For many Katy-area students and their families, few objects match the iconic value of an FFA jacket.
The basic design of the blue and gold jacket dates back to 1933 and is so popular that millions …
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For many Katy-area students and their families, few objects match the iconic value of an FFA jacket.
The basic design of the blue and gold jacket dates back to 1933 and is so popular that millions of jackets have been sold, according to the FFA website. They’re considered a part of official FFA attire.
That iconic value has been incorporated into a quilt that will be auctioned this month, with proceeds benefiting the Katy ISD FFA students.
“We wanted to do something to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the livestock show,” Diana Robinson Elder, daughter of livestock show founder L.D. Robinson, said. “We wanted also to honor the chapters, students and advisors.”
Elder said thoughts turned to the iconic jackets. She asked Jean Warnke, an award-winning quiltmaker who lives in Spring, if she knew someone who could create a quilt that incorporated elements for each of the nine Katy ISD high school FFA chapters. Elder said whoever made the quilt would be paid for their work.
“She said, no, I’ll do it for free,” Elder said. “She said, I wanted this to honor the chapters that your father started.”
All nine Katy ISD high schools have FFA chapters, and their jackets have been incorporated into the quilt.
“She’s always creating masterpieces,” Elder said.
Elder said the quilt also features silhouettes of various types of livestock and images. On the other side of the quilt, she said, images show the history of farming in the United States.
Elder said the quilt would be on display at the livestock show, but did not know where precisely it would be displayed. She said they wanted to protect the quilt while making it visible to all. She said she and the scholarship committee were grateful to David Laird, the district’s FFA events coordinator, for his and the district’s support.
The quilt also honors Robinson, who came to Katy to create the livestock show. The L.D. Robinson Pavilion, which today is part of the district’s Gerald D. Young Agriculture Sciences Center, 5825 Katy Hockley Cutoff Road, is named in Robinson’s memory
The L.D. Robinson Scholarships were created in 1970 and have been awarded since 1971. Jim Bacon received the first scholarship that year. In 2022, four students—Kristen Justilian, Kailey Kulhanek, Kacki Kyrish and Lauren Sapp—received scholarships. In all, 138 scholarships have been awarded, Elder said.
Elder said she and other scholarship committee leaders have reached out to past scholarship recipients and board members to celebrate the livestock show anniversary. They will be honored at a buffet at 12 p.m. Friday at Midway BBQ, 8025 Highway Blvd.
L.D. Robinson is still remembered by longtime residents who remember when Katy was better known for rice fields than for today’s explosive growth.
“He was a very kind, compassionate man,” Elder said. “His greatest love was working with young people and helping them to achieve their potential in anything they were in. He took many young people who didn’t have a real strong supportive background, and he changed lives. He instilled in them the desire to succeed, and to believe in themselves and that all things were possible. His greatest joy was seeing his students achieve success.”
For more information about the scholarship, visit the website ldrskaty.org.
“I am very proud of the seeds that my father planted, and we are reaping the harvest,” Elder said. “When we see these young people and all their many accomplishments, and what they have accomplished in the Katy ISD FFA program, it’s phenomenal.”