Justin Schrag, FFA advisor and vocational agriculture teacher at GHS, said the FFA last sold the bolts over several years from 1992 to 1999.

It was a program begun by the Goessel Young Farmers and Ranchers, an organization which disbanded, and the FFA has no record of what happened with bolt orders before 1992, Schrag said.

But when he and members of FFA started to receive inquiries this year about when to buy the bolts, Schrag said they realized it was time to restart the program.

Alex Goossen, a senior who is the FFA secretary, said members of the organization also realized they needed the bolts to restore supplies in their own vo-ag shop for the many machinery projects they do.

"I've used a bunch of them myself," said Goossen, who recently finished restoring a John Deere 730 diesel tractor, and is now restoring a John Deere 720 diesel, both owned by his father, Ervin Goossen.

A characteristic price would be $1.40 a pound for grade five bolts, Goossen said.

Schrag said the program enables farmers to buy in bulk only the amount of bolts they need to use instead of a minimum amount.

Supporting the FFA's effort, Schrag said, is Goering Hardware at Moundridge, which supplies the group with a reduced price to allow it a margin. Plus, Schrag said, the FFA is grateful that the store will take back its overage to sell at the store with no penalty to the group.

Goossen and Evan Esau, FFA chapter sentinel, coordinate the 45 members in the effort.

"All the people who talk to us seem to think it's a good thing we're doing it," Goossen said. "We let them tell us the amounts and sizes they want-it varies according to what kind of equipment they have."

Goossen said the group's first advertisement in the Free Press brought in "quite a few calls" from throughout the area, but each FFA member also has four names from a previous list to call.

Goossen finds the bolt program important to the support and the traditions of the FFA in the Goessel community, traditions he feels very much a part of.

"This is technically my fourth year in FFA, but I feel like I've been in it a lot longer," he said. "I got involved in it in fifth grade, when my sister (Carmelita) was a freshman, and I helped her practice the FFA creed. I came to the FFA meetings too, and felt active."

Schrag and Goossen cite the vo-ag program, FFA projects and leadership, and the community service provided by the bolt sales as things worthy of public support.