After a seven-year hiatus, Sunny Hills ag students who are part of the Future Farmers of America [FFA] hosted a Fall Festival at the farm on Saturday, Oct. 19.

“We really wanted more community events, which was something that our chapter officers and teachers wanted, so they can learn more about just animals and agriculture and have fun things to do, so that was the biggest motivation,” agriculture teacher Shannon Deskin said during the event. “And so far, it’s going really well, especially watching people shear the sheep, watching people out with the animals, that’s been very rewarding, and watching them learn a little bit more about our animals and our program has been really nice.”

Though admission was free, activities such as feeding at the petting zoo, sheep shearing, carnival games, pumpkin patch and food options required tickets, each worth $1. Each activity required a different number of tickets.

“We’re lucky to have very motivated students, and they took charge of planning what kind of food they wanted to serve, what games they wanted to have, and the same thing with animals and other events,” Deskin said. “So my job was really to make kind of their dreams come true, and this is very much a student-driven event.”

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Kyuwon Han

Visitors walk around the pumpkin patch, each costing $10, at the farm.

While the event is meant to open the gates and familiarize the FFA to the community, she said the ticket proceeds would also help the program obtain more supplies and hold future events.

“I wouldn’t consider this a fundraiser because it’s really meant to open our gates for the community,” the agriculture teacher said. “But anything we did make would go back into the program to host further events.”

President of the FFA Alumni Association Renee Van Dorne, who volunteered to handle cash sales and welcome visitors for the Fall Festival, said she was satisfied with the event’s outcome.

“There are so many little kids just smiling and playing with the animals and picking up a stick from the dirt, and that’s great to get them more in touch with raising, farming and pumpkins, for that matter,” Van Dorne said.

Spanish teacher Chris Llamas said he visited with his daughters upon being informed by FFA treasurer Kaley Oh, one of his former students.

“It’s a great opportunity to come out and see what some of my students are doing out here,” Llamas said. “But also my two little ones, as you can see them roaming around in the pumpkins, through the pumpkins; they love being outdoors and animals, so it’s great to be here.”

One of the FFA members who ran the petting zoo, senior Victoria Acosta, said she enjoyed how she was able to promote her program and the animals she helped raise, including the newborn baby goats.

“I know a decent amount of people here, so I’ve just been talking and connecting with people, and we also have to teach people how to feed them because if you feed them wrong, they will bite you,” Acosta said. “But other than that, everything’s gone pretty smoothly; everybody’s having fun feeding our breeding animals and the moms and watching the babies.”

Agriculture teacher Brian Kim was also happy with the outcome and would like to continue it as an annual festival.

“I think we and the student officers are doing a great job; they did all the work, so props to them,” Kim said. “I’m excited for our future events as well.”