C2—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 12,1980
BY SALLY BAIR
Staff Correspondent
Chic and charming are not the two words
most often used to describe members of
the Future Farmers of America, but in the
case of the national officer visiting Lan
caster County this week, they are ap
propriate.
Elin Duckworth, 20, is the vice president
of the Western Region of FFA, and area
consisting of 15 western states, from
Alaska to Hawaii to Texas. She hails from
Mesa, Arizona, and brings to mind a wide
range of adjectives, including articulate,
poised, inspirational and pretty. But
nothing is more important to her position
than the enthusiasm for the FFA program
that she brings with her.
“I’m totally committed to FFA,” she
states. “It’s quite a commitment to make,
but the riches I’ll gain this year far sur
pass anything else.” Elin, who is a second
semester junior at the University of
Arizona, has taken a leave of absence to
fulfill her obligations to FFA.
Being only the third female national
officer in FFA’s history, has not caused
Elin any problems. Of the five fellow of
ficers she says, “They’re great. They
wouldn’t be where they are if they couldn’t
accept girls.”
She added that in her opinion FFA has
made quite a change in the one decade in
which girls have been allowed to become
members. Although there are no. national
figures, Elin estimates that 20-30 percent
of the entire membership is made up of
girls.
She stated, “In FFA you are an in
dividual and are not put in a category.”
Calling herself a “servant for mem
bers,” Elin says her most important goal
as a national officer is to meet individual
members. “I want to be in touch with as
many members as I can. I think that is the
goal of every officer. FFA members have
a lot going for them.”
An animated speaker, Elin says she
likes to use motivational stories to inspire
members.
“FFA makes possible a lot of rewards.
You can obtain your goals with a positive
attitude. I try to inspire them and tell them
that they are important to each other and
that they are an inspiration to everyone
Chw and charming in blue and gold.
om Mesa, Arizona, looks over the greenhouse at Willow Street Vo-Tech School which she visited earlier this week.
* "/V
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they meet. I also tell them that inside them
they have the abilities. Any individual can
achieve a goal if they stick to it.”
She recalls that as a freshman in high
school she made up her mind to become a
national officer. But with a laugh, she
adds, “I set my goals and had revisions
sometimes.”
In speaking to members of the
Grassland FFA chapter on Monday af
ternoon, Elin emphasized that to be suc
cessful members need to invest time,
along with effort and ambition.
“If you have the desire and the drive you
can set goals and put forth the effort to
achieve them.” She later said that the only
time she has failed is when she failed to
have a positive attitude about herself.
Although she seems to speak with ease,
Ellin admits, “It always scares me. I think
a speaker always gets a few butterflies
before he speaks. ”
She says another goal she has set for
herself is to “improve my speaking skills
and become a better conversationist.”
Elin was keynote speaker for the winter
FFA convention in Harrisburg, something
she Ml do hundreds of time as a national
officer.
She said, “You must totally believe in
what you say. It must come from the
heart. I want to help and inspire members,
and sometimes parents and business
leaders are in the audience and they are
inspired too.” The only training in public
speaking she has had has been in FFA.
Asked about her expectations in
becoming a national officer, Elin states,
“It’s been different than I expected. I think
I expected it to miraculously transform
me into a dynamic speaker, which it didn’t
do. I also thought I would lose touch with
FFA.”
While in Pennsylvania, Elin has a full
schedule as she does almost every week of
her “job.” She will, of course, visit the
Pennsylvania Farm Show and take part in
the FFA convention. But in Lancaster
County she got the opportunity to do what
she likes to do best: meet members.
Elin visited five schools, attended a Red
Rose Chapter meeting and appeared on
television in two days. She was impressed
with the vo-ag departments she visited and
“the in-depth teaching in specific career
areas” they offered.
She said in Arizona the total program is
stressed, with work in every area of
agriculture. “It is different here. It is
mind-boggling, the way there is
development of that individual’s career
goals and skills, and the possibility of
supplemental career goals,” she said.
She described herself as being “really
enthralled” about visiting Pennsylvania
and Lancaster County. She is enjoying the
opportunity to see three story houses and
older homes, something which Arizona
does not have.
For her brief stay in Lancaster County,
Elin is being hosted by Pennsylvania FFA
Princess Tammy Lefever, who happens to
be from Willow Street. Tammy is a 1978
graduate of Lampeter-Strasburg High
School and Willow Street Vo-Tech.
Elm and Tammy have formed a kind of
mutual admiration society, because Elin
says an FFA Princess in Arizona carries
out minimal duties, and does not speak in
public as Tammy does easily and ef
fectively.
Tammy, on the other hand, says she has
been delighted to escort Elin around the
county and get to know this dynamic
national officer better.
Elin said that people “out West” are
vvy friendly and outgoing, and she had
prepared herself for people “back East”
not to be friendly. She has found that not to
be the case. “They are very friendly
here,” she smiles.
Elin comes from an area which she
describes as growing at the rate of 3,000
people a month. In Arizona she said you
find large metropolitan areas, then must
travel 100 miles to the next populated area.
She told FFA members that pactus 'and
rattlesnakes thrive there, and,the mam
agricultural products are cotton, aUalfa
and dairy. :
Elin said when she joined-FFA she
became very involved ijb° vocational
education. “Learning about agriculture
intrigues me, and FFA offered so many
\ incentive to achieve and further my
ability. That’s what kept me going this
long.” Elin has her American Fanner
Degree, the highest degree of active
membership.
Her first FFA project was a flower
garden since she is from an urban area,
and from there she went into landscaping,
something which she said wasn’t
profitable for her.
From there she moved on to working in
research for chemical companies,
something she still does in the summer.
She has a pest control advisor license in
Arizona.
She is thinking about going to law school
to specialize in agricultural law, but says
she will make that decision based on the
score of her law school entrance exams.
Asked if she has seen changes in FFA
members in the six years that she has been
involved, Elin answers, “They are a lot
smarter than we were, and more prepared
to really represent agricMture in the
future. FFA is really increasing in ex
cellence. Members have to improve each
year, and they are very aware of what’s
going on. Their devotion to agriculture
hasn’t changed, or if anything, it is deeper
than before.”
Wearing her blue FFA jacket always
distinguishes her when she is traveling,
and often wins friends for her.
She said, “I meet interesting people who
were once FFA members, and I come in
contact with sponsors. She recalls in her
first year in FFA, “I was really proud of
my jacket, although then I wasn’t really
sure of what it represented.”
Elin says she is optimistic about the
future of agriculture in this coutnry, while
recognizing the problems which go along
(Turn to Pace C 3)