Hometown Heroes: Bangor FFA​

Most of us remember the summer as a time full of relaxing during our school years. Every day was spent enjoying the warm weather and trying not to think about what was waiting for us back at school. But for the students of the Bangor FFA, this summer has been all about growing food in their garden for a local food pantry.

Under the direction of FFA Advisor and Bangor Agriscience teacher Rick Bierbrauer, members of the Bangor FFA have been dutifully tending to one acre of land all summer long. This garden was made possible by a grant from WinField’s Answer Plot service of West Salem. And all the fruits and vegetables grown in the garden are donated to WAFER food pantry in La Crosse. And believe it or not, this is just one small part of the great work that this organization is doing in our community.

So this week’s Hometown Heroes are all the students of the Bangor FFA: Thor Anderson, Jacob Antony, Samantha Antony, Dana Carlson, Amanda Clements, Hannah Crenshaw, Hadden Diehlmann, Hunter Ellenburg, Aden Erickson, Andy Feldkamp
Mandy Feldkamp, Austin Findlay, Luke Frederick, Leah Glaspoole, Miranda Greene, Morgan Horstman, Ethan Jacobson, Breana Jones, Dylan Knudtson, Kellen Krevik, Marshall Krueger, Bailey Langrehr, Jayden Mannel, Kyle Meston, Breanna Mikshowsky, Chris Miller, Kiana Moore-Peterson, Chelsey Nuttleman, Kyle Olson, Dygger Pfaff, Seth Plenge, Abigail Schaub, Joleen Schaub, Caden Servais, Amanda Sharping, Destiny Shaw, Jordyn Shurhammer, Sterling Skrede, Kaitlyn Solberg, Sara Stumlin, Erika Swartz, Karyn Wehrs, Olivia West, Alyson Wilcox, Tessa Wilson, Wyatt Wolfe, and Apsen Zimmer. And of course, their advisor, Rick Bierbrauer.

During the summer, Rick had a small group of students who continually helped out in the garden. Chief among these was Chris Miller, a junior at Bangor and also one of the FFA officers. You may have read about him in the La Crosse Tribune article highlighting the great work that the FFA is doing; Chris was the one who joked that he knew even more about potato harvesting than his teacher. Also helping out this summer were Kellen Kravik, Luke Frederick, Sam Johnson and Bangor FFA president Seth Plenge.

For those who are curious, the garden has already produced over 3,500 pounds of goods for the WAFER food pantry this summer alone. This included 3,200 pounds of corn, 258 pounds of zucchini and 100 pounds of beans. Another 100 pounds of zucchini is expected in the coming weeks, plus the harvest of potatoes and squash.

Even with school starting, the work in the garden is not done yet. According to Rick, there are a lot of crops left to harvest. He says that this is the most labor intensive part of the job so more of his students will be coming out to the garden.

Rick grew up on a farm and was very involved in FFA during his high school years so he knows just how important this experience is to his own students. After earning his teaching degree at UW-River Falls, Rick’s first teaching job was at the Bangor School District. This is his third year advising the FFA and his first year supervising their community garden. For Rick, advising FFA and teaching agriscience go hand in hand. They were both a part of his education and now he is working to ensure that his students receive the same experience.

Besides the garden, the Bangor FFA is involved in a lot of other activities. The FFA National Convention is in October this year and some of the Bangor students will be travelling to Louisville, Kentucky to represent our community. The event is expected to bring together approximately 60,000 FFA members from around the country. FFA members also attend leadership conferences all over the state and career development events (CDE) at UW-Platteville and UW-Madison. And sometimes they even have time to stop in to see their state representative when they are down in Madison.

Another part of FFA is passing on their knowledge about production agriculture to younger students. Together with the West Salem FFA, Bangor will be hosting an event called “Food for America” which is designed to teach over 200 4th graders from all over the coulee region about the topic. Members also show animals at the state and county fair, participate in public speaking contests, attend state conventions, and engage in many other activities.

This may sound like a lot and as Rick said “FFA members are very active and excel at what they do.”

But back to the garden, Rick and his students spend about 7-10 hours a week working the land depending on what needs to be done. Once all the crops are harvested, the FFA will be focusing on new membership recruitment, planning their fun and educational events for the year, and maybe even planning next year’s garden.

In regards to the potato joke, Rick says that he learns from his students every day. “The scope of Agriculture is huge and nobody can be expected to know it all,” he says. “As a teacher I try to facilitate the learning so that we can all learn together.”

One of the things that stood out to me about the garden project is that it benefits so many people. Rick and his students get hands-on agricultural experience and the 1,600 families a month served by WAFER receive fresh produce. The healthier options are extremely popular and according to the Tribune article, the produce usually runs out within two days. But not to worry, Rick and his students are still in the garden and they’ve still got beans, squash, zucchini and potatoes left to harvest.

So congratulations and thank you to the hard work of the Bangor FFA. Your selfless work this long, hot summer is clearly helping so many members of our community. I know I for one am excited to see what project you take on next.