Grassland FFA

Learning to Do, Doing to Learn, Earning to Live, Living to Serve

Update On the Latest Events

Here are some updates on the Grassland FFA’s latest events.

First off, on January 11th, six members received their FFA Jackets for the first time at the Mid Winter Convention at the 100th Pennsylvania Farm Show. Those members are as follows:

  • Mikayla Horst
  • Alexandria O’Neil
  • Sarah Shirk
  • Leah Strausser
  • Jacob Vickers
  • Shawn Zimmerman

 

Congratulations to all of you! Also, at the same convention, nine members earned their Keystone Degrees! Those members are as follows:

  • Elliott Bollinger
  • Allyssa Griest
  • Beth Horning
  • Elizabeth Mumma
  • Natalie Sweigart
  • Bria Taylor
  • KiKi Wallick
  • Aaron Weber
  • Emily Wilson

Congrats everyone!

 

Also, the start of the second semester brought about a new officer team for the Grassland FFA. It includes the following members at each positon:

  • Will Horning- President
  • Sammy Eberly- Vice President
  • Sarah Eberly- Secretary
  • Ashley Berrier- Treasurer
  • Heather Zeiset- Sentinel
  • Sarah Shirk- Reporter
  • Morgan Gooch – Historian

 

The next event after the Mid Winter Convention was the ACES leadership conference on February 6th and 7th. ACES stands for Agricultural Cooperation Establishes Success. At this conference we learned about the importance of communication, the history of the FFA and the opportunities it provides for its members, and what qualities are in a leader and how we can use those qualities to lead others. It was a very exciting weekend, which resulted in new friendships and new ideas to improve our chapter. Not to mention the awesome 80’s dance Saturday night!

 

Also, in February, ten members went to Disney with Mrs. Drzal and Miss Tressler. Morgan Gooch recalled that it was a good trip, filled with busy days and good food, like the toasted cucumbers the group loved. She loved how closely everyone bonded with the advisors! Ashley Berrier explained more of the seminars, remembering the Leadership Seminar, where the group learned about leadership skills and overcoming obstacles as a team, the Zoological Sciences, where the group learned about Disney’s care and treatment of the animals, and the Wildlife Conservation course at the Disney Greenhouse where they learned about better ways to grow food. Overall, it was a good educational trip for both the advisers and the students!

 

At the County Public Speaking Event two of members placed very well! Will Horning placed first in the Senior category and Sam Shirk placed second in the Extemporaneous category. Well done!

Additionally, the Grassland FFA chapter added a new fundraiser this year: a petting zoo at Spring Fling! To be able to pet the animals, kids had to pay $2. Natalie Eberly brought in Gracie, a stifer. Morgan Gooch brought in bull calf. Alex O’Neill brought in Angel, a Boer Cross goat. Heather Zeiset brought in her seeing eye dog in-training, a golden retriever named Niro. The Ag Department also brought Roscoe and Two-Face, two bunnies from the bunny shed. Beef sticks were also sold for $1 a stick.

Also, the Grassland FFA held their 57th annual banquet on May 26th. The awards program started off with the Keynote Speaker, Deputy Secretary Greg Hostetter. Katie Sharrer, the Pennsylvania FFA Reporter, also spoke early in the ceremony. Congratulations to all who received a degree or an award during the program.

 

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States and Banquet

Any FFA member interested in going to states needs to sign up by May 6th. We cannot accept applications after that. States this year will be from June 14-16. Please see Mrs. Drzal ASAP if you wish to sign up!

Also please don’t forget to RSVP for our annual FFA banquet by May 5th!

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Course Selection

Don’t forget as you are registering for classes to sign up for Ag courses!

Ag Science 1 and Ag Science 2 each count as an elective credit

Horticulture, Food Science (new next year), Veterinary Science, Animal Production and AP Environmental Science count as science credit.

There is also Leadership and Ag Business Management!

We are working towards having some of these courses count as college credit. Although nothing is currently set in stone we hope that the Food Science, Vet Science and Ag Business Management course will have college credit tied to them for next school year.

Remember to stay involved with the Grassland FFA chapter you must be registered for an Ag Course!

