honestly I had to do a little studying because I’ve never been through that, but I did find the answer to his question. Should a balanced budget amendment pass in Washington it would be the first step to changing the US Constitution. Assuming that it passed in Washington in both chambers and received the Presidents signature, my understanding is that the next stop would be each state legislature in all fifty states. The legislature could then vote with a super majority and pass the measure or the other option would be the legislature could put the amendment on the state ballots and let the people vote and then it would have to pass a majority of the states to actually become a constitutional change and if my information is correct that ballot question would have to appear in the same year as a Presidential election. I think it would pass in Oklahoma because we operate our state that way now. We can’t spend money that we don’t have and I think most Americans would vote for that. I think it makes fiscal sense, I’m not sure with the current national debt we could ever get to a position of a balanced budget but I think people would be for it and I know it would be an easy “yes” vote for me if we saw that measure in Oklahoma but at the same time that could be a two edged sword. In bad economic years the federal money could dry up much like it does here in our state and that always creates a great deal of waling and gnashing of teeth. I guess in regular people terms it sounds real good if you say it real fast but the getttin’ it done part would be probably the toughest test our country has ever seen. It would be like walking into a daycare center and gathering up all the bottles. The cries would be deafening. I think for the long term financial health of our country it would probably be good but as I said I don’t think it would be without casualties. One of which could be the military. So to put the congressional tussle in perspective, what we are witnessing is the push and pull that has to occur to keep our country from going too far right or left. I think it’s a normal and natural process but it can also provide balance and can serve to keep us out of the ditch on either side, keep us traveling down the road. It’s important to remember that one of the things that make us the greatest country in the world is that not all of us think exactly alike. Thank goodness!

If you would like to contact me while I am at the Capitol, please do not hesitate to call
1-800-522-8502 or send an e-mail to donarmes@okhouse.gov.


And here’s a little something to think about as you go down the road:

“You don’t get harmony when everybody sings the same note.”-Doug Floyd