Interviews with the Alabama Guests

The 54th annual Peanut Butter & Milk Festival is winding down as the ten visitors to Meeker County from Hartford, Alabama have a few more activities today. They will fly back to Alabama tomorrow.

This year’s student delegates from Hartford have included Connor Childs, Hunter Brooks, Trenton Thompson, Vince Gervasoni, Ruthie Dawsey, and Addi Mae Habbard – who are all seniors at Geneva County High School and Callie Cotton, who is a junior. The adult delegates are Deni & Robby Cotton (Callie’s parents) and Leslie Habbard (Addi Mae’s mother).

Addi Mae Habbard has been hosted by Desirae Polzin. She’s been involved in the FFA since the 9th grade and is involved in basketball and softball, and she’ll be playing softball when she goes to college. One of the things she’s noticed in Minnesota is the yield signs.

Callie Cotton is staying with Bianca Forsberg this week. She’s the FFA treasurer and is involved in volleyball, basketball, and National Honor Society and enjoys fishing, hunting and singing. Callie hopes to become a physical therapy assistant. She enjoyed Karaoke Wednesday evening at the Wheeler home, and she’s been surprised by the size of the houses in Minnesota.

Connor Childs has been hosted this week by Cade Cervin. He farms with his dad and they raise corn, peanuts and cotton, and he’s hoping to eventually take over the family farm. He’s involved in FFA, has 4 dogs and plans to attend Troy University to major in agronomy. Connor says he was impressed with their tour of the Bushmills Ethanol plant.

Hunter Brooks is staying with Emmett VanDerBill this week. He’s an FFA officer, is the manager for both the basketball and football teams in Hartford and is on the track & field team. Hunter also plans to attend Troy University to major in psychology. Hunter says during their dairy day tour, they got to witness a cow having surgery.

Ruthie Dawsey is being hosted by Taylor Sanden. She’s involved in FFA, FCCLA, and her youth group and plans to attend Auburn University and major in education. Ruthie says the cow surgery on dairy day was definitely memorable and she’s so thankful that there is a sister city program between Hartford and Litchfield.

Trenton Thompson is staying with Wyatt Ratike this week. He lives on a farm with his grandma and works in a metal scrap yard. He’s involved in FFA, the FBLA chapter, the football team, the track team and enjoys hunting and fishing. Trenton says he enjoyed dairy day and snowmobiling.

Vincent Gervasoni is being hosted by Desirae Polzin. He lived in New Jersey for 12 years, but moved to Hartford, Alabama 5 years ago and lives on a farm. He’s involved in FFA, FBLA, basketball, football, swimming and track and enjoys video games and cooking. Vince wants to enlist in the military after high school and go to Ranger school. Vincent says he’s enjoyed the outdoor activities that they’ve gotten to experience in Minnesota and he also liked dairy day.

Leslie Habbard is the Principal at Geneva County High School. She and her husband, Adam, have 4 children. Leslie says their tour of Bushmills Ethanol was very interesting, and she enjoyed their time at Steffes Auctioneers. She says it’s been fun to see all of the pheasants in Minnesota, how friendly everyone is, and she enjoyed touring Litchfield High School.

Robby and Deni Cotton have 3 children. Robby does maintenance and painting at the school in Hartford, and Deni is the secretary at Sardis Church. She’s also the president of the Sister City Committee and vice president of the Geneva County Bulldog Athletic Club. Robby says he raises chickens as a hobby and also enjoys fishing and hunting. He says he’s noticed how people in Minnesota seem to drink lots of milk and water, whereas they tend to drink soda and sweet tea in Alabama. He says he was very impressed with their dairy day tours.

Deni says she was part of the group that visited Litchfield back in 2017 and she noticed a lot of changes at IRD Glass since then as they had a tour there on Wednesday. She says she also enjoyed the Bushmills Ethanol tour and going ice fishing.

Leslie, Robby and Deni have been hosted this week by Todd & Deana Wheeler. Following another busy day of tours in the Litchfield area today, the Southern guests will return to Alabama tomorrow.