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Christmas Update :)

Merry Christmas! The Grassland FFA Chapter has been up to some pretty cool things lately but we have been a bit behind in updating our blog! So here is some updates with pictures to follow at a later date.

1. We’ve elected a new officer team! Congratulations to:

President – William Horning
Vice President – Sarah Eberly
Treasurer – Ashley Berrier
Secretary – Samantha Eberly
Reporter – Sarah Shirk
Historian – Morgan Gooch
Sentinel – Heather Zeiset

2. We will be having a great celebration during the Mid Winter Convention (1/11 at the Farm Show) when Grassland FFA gets recognized for the following Keystone Degree Recipients and FFA Alumni Jacket Scholarship Winners:

Jackets :

– Alexandria O’Neill
– Jacob Vickers
– Leah Strausser
– Mikayla Horst
– Sarah Shirk
– Shawn Zimmerman

Keystones:

Emily Wilson
– Bria Taylor
– Beth Horning
– Elizabeth Mumma
– KiKi Wallick
– Natalie Sweigart
– Elliott Bollinger
– Aaron Weber
– Allyssa Griest

3. A huge congratulations to William Horning for winning a National FFA SAE (Supervised Agricultural Experience) Grants. William will receive a $1,000 grant toward his SAE project: re-bailing large hay bales into smaller square hay bales.

4. We had an amazing faculty luncheon on 12/3. The students brought in lasagna, garlic bread, salad and desserts for a delicious meal. We were able to serve faculty and staff from GSMS and GSHS during all the lunches. It was a great chance for everyone to get a good homemade meal and have time to catch up! Grassland FFA is very thankful for all of the support we receive from the school and love showing our thanks through this meal each year!

5. We are selling t-shirts and sweatshirts and still have some available if you are interested! Just contact Mrs. Drzal (heather_drzal@elanco.org). Tshirts are $12 and Sweatshirts are $20.

6. We had a very successful trip to the Fall CDEs (Career Development Events). Here are the results from the Fall CDEs! We took an awesome group of students to the Lebanon Fair Expo on Nov 10th to compete in various CDEs. Congrats to all participants!

The first number listed is their placing overall and the second number listed is their placing in Lancaster County.

Horse Judging
– Sami Eberly – 60, 21
– Bria Taylor – 66, 25
– Michaiah Messner – 73, 29
– Sarah Eberly – 91, 37

Interview
– Morgan Gooch – 12

Dairy Judging
– Roy Bramm – 9, 3
– Jere Ringler – 39, 10
– Willoh Robbins – 87, 28
– Josh Lehman – 114, 34

Land Judging
– William Horning – 2, 1
– Grant Sauder – 3, 2

Nursery Landscape
– Austin Weaver – 14

Forestry
– Noah Good – 3, 1
– Dan Styer – 16, 5
– Natalie Eberly – 25, 7
– Jake Graybill – 26, 8
– Adam Weber – 35, 11

Aquatics

– Brina Martin – 14, 2
– Heather Zeiset – 37, 3

7. We had a very successful fruit and ButterBraid sale this year! Thank you to all whom participated! We even were able to donate fruit to the Welsh Mountain Retirement Community and New Holland Food Bank! Grassland FFA loves to give back to the community for all of the support for our program and we were very excited to be able to do this. We also enjoyed being able to pass out fruit to everyone who helps to keep our school running! We are very thankful for their support of our chapter.

8. We are having our annual chapter Christmas Party today during iSpartan. We are very excited for 50 members to come and join us for fellowship, food and fun! There will be pizza, snacks, cookie decorating, Christmas gift passing and a scavenger hunt!

9. Thank you to everyone whom came out and supported us during our chicken BBQ sale in September! It was a great fundraiser and the Grassland FFA members had a lot of fun organizing it and cooking chicken!

10. The annual New Holland Fair Tractor Driving Competition took place in October. Despite the cold rainy weather the students still came out and did their best! Thank you to all the volunteers (Mr. Lauffer, Mr. Shirk, Mr. Stoltzfus, Mr. Day and Mr. Frederick) who came out to help make this even successful!

