Preston High School FFA students participate in Drive Your Tractor to School Day
On Friday, May 9, Preston High School Future Farmers of America (FFA) students and associates drove tractors to school to help demonstrate the students' pride in their agricultural roots.
This is the second year of the initiative, which was created and organized by Preston High seniors Connor Gibson and Cordell Bolyard.
Cheat River Rail-Trail open for recreation in Kingwood
12 News spoke with Gibson and Bolyard on why they chose to drive their tractors to school and how it felt to have support from the community in doing so.
'I guess passion for agriculture, I mean, just kind of promote it a little bit, get people out and knowing what it is,' Bolyard said.
'I'm happy to see that people are willing to take time out of one day and let us drive our tractors and not really get upset about it. Preston County is a very agriculturally driven county, so it's definitely something cool that we can all kind of come together because this county is massive and we can all come together in one place and do one thing all together,' said Gibson.
Preston High School agriculture teacher Samantha Funk also spoke with 12 News, mentioning that having students participate in this event demonstrates the strength and appreciation students have for agriculture and that she'd like to see more girls participate next year.
Bolyard and Gibson have already passed the torch of the tradition off to underclassmen so that the Tractor Day tradition will live on after they graduate.
On Sunday, May 18, the Preston County FFA will host an awards banquet to honor all of its students' accomplishments this year.
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Chicago Tribune
5 days ago
- Chicago Tribune
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Dominion Post
6 days ago
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USA Today
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What's older than a blender, penicillin, and the U.S. moon landing? A Michigan woman celebrating her 114th birthday on July 4. Bonita Gibson, a resident at Waltonwood Carriage Park just outside of Detroit, is believed to be the oldest living person in Michigan, according to a Waltonwood representative. Gibson is part of a small population of supercentenarians in the United States, or someone who is at least 110 years old. Other supercentenarians across the country include 114-year-old Naomi Whitehead of Pennsylvania, 114-year-old Mary Harris of Tennessee, and 113-year-old Winnie Felps of Texas, according to the Gerontology Research Group. Gibson became the oldest known living person in Michigan after the death of 114-year-old Irene Dunham on May 1, 2022. The Gerontology Research Group validated her age the following year on May 4, 2023, two months shy of her 112th birthday. Michigan woman flew for the first time at 100 years old Gibson drove until she was 99 years old, and took her first plane ride at the age of 100, flying to San Diego, a lifelong dream of hers, Waltonwood said. Gibson told USA TODAY some of the keys to her living such a long life include: Michigan woman survived multiple historical events, spent great deal of her life in Idaho Gibson was born on July 4, 1911 in a northwestern Kansas city called Hoxie, according to the Gerontology Research Group. She grew up in rural Missouri, and lived through the Spanish Flu Pandemic. As a child, she survived the mumps, measles, and whooping cough, said a representative for Waltonwood Carriage Park. Most recently, she survived COVID-19 in 2020, making her one of the oldest known survivors of the disease, according to the research group. Gibson married Kenneth Gibson, her high school sweetheart, in April 1930 in Oregon, Missouri; the pair married during the Great Depression. The couple lived on a farm at the time. "We had chickens and a huge garden and all kinds of fruit trees,' Gibson told CBS Detroit in July 2023. 'We had plenty to eat. We just didn't have any money to spend.' They eventually moved to Idaho, where her husband's relative had a farm. The move is what introduced them to the potato industry. "He said Kenny can help me in the field and you can be the cook,' Gibson told CBS Detroit. 'I hadn't cooked a thing in my life." After seven years of marriage, the pair had a son, Kenneth Richard, in January 1937. After that, the couple moved to Newdale, Idaho and later, Idaho Falls as her husband worked as a potato farmer. He later worked as a potato broker until he retired in 1977. He died in 2003. After decades in Idaho, a move to Michigan At the age of 102, she began living in a nursing home in Canton, Michigan, where her grandson lives. As her grandson was moving her to Michigan, Gibson had a request for him, Waltonwood Executive Director Angie Hanson told McKnight's Senior Living. 'She wanted to ride on the back of his Harley, but he wouldn't let her,' Hanson said. Gibson still speaks to her son, 88-year-old Kenneth Richard, every night. She also has three grandchildren, six great-grandchildren, and 16 great-grandchildren. Today, she loves reading and cards, watching 'Price is Right' each day, and catching up with her friends at Waltonwood. This year, she plans to celebrate her birthday by participating in the downtown Plymouth Fourth of July Parade. There will be a banner announcing her birthday, Waltonwood said. As Gibson reflected on her life back in 2023, she recalled being married for over 70 years. She and Kenneth made it a point to enjoy themselves, having the most fun in the 1950s and 1960s, she told CBS Detroit. "We would go dancing every Saturday with a group of friends," she told the outlet. When asked what helped to hold their marriage together, she tried to answer from the perspective of her high school sweetheart. 'I would've taken her back home several times, but we didn't have any money, so we had to stay together," she said. Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY's NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757. Email her at sdmartin@
