Ninety-three Olney FFA Chapter members pose for a picture after the 2024 Back to School Bash.
One thousand water balloons, 93 FFA members and an 84-degree day in August are the ingredients for the Olney FFA Chapter’s Annual Water Balloon Fight. To pop off the school year, this Illinois chapter hosts The Back to School Bash to get members immersed in the culture of FFA and have some fun.
The Games
What’s an Olney FFA event without pizza? After everyone is fed, it’s time for games.
Up first is a blindfolded tag game. In this game, the group splits into two teams and then picks one person on each team to go head-to-head against each other. After both members are blindfolded, the instructor puts one pool noodle per team somewhere around the grass field. Each team’s job is to direct the blindfolded person to the pool noodle with only their voices. The first person to get the noodle and hit their opponent wins.
This game emphasizes teamwork and communication, two important skills in this organization. It is usually a crowd favorite because it is fun to watch.
Two members try to hit each other with pool noodles during the blindfolded tag game.
The next game is a classic: tug-of-war. In this game, the group is given two choices, and then each person picks a side based on their answer. For example, “Is a hot dog a sandwich, or is cereal a soup?”
Finally, the third game is duck, duck, splash. This game is very similar to duck, duck, goose, but the “goose” has a cup of water. Every time they meet someone, they flick water on them and say, “Duck!” But when they reach the next goose, they dump the cup of water on their head and burst into a sprint. Whenever the person getting chased reaches the chaser’s spot, they are safe and take a place in the circle.
Two members sprint around the circle in an intense game of duck, duck, splash.
The Water Balloon Fight
After explaining the rules, one can hear “3…2…1…Go!” In the blink of an eye, all 93 students race to buckets to grab as many water balloons as possible. Then, they throw them at their opponents.
An overview of the 93 members during the 2024 Back to School Bash.
After the water balloon fight, two officers grab the handle of one of the coolers that contain water balloons and slowly creep up on an unsuspecting victim. Just when the victim figures out something’s wrong, all the water cascades down, leaving them drenched.
In closing, the Back to School Bash is a massive summer send-off party. It is an evening full of food, friends and water balloons.