– 1st Will Horning
– 2nd Roy Bramm
– 3rd Thomas Young
– 4th Grant Sauder
– 5th Austin Weaver
– 6th Brian Beck
– 7th Jere Ringler

11. The annual New Holland Goat Show Participants did a great job in October as well! Congratulations to our two FFA members for all their hard work and dedication to their goats! Thank you also to all of the buyers for helping make the students end on a successful note!
– Samantha Shirk for taking first in her class
– Sarah Shirk for taking second in her class
– Samantha Shirk for receiving Grand Champion Market Goat
– Samantha Shirk for getting 1st in showmanship in the senior class
– Sarah Shirk for getting 2nd in showmanship in the senior class

12. William Horning, Bria Taylor, Jared Weaver and Alex O’Neil had the opportunity to attend Fall Leadership Conference in October. They had a great time and learned a lot about being great leaders in our FFA chapter.

13. Congratulations to all the freshman who participated in the Greenhand Livestock Judging Competition at the Manheim Fair. This was the first time many of the students have ever judged livestock and they did great! Ribbons were awarded to the top 10 students from our chapter.
– 1st – Natalie Eberly
– 2nd – Carter Combs
– 3rd – Camryn Reppert
– 4th – Shawn Zimmerman
– 5th – Mikayla Horst
– 6th – Daisy Reiff
– 7th – Alexandria O’Neil
– 8th – Megan Gockley
– 9th – Scott Patton
– 10th – Sarah Shirk

Congratulations also to all the tractor drivers who participated in the county tractor driving competition at the Manheim fair. The competition was tough and they did great!

– Roy Bramm for getting 1st place in the Junior class
– Grant Sauder for getting 5th place in the Senior class

12. During the annual FFA Trapshoot we had 4 Grassland FFA members participate. They had fun and did a great job! Noah Good placed 10th overall and Jacob Good placed 8th!

13. On October 9th we had a great visit from the PA FFA State Officers. They got to work with every class and the Grassland FFA members enjoyed working with them and getting time to talk with them during a pizza lunch!

14. Miss Tressler and Mrs. Drzal participated in the annual Halloween Dress Up Contest with the Science Department. They were excited to help the Science Department bring home a win with our footie pajama costumes 🙂

15. The Leadership Class held a great school wide canned food drive to help support Petra Church. They were able to donate over 100 cans of food to the Petra Food Bank! The students had a great time learning about the leadership behind organizing major events and also taking a tour of the food bank.

16. 9 members of the Grassland FFA chapter will be traveling for an educational trip to Disney World in February! Check back later to see all the great things they learned about animal science and leadership while there!

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Fruit Fundraiser

It’s that time of the year again! Time for our annual fruit and ButterBraid fundraiser.

Here is all of the information you need to know about our annual fruit sale including the online shopping website!

http://freshfruitorder.org/GrasslandFFA

Similar to last year we will still be selling Clementines and ButterBraid pastries.

However, we have new and exciting things coming this year! We will be using a new fruit supplier (Pee Jay’s). This means we will be selling pears, apples and pineapples in addition to the oranges, tangelos and grapefruits.
With this new supplier comes the ability to order and pay for fruit online using a credit card. We will post the shopping link on Monday!

Also any fruit item with a truck icon next to it means that, that item can be ordered and shipped directly to you (or to the person of your choosing)! Any fruit item without a truck icon next to it will be shipped to the school and then can be picked up by you or by an FFA member and then delivered to you by that FFA member.
If you are ordering online you can still give credit to a specific FFA member! This allows us to count in your order towards prizes for the students! We will be giving prizes to the top 5 sellers in the chapter, the top 2 sellers in each grade and also the top selling grade overall will win a doughnut party featuring chocolate milk and Long John’s from Achenbach’s!

Clementines and ButterBriads do not have a shipping option, they will all be shipped to the school and need to be picked up by you or an FFA member.

Please note that PeeJay’s also sells Cheesecakes however we will not be selling those due to selling ButterBraids.

