Students from all walks of life come together to learn and compete while helping their community. But they also have a lot of fun while doing it. A common theme in these nominations was just how fun it was to be a part of the Mt. Vernon FFA chapter. It’s a place where you can make lifelong friends while still working hard and learning valuable skills that will be carried on later in life. A high performing and highly active chapter, students from Mt. Vernon are always out and about in the community. Throughout the year they do over 250 activities and over 30 different community events, while still making time to lend a helping hand. Students have volunteered at various events from The Lights at Cedarhurst to helping the Jefferson County Farm Bureau and everything in between. They also host a Safety Day Camp to help teach Jefferson County students about farming and agricultural safety awareness. Congrats to one of our FFA Chapter of The Month Finalists, The Mt. Vernon Township High School FFA! Thank you to Elias Mullinax, Mt. Vernon FFA President & Morgan Payne, Mt. Vernon FFA Vice President for joining the show this morning.

 

Event Organizer Chris Bernard joins the show to discuss the rising popularity of Sports Collectables and of course their big event on 2/23/25 at The Double Tree By Hilton in Mt. Vernon.

 
...

Drew Baldridge joins Big Jake while his hit song "She's Somebody's Daughter" is sitting at #3 on the Top 40 Hot Country Songs Chart. Drew tells the story of his career path leading up to 2019, COVID hitting and shutting down Nashville-his record label-and nearly his career. But out of the darkest of times, social media and the power of perseverance by Drew, the light is at the end of the tunnel and his career is back on track with now even more potential for success than when he first started. What a story...we can't wait to see what's next!

 
...

Whitney Hodge joins Big Jake's show to discuss the importance of CASA to Jefferson County as well as their upcoming Fried Chicken Dinner Fundraiser this weekend. Learn more about CASA and how you can become an advocate for foster children in Jefferson County via this interview!

 

We are in serious need of foster parents in this area! However, just because fostering may not be the right fit for you, doesn't mean there aren't other ways to help!

As of 7/31/24, there are 176 Jefferson County children in foster care. Only 92 of those children have a CASA Advocate. The #1 reason that we are not serving 100% of the children is due to a lack of volunteers.

Our volunteers spend an average of 5-10 hours per month advocating for a foster child or set of siblings. Those hours would include meeting with the child monthly, maintaining contact with the caseworker, service providers and CASA supervisor and attending court hearings and case meetings when needed. The CASA advocate is the eyes and the ears for the judge outside of the courtroom and the voice for the child in the courtroom. A New Advocate Training class will begin in October!

 
...