MAY
25 2021
Write-in votes may result in competition in November
Photo provided Nathan Schuessler, Otto-Eldred FFA president (center right) and Mikara Anderson, Pennsylvania FFA president, are shown holding the official charter in front of other Otto-Eldred FFA members and the state officer team.
FFA Charter at Otto-Eldred is the first in McKean County DUKE CENTER — When students at Otto-Eldred Junior-Senior High School were awarded the official FFA Charter on Monday, organizers realized that the honor would open doors for the campus to become part of the National FFA organization. Brandon Witmer, the school’s agricultural science teacher and FFA advisor, said that becoming a chapter, however, was an honor. “This presentation was nothing short of incredible. I could not be more proud of all of our students,” Witmer stated. “This would not be possible if it wasn’t for their passion and interest in FFA. I can’t wait to continue to work with our students and community members to continue to grow our new chapter. We are the only active FFA chapter in McKean County and the newest chapter in Pennsylvania. This really is a big deal.” Witmer noted that in order to become a chapter, they had to prove that
the school is following the three-circle model of Agriculture Education. “Circle one was classroom instruction,” he said. “Otto-Eldred has offered six high school level agriculture science classes and two middle school classes this year. With the goal to offer more classes in the future.” Circle two was Supervised Agriculture Experience (SAE) projects. “SAE projects are a critical part of a successful agriculture science program,” Witmer continued. “These projects allow students to explore any career interest they might have and make it a project by getting credit from the school. These projects can take place inside or outside of school and can be from any content area. Students can complete entrepreneurial projects like creating soaps and candles, research-based projects like researching plant growth in different soil media, or placement projects where students actually have a job
or internship and complete academic standards while gaining the experience in their position.” Witmer said the third and final circle is FFA. “This has been the first year of FFA in the school and we have an active membership of nearly 50 students,” he commented. “Since we met all the necessary requirements, we were awarded our FFA charter. The Pennsylvania FFA state officer team, along with Mike Brammer, executive Director of Pennsylvania FFA, visited Otto-Eldred from Harrisburg, for the charter presentation.” He said the school had 150 students, teachers, administration, school board members and occupational advisory members present for the presentation. On a final note, Witmer said the awarding of the official FFA Charter made Otto-Eldred the 146th FFA chapter in Pennsylvania. “We are always looking for new ways to get
our students and classes involved in the community. The opening line of the FFA creed states, ‘I believe in the future of agriculture,’” he stated.”Here at Otto-Eldred, I believe in the future of agriculture in our community because of these students.” Nathan Schuessler, student FFA president at OttoEldred also weighed in on the honor. “Receiving our charter is a huge honor and an amazing achievement,” Schuessler said. “Being a part of the other 145 FFA chapters in Pennsylvania is a major accomplishment. It will allow our FFA Chapter in small Otto-Eldred to grow to new heights. Strengthening our agriculture programs and agricultural activities in our community will definitely be occurring in the near future, a future we are very excited to see.” For more information on the FFA at Otto-Eldred, contact Witmer at bwitmer@ottoeldred.org.
Write-in votes cast in the May 18 primary election in McKean County could result in some competition in the November general election. While unofficial results for write-in candidates have yet to be released, it appears enough write-in votes have been cast in races with no listed candidates that it may result in a candidate making the ballot in the general election in several races. For the county, district judge or city, a minimum of 100 write-in votes would be needed. In a school board, township or borough race, a minimum of 10 write-in votes is required for a candidate to be on the ballot for the general election. Should more than one candidate receive at least the minimum votes, the candidate with the most votes will win the race. On the Democratic ticket: in the race for Bradford Township supervisor, there were 113 write-in votes cast; for Kane Area School Board 2-year seat, 49 votes; for Kane mayor, 52 votes; Ceres Township supervisor, 12; Corydon Township supervisor, 11; Hamilton Township supervisor, 11; Wetmore Township supervisor, 25; Kane Borough, 37; Mount Jewett, 11; Port Allegany, 13; and Kane Borough 2-year, 11. In the race for Mount Jewett Borough, there were 40 Republican write-in votes cast. In the Republican race for Hamilton Township supervisor, there were 49 votes cast; for Keating Township 6-year term as supervisor, 29 votes, and 2-year term, 23 votes; Liberty Township
supervisor, 34 votes; Eldred Borough 2-year council seat, 27 votes; Kane Borough Council 2-year seat, 38 votes. The information on write-in votes was not immediately available from the McKean County elections office on Thursday. Unofficial results in several other local races were available on the county’s website. In McKean County, the race for Kane Area School Board showed that the four candidates who made it on the Republican ballot were John Ball with 554, Amber Hancharik with 531, Linda A. Anderson with 522 and Fred John Lorenzo IV with 456. Claire Ann Buckley received 433 votes. The district is split between two counties. In Elk County, Lorenzo was the top vote getter with 53, then Anderson with 50, Ball and Buckley each with 46, and Hancharik received the fewest votes at 34. Therefore, unofficial results appear to indicate that Buckley did not garner enough tallies to appear on the Republican ballot for school board. However, Buckley, Ball, Anderson and Hancharik had cross-filed to run on the Democratic ticket as well. All four will appear on the Democratic ballot in the fall general election. In the race for the Republican ballot for supervisor in Hamlin Township, candidate James E. Myers received 66 votes, while Donald Compton received 19, making Myers the apparent winner.
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