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Ag Awareness Days

Each year, the Grassland FFA chapter gets the amazing opportunity of working with the ELANCO School District third graders. This year our Ag Awareness Days was held on September 22. The FFA members design stations that teach the third graders about various aspects of agriculture. The stations are set up around Brubaker Park and the third graders rotate around until they have visited each station. This year we had 10 stations and they focused on the following information:

1. Tractor Safety – Students learned not only about how to be safe around farm equipment, but also got to take a wagon ride.

2. Wildlife – Students learned about different biomes and the animals that live in those biomes. They also focused on biomes and wildlife found in PA.

3. Livestock – Students learned about different animals (calf, pig, goat, dog, rabbit) and how they are related to agriculture. They also got to pet and interact with the animals.

4. Animal By-Products – Students learned about the various products they use everyday and the various animals that they came from. They each also got a packet of smarties after learning about what is in their smarties!

5. Food For America – Students learned about where their food comes from and the different kinds of farms they might see in the United States. They played games and also got to sample Orange Juice and Chocolate Milk!

6. Games – Students learned how to milk cows (via a simulation of water in gloves) and they also got to participate in an egg race.

7. Careers – Students learned about the various agricultural careers while playing a game of freeze tag.

8. Integrated Pest Management – Students learned about what is and isn’t a pest and got to play a game of pest tag.

9. Watersheds – Students learned about what watershed are, how they work and also the watersheds that are in Pennsylvania including the Susquehanna which we live in!

10. Chickens – Students learned about the parts of a chicken, got to see the parts on a “chicken” (due to biosecurity reasons we had a student dress up in a chicken costume as we couldn’t bring live birds), and also color in a picture of a chicken and label the various parts.

After visiting each station, the third graders get to enjoy a snack and some schools even stay to enjoy lunch at the park. Our hope is that each third grader learns something new about agriculture that they can take home with them and share with their families. Although the weather started out a little cloudy, it ended up being a great day at Brubaker Park filled with lots of learning and fun!

 

Aaron Weber teaching the third graders about tractor safety.

Aaron Weber teaching the third graders about tractor safety.

Aaron Weber teaching the third graders about tractor safety.

Aaron Weber teaching the third graders about tractor safety.

Playing Ag Careers Freeze Tag.

Playing Ag Careers Freeze Tag.

Learning about Biomes and Wildlife found in those biomes.

Learning about Biomes and Wildlife found in those biomes.

Giving their tour guide, Austin Drescher, a huge thank you hug.

Giving their tour guide, Austin Drescher, a huge thank you hug.

Learning about Animal By Products!

Learning about Animal By Products!

ELANCO Third Graders participating at the Ag By-Products station.

ELANCO Third Graders participating at the Ag By-Products station.

Boa the goat says Hi!

Boa the goat says Hi!

Blue and Bacon getting to know each other before the third graders arrived!

Blue and Bacon getting to know each other before the third graders arrived!

Buddy trying hard not to fall asleep after his busy day of being petted.

Buddy trying hard not to fall asleep after his busy day of being petted.

Learning all about Bacon the Micro Pig.

Learning all about Bacon the Micro Pig.

Chance is ready for someone to throw his bone!

Chance is ready for someone to throw his bone!

After learning about tractor safety, the third graders got to take a wagon ride!

After learning about tractor safety, the third graders got to take a wagon ride!

They are super excited for the ride!

They are super excited for the ride!

ELANCO third graders learning about livestock!

ELANCO third graders learning about livestock!

Heather Zeiset teaching the third graders about Chance the seeing eye dog she is raising.

Heather Zeiset teaching the third graders about Chance the seeing eye dog she is raising.

Bacon says Hi!

Bacon says Hi!

Learning about the rabbits.

Learning about the rabbits.

Buddy had a great day!

Buddy had a great day!

Greeting Chance and learning about what Chance is doing as a seeing eye dog.

Greeting Chance and learning about what Chance is doing as a seeing eye dog.

Petting Blue! Blue loves to give the kids kisses as they are petting him.

Petting Blue! Blue loves to give the kids kisses as they are petting him.

Buddy loved visiting with all the third graders.

Buddy loved visiting with all the third graders.

Petting Buddy!

Petting Buddy!

Adam Weber, Austin Mueller, William Horning and Grant Sauder teaching the third graders about livestock.

