INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — A major honor was bestowed to a Cherryvale High School graduate at last week’s National FFA Convention.

Shane Blaes, a 2007 CHS graduate and a current Kansas FFA stat e officer, was named national winner of the Agricultural Mechanics Repair and Maintenance - Entrepreneurship/Placement Proficiency Award at the convention.

Blaes was a district and state proficiency winner in the agricultural mechanics repair and maintenance competition, and his portfolio of projects was accepted as a national finalist during the summer. He was among four national finalists to be called to the stage of the National FFA Convention, where his name, as the top winner, was read aloud in front of some 45,000 delegates.

“It was a pretty big deal,” said Blaes, a student at Kansas State University.

The national proficiency awards recognize outstanding student achievement in agribusiness gained through establishment of a new business, working for an existing company or otherwise gaining hands-on career experience. The Agricultural Mechanics Repair and Maintenance - Entrepreneurship/Placement Award is one of 47 proficiency program areas in which FFA members can participate.

For Blaes, the proficiency award is the culmination of several years of activities involving tractor and trailer restoration. Blaes restored his first antique tractor, his grandfather’s 1944 John Deere Model B, in 2006, after which he and his cousin, CHS student Cory Blaes, restored a 1956 John Deere 720. The restoration of the 1944 John Deere Model B earned Blaes the 2006 Chevron Delo National Tractor Restoration Competition, and he and cousin Cory Blaes were national runners-up in the 2007 contest sponsored by Chevron Delo.

To further his SAE (Supervised Agricultural Experience) project involving tractor restoration, Blaes also painted and repaired a trailer belonging to Ed Hewlett, a rural Cherryvale sheep breeder.

Those three projects were part of Blaes’ SAE record book that ultimately made its way to a panel of national judges, who gave the top billing among the four national finalists.

Blaes received a $500 cash award for being a national finalist and an additional $500 for being the national winner. As a national proficiency winner, Blaes also qualified for a trip to Costa Rica in June 2009.

The Agricultural Mechanics Repair and Maintenance - Entrepreneurship/Placement Proficiency Award is sponsored by Hobart Welders and Tractor Supply Company.

Being named a national winner is now old hat for Blaes. In 2006, Blaes was a winner in the Grain Production Proficiency Award in Grain Produciton - Placement.