The 83rd National FFA Convention, which concluded over the weekend in Indianapolis, set an all-time event attendance record with a total crowd of 54,942 members, advisors, sponsors and guests.

The new slate of young leaders for the organization are pictured here, left to right: Riley Pagett of Oklahoma, president; Landan Schaffert of Colorado, secretary; Shannon Norris of New Mexico, western region VP; James Flatt of Tennessee, southern region VP; Tiffany Rogers of Michigan, eastern region VP; and Wyatt DeJong of South Dakota, central region VP.

The organization recognized the service of and bid farewell to its long-time national FFA advisor, Dr. Larry D. Case, who will retire on Jan. 1, 2011. “FFA members, you are the future and you make this Missouri farm boy proud,” Dr. Case said to the crowd at the convention. “I’m a thankful man. More than anything I’m thankful for the love of my family…thank you from the bottom of my heart for making it possible for me to be of service to others.”

To honor Dr. Case for his 26 years of service to the organization, the FFA instituted the Larry D. and Joy L. Case Endowment that will be used to benefit agricultural instructor training, student leader development and global agriculture career opportunities. As of Oct. 22, $63,500 has been raised for the Case Endowment principal. T-shirts with the national advisor’s face are being sold and “FFAowl” can be texted to 20222 by any cell phone and $10 will be donated to the endowment.