Adam Weber, Austin Mueller, William Horning and Grant Sauder teaching the third graders about livestock.

ELANCO third graders sharing what they think pests are.

ELANCO third graders sharing what they think pests are.

ELANCO third graders sharing what they think pests are.

ELANCO third graders sharing what they think pests are.

Playing Pest Tag at the Integrated Pest Management Station.

Playing Pest Tag at the Integrated Pest Management Station.

Playing Pest Tag at the Integrated Pest Management Station.

Playing Pest Tag at the Integrated Pest Management Station.

ELANCO third graders got to simulate what it would be like to milk a cow using plastic gloves and water.

ELANCO third graders got to simulate what it would be like to milk a cow using plastic gloves and water.

Having an egg race!

Having an egg race!

The ELANCO third graders were very competitive when it came time for the egg race!

The ELANCO third graders were very competitive when it came time for the egg race!

Trying very hard to keep the egg on their spoon!

Trying very hard to keep the egg on their spoon!

Ally Griest and Angel Poteet giving the third graders directions on how to compete in the egg race.

Ally Griest and Angel Poteet giving the third graders directions on how to compete in the egg race.

Ready, Set ...

Ready, Set …

Go!

Go!

ELANCO third graders got to simulate what it would be like to milk a cow using plastic gloves and water.

ELANCO third graders got to simulate what it would be like to milk a cow using plastic gloves and water.

ELANCO third graders got to simulate what it would be like to milk a cow using plastic gloves and water.

ELANCO third graders got to simulate what it would be like to milk a cow using plastic gloves and water.

ELANCO third graders got to simulate what it would be like to milk a cow using plastic gloves and water.

ELANCO third graders got to simulate what it would be like to milk a cow using plastic gloves and water.

ELANCO third graders got to simulate what it would be like to milk a cow using plastic gloves and water.

ELANCO third graders got to simulate what it would be like to milk a cow using plastic gloves and water.

ELANCO third graders got to simulate what it would be like to milk a cow using plastic gloves and water.

ELANCO third graders got to simulate what it would be like to milk a cow using plastic gloves and water.

ELANCO third graders sharing stories about the different types of farms they have visited.

ELANCO third graders sharing stories about the different types of farms they have visited.

Learning about all the different kinds of farms that exist in Pa!

Learning about all the different kinds of farms that exist in Pa!

Learning about parts of the chicken.

Learning about parts of the chicken.

A yummy snack for the ELANCO third graders at the end of their Ag Awareness Days.

A yummy snack for the ELANCO third graders at the end of their Ag Awareness Days.

So excited for the next station!

So excited for the next station!

Learning about all the different kinds of farms that exist in Pa!

Learning about all the different kinds of farms that exist in Pa!

Enjoying the chocolate milk and orange juice at the Food for America station.

Enjoying the chocolate milk and orange juice at the Food for America station.

Enjoying the chocolate milk and orange juice at the Food for America station.

Enjoying the chocolate milk and orange juice at the Food for America station.

Learning about parts of the chicken is more fun with a chicken suit!

Learning about parts of the chicken is more fun with a chicken suit!

Heather Zeiset talking to the ELANCO third graders about seeing eye dogs.

Heather Zeiset talking to the ELANCO third graders about seeing eye dogs.

William Horning with Blue our Ag Awareness calf.

William Horning with Blue our Ag Awareness calf.

Bacon getting some love at the livestock station.

Bacon getting some love at the livestock station.

ELANCO third graders learning about what pests are at the Integrated Pest Management Station.

ELANCO third graders learning about what pests are at the Integrated Pest Management Station.

Buddy loves kids!

Buddy loves kids!

ELANCO Third Graders participating at the Ag By-Products station.

ELANCO Third Graders participating at the Ag By-Products station.

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Farmer’s Breakfast

On Sept. 16th Representative Zimmerman invited members from the Grassland FFA chapter to attend his annual Farmer’s Breakfast. Members got to meet and talk with Representative Zimmerman, Senator Aument, Secretary Redding, and Chris Herr from Penn Ag. They also had the opportunity to greet and talk with local farmers. During the presentation portion, students learned about legislative and environmental impacts of farming, general Lancaster County agriculture and also the avian influence and how PA may be impacted. Thank you so much to Representative Zimmerman for inviting us and also to Penn Ag for sponsoring the breakfast at Shady Maple. It was a delicious and educational morning for the Grassland FFA members!

