Camp is owned by the Tennessee FFA Association
On Wednesday, May 22 at 11:30 a.m. Centennial Pavilion, the first new structure at Camp Clements (CC) in Doyle since a riverfront amphitheater was installed in 1990, will host a ribbon cutting during the Tennessee Future Farmers of America (FFA) Leadership Training Camp.
CC, located at 5401 Sparkmantown Road, became the nation’s first FFA camp in 1927 and is the longest-operating camp of its kind in America.
“Tennessee FFA Camp Clements Sold out and packed summer after summer,” according to a statement by the Tennessee FFA Foundation. “The camp hosts thousands of agricultural education students from across Tennessee for a week of leadership development.”
The Farm Bureau Centennial Pavilion opens just in time for the 2024 camp season (100 guests, including sponsors, dignitaries, and FFA members will be on hand to cut the ribbon) and is named in honor of 100 years of both Farm Bureau and FFA.
The timber frame pavilion was built by Honest Abe Log Homes of Moss, TN, and J&S Construction of Cookeville (both donated materials to assist with the project), along with contributions from the Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation, Farm Bureau Health Plans and Farm Bureau Insurance of Tennessee, was also a recipient of a $50,000 by Millard V. Oakley before his death in 2022.
“Both he and his late wife JJ Oakley will be honored as benefactors of the project. The couple owned numerous businesses and farmed in Overton and surrounding counties,” says the FFA. “The Oakleys were perhaps best known for their generosity to the community.”
Van Buren County High School helped build the podium and tables while Monterey High School FFA members assisted with the “florals” at the facility.
“White County FFA members will be on hand to celebrate the occasion, as well,” according to the FFA.
The camp is owned by the Tennessee FFA Association and leased to the State of Tennessee and the 2024-2025 State FFA Officer Team will kick off the event.
Those officers are:
- State President T. Wayne Williams of Woodbury
- State Secretary Shelbi Wallace of McEwen
- West Tennessee Vice President Sarah Ault of Munford
- Middle Tennessee Vice President Skylar Baird of Wilson Central
- East Tennessee Vice President Emily Whitehead of William Blount
- State Treasurer Eli Julian of Cookeville
- State Reporter Paige Pardue of Hendersonville
- State Sentinel Lexi Rush of Portland.
“The camp season will run from Memorial Day through late July,” according to the FFA. “Many other FFA training events and meetings are held at Camp Clements throughout the year.”
For information about CC, visit https://tnffa.org/camp-clements.
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