Dale Nestingen Was "Mr. FFA" To Me

Across the Fence #374

Another beautiful sunset just ended the day. The daylight hours are slowly increasing each day. As I look out the windows from our four-season room where I do much of my writing, there’s still a pink glow on the western horizon. It blends into a deep blue higher in the sky. Venus shines brightly as the dark blue begins fading toward black.

We’re lucky enough to have great views of sunrises and sunsets every day. Our lives are a progression of sunrises and sunsets as we travel along the life paths we’ve chosen. During the past week, the sun has set for the last time for two important teachers in my life. I wrote about Corrine (Fredrickson) Zable last week. Six days later, Dale Nestingen, my high school Vocational Agriculture teacher and FFA advisor, passed away. He was 82.

As a farm boy I took Ag classes in high school. During those four years I learned about a lot of things and had experiences I wouldn’t otherwise have had. I’m proud to say I’m one of many students who earned the Wisconsin State Farmer Degree under Dale’s guidance. Even though many of us never became farmers, things we learned in his class have served us well in many other areas. They all added to our life experiences.

Aside from the book learning, we had many hands-on experiences that I remember. A farmer must be a jack-of-all-trades and know how to do many things. We learned how to test milk for butterfat content by collecting samples from each cow in small bottles during morning and evening milkings. At school we put the samples into a centrifuge to determine the butterfat.

There was a forge in the shop portion of the classroom where we learned about blacksmithing. We found it fascinating to heat the metal in the red-hot coals and then hammer and shape it into hooks and other useable items on the anvil. I can still hear the sizzle as we dipped the still hot metal into the pail of water to cool it. We also learned how to weld.

We learned carpentry skills. I built a crate to haul pigs in and a show box to use at the fair when I showed cattle. Both of those items survived until the day of the auction after my parents died. They were sold at the auction and are probably still in use today. Not bad for something I built 50 years ago.

We learned how to test the moisture content of corn, how to judge dairy cattle, how to dehorn calves, and yes, I even learned how to castrate pigs. My father never liked that job, so it became my job to do the “surgery” while he held the pigs down. I could even mention making oyster stew but that’s another story! All these things were learned through the teaching and guidance of Mr. Nestingen. I still find it hard to call him Dale.

We also learned leadership through the FFA (Future Farmers of America). It was a compliment to the 4-H programs that most of us farm kids were involved in. During my senior year I was president of the Westby Chapter. It afforded me many experiences I would never have had if I hadn’t been involved in FFA. It included trips to officer’s training classes, the Wisconsin State FFA convention for two years, the national convention of the American Institute of Cooperation held at the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis, and the National FFA Convention in Kansas City, Missouri. There was also the 3-day senior FFA trip to Chicago by train from La Crosse. Those trips and experiences may not seem like much to most people these days, but back then, we were farm kids who had seen very little of the country outside the borders of Vernon County.

Our involvement in the Vocational Ag program and FFA provided many learning experiences for us and expanded our horizons. We learned that we were capable of doing many things. It forced me to become involved in public speaking, something I’d been petrified to do before that time.

While I was president I also wrote and edited a bi-monthly newsletter called the “Westby Future Farmer.” I guess even in high school I wanted to be a writer. I found back some of those issues, buried in a box of stuff in the basement. I’d like to share a message I wrote in one of my Messages from Your President.

“We owe a lot to our advisor, Mr. Nestingen. Since he came to Westby (during our freshman year), our chapter has had two American Farmer Degrees (Robert Erickson became the first, and Larry Strangstalien became the second, to achieve this honor from Westby). Twelve members have achieved the Wisconsin State Farmer Degree, and David Meyer became the vice president and president of the Wisconsin State FFA. We’ve had representatives at the National AIC convention for two years, won co-op awards, state awards, and many other accomplishments too numerous to mention. Without his help and initiative, none of these things would have been possible. The Westby FFA, Westby High School, and the community, can be proud to have Dale Nestingen.”

The sun may have set for Mr. Nestingen, but it will continue to rise and shine brightly for all those “farm kids” he helped, as we continue their journey through life.

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