Austin Mueller and Heather Zeiset greeting farmers as they come to breakfast.

Austin Mueller and Heather Zeiset greeting farmers as they come to breakfast.

Austin Mueller and Heather Zeiset greeting farmers as they come to breakfast.

Austin Mueller and Heather Zeiset greeting farmers as they come to breakfast.

Grassland FFA members Ashley Berrier, Samantha Eberly and Sarah Eberly greeting farmers.

Grassland FFA members Ashley Berrier, Samantha Eberly and Sarah Eberly greeting farmers.

Grassland FFA members pictured with Senator Aument, Representative Zimmerman and Secretary Redding.

Grassland FFA members pictured with Senator Aument, Representative Zimmerman and Secretary Redding.

Miss Pray, Miss Tressler and Grassland FFA members pictured with Representative Zimmerman, Senator Aument and Secretary Redding.

Miss Pray, Miss Tressler and Grassland FFA members pictured with Representative Zimmerman, Senator Aument and Secretary Redding.

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Chicken BBQ Fundraiser

Tickets are ready and available for purchase for our annual chicken BBQ fundraiser in conjunction with Power Pro! Tickets are $7 each and meals comes with chicken, baked potato, coleslaw, cookie and a drink. Pick up of meals will be between Noon and 5:00 pm on Saturday September 26th. We have 800 meals total to sell. If you are interested in purchasing a ticket and don’t know a current FFA member, email Miss Pray (heather_pray@elanco.org) .

 

Parents and current FFA members if you are interested in helping the day of the event please sign up outside of Miss Pray’s room. We need help from 5:30 am to 5:30 pm. We are also looking for people who can donate cookies. If you are interested in donating cookies, the sign up for this is also outside of Miss Pray’s room.

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Grassland FFA 2015-2016 calendar

Here is our activities calendar for the year! This is just an outline and things will be changed and added as the year progresses. Check back frequently and also check our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/grasslandffa) for updates! If you have any questions feel free to contact Miss Pray! heather_pray@elanco.org 2015 ffa calendar      2016 ffa calendar

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ACES!

Over Valentine’s Weekend the Grassland FFA Chapter traveled to the PA FFA ACES (Agricultural Cooperation Establishes Success) conference in Harrisburg. Students whom attend this conference learn about teamwork and how to improve their leadership skills. All FFA members are welcome to attend. Students participate in various workshops where they get to meet new students from other chapters.

Sophomore Samantha Eberly had this to say about the conference:

ACES was a wonderful experience! We got to meet a lot of new people and make some new friends. We learned about different leadership conferences and ways that we could help the community. We also learned a variety of interesting and new facts about agriculture. The activities were very fun and the people that went essentially got to know each other better. It is something I would suggest that all FFA members should try at least once. The conference is an event that is very memorable and I can’t wait to go again.  

Everyone looks great!

Everyone looks great!

1st session - we are ready!

1st session – we are ready!

Sadly getting ready to leave ACES but a funny picture is always needed!

Sadly getting ready to leave ACES but a funny picture is always needed!

Everyone looks great in their official dress!

Everyone looks great in their official dress!

Pumped for the first session of ACES!

Pumped for the first session of ACES!

New teachers having a little fun!

New teachers having a little fun!

Becky, Morgan and Kelly ready for the 1st session!

Becky, Morgan and Kelly ready for the 1st session!

Check out our awesome ACES t-shirts!

Check out our awesome ACES t-shirts!

Official Dress Funny Picture.

Official Dress Funny Picture.

Writing letters of support to our troops, veterans and wounded warriors.

Writing letters of support to our troops, veterans and wounded warriors.

Getting ready for the first session of ACES!

Getting ready for the first session of ACES!

At the dance on Saturday night.

At the dance on Saturday night.

Writing letters to support our troops, veterans and wounded warriors during ACES community service.

Writing letters to support our troops, veterans and wounded warriors during ACES community service.

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