by Latawnya Dia, FSA public affairs specialist
If you didn’t attend the FSA Washington, D.C. employee third annual Spring Fling, you missed good food and a great time. The weather was perfect and there was no shortage of food or fun for the nearly 250 people who attended.
The FSA Spring Fling is the brainchild of Ms. Cooksie who set up the event to encourage team building within the agency. “I saw this as an opportunity to allow employees a chance to get to know each other outside of the office setting and to build camaraderie,” said Cooksie.
Volunteers and some senior staff pitched in to help to make this a memorable event. Carl Lewis and the MSD crew made sure that everyone had plenty to eat. Lewis cooked some mean green beans, macaroni & cheese. Additionally, Carl and company grilled hot dogs and burgers. Rob Haughton grilled his famous, finger-licking chicken that was a hit last year as well as this year. There also were several delicious desserts and of course sodas and water.
As with the previous Spring Flings, there were events in which employees could participate and this year was no different except it was evident that the PECD “AGvengers” prepared for the competition. They were a formidable team that everyone wanted to beat, but try-outs, preparation and competiveness put the AGvengers in the winning seat for the Administrator’s Cup.
Senior adviser to the Secretary, Brandon Willis – our former deputy administrator for farm programs – was in attendance serving as co-captain of the AGvengers. When asked about try-outs and who made the team, Willis responded, “Yes, we had try-outs; we take this thing seriously – we’re very competitive. Everyone made the team, but not everyone made the event.”
During the Tug-of-War event, CEPD division went up against the AGvengers in the final round. As the 
AGvengers placed its team members strategically along each side of the rope, with the men in the back, CEPD members waited for the “start” signal. When Haughton gave the start signal, CEPD let go of the rope and the AGvengers fell to the ground. It was a sight to see and everyone had a good laugh; no one was hurt. After a few minutes, both teams reassembled themselves to try again. Again, Haughton gave the start signal and both teams began to pull. After a minute or so, employees from different divisions joined in with CEPD to take the AGvengers down, but in the end, the AGvengers won the Adminstrator’s Cup this year.
A great time was had by all and next year’s Spring Fling should prove to be even better, so get your teams ready – the AGvengers vow to take everyone down next year. Who will stop them?
Here are the winning teams of this year’s events:Three-legged sack race - PECD AGvengers; Sack race – PECD AGvengers; Dizzy-bat spin – EPAS; Egg/spoon race – PECD AGvengers; Balloon toss – CEPD; Tug-of-war – PECD AGvengers.
