From left: Pelion FFA members Macey Padgett, Savannah Williams, Gary Williamson; Tommy Harmon, Horticulture Instructor, Lexington Technology Center; Lydia Roof, President, Lexington FFA Chapter;
First Lady Jenny Sanford; Jeff Padgett, President, Pelion FFA Chapter;
Frank R. Stover, Jr., Horticulture Instructor, Pelion High School; Lexington FFA members Lindsey Motes, Anna Burns, Hannah Hammond and Jeff Slaven;
and Josh Waters, Clemson University Agricultural Education senior from Gilbert who is practicing teaching at Lexington Technology Center.
HORTICULTURE STUDENTS CONTRIBUTE POINSETTIAS
TO DECORATE GOVERNOR’S MANSION
Horticulture students from the Lexington Technology Center and Pelion High School have continued an annual tradition of providing poinsettias to decorate the Governor’s Mansion for the Christmas season.
The students and their instructors, Frank R. Stover, Jr., Pelion; Tommy Harmon, Lexington Technology Center; and Pelion High School Principal Jean Haggard, presented the plants to First Lady Jenny Sanford at the Mansion on Tuesday, November 28, in preparation for decoration of the historic landmark by Columbia Garden Club members.
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Mrs. Jean Haggard (left), Principal of Pelion High School, with First Lady Jenny Sanford and others in the Mansion. |
The students who attended the presentation are active members of the National FFA Organization which was originally established as the Future Farmers of America nearly eighty years ago. Today, there are more than 300 career opportunities in the business, science and technology of agriculture.
The students and guests were given a comprehensive tour of the Mansion by Nancy Bunch, an accomplished historian and member of Mrs. Sanford’s staff.
The poinsettias were grown in the Pelion High School Agri-Science Department’s modern greenhouse as a collaborative project of Horticulture students at Pelion and Lexington Technology Center, while a new state-of-the art greenhouse was under construction at the Center. Students grow the plants as part of their hands-on-training in Horticulture and Greenhouse Operation.
The Mansion was opened to the public on Thursday, November 30, 4:00 -7:00 p.m., to observe the beautifully decorated home of the first family of South Carolina and will be open for tours by appointment throughout the Holidays.
The Presentation of Poinsettias Event was coordinated by John W. Parris, state director of public affairs with the SC FFA Association, in concert with Curry Hagerty, a member of the staff at the Mansion.
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Lexington FFA President Lydia Roof and First Lady Jenny Sanford being interviewed by TV news reporter. |
Jeff Padgett, President of the Pelion FFA Chapter, being interviewed by TV news reporter at the Mansion. |
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FFA members were served tea at the Governor's Mansion. |
Lexington FFA Advisor, Tommy Harmon (left), Josh Waters,student teacher, and Pelion FFA advisor, Frank Stover. |