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Friends in FFA remember lost friend, help girl
By JAMIE JONES, Times Staff Writer BROOKSVILLE -- The black steer wouldn't let anyone touch him except Amanda. Even she was scared of him at first. People thought he might be too much for an 18-year-old girl, that she should find another. But Amanda Strmensky was determined to show him at the Hernando County Fair and parade him around the ring and win a ribbon. She called him Black Satin. Over time, he let her lean close and kiss him between the eyes. People said he must have realized that Amanda was just as stubborn as he was; that sometimes it was easier to give in where Amanda was concerned. Amanda knew when she joined the Future Farmers of America at Central High School that they would auction off all their animals at the fair. But after Black Satin was loaded on a truck for the slaughterhouse, Amanda cried for days. Amanda Strmensky's friends have been telling stories about her all week at the Hernando County Fair as they struggle to understand her death almost three weeks ago. Strmensky, 20, was driving her Toyota on Interstate 4 near Orlando when a Buick crossed the median and slammed into her car. She died soon after.
She left behind an 18-month-old daughter, Dallas Marie, who now lives with her grandparents. Strmensky's friends are auctioning a pig at the fair today to try and raise money for Dallas. Strmensky graduated from Central High in 2000 but stayed on as an FFA volunteer. "Dallas' grandparents shouldn't have to worry about money," said Rick Ahrens, FFA adviser at Hernando High. "We all knew and loved Amanda. We want to help in any way we can." Strmensky joined the group because she loved animals. She planned to be a veterinarian and thought FFA would be a good way to learn about rabbits, pigs and steers. She told friends that she liked how nice and unassuming the other students were. Her father, Phil, a disabled veteran from Pennsylvania, didn't understand her desire to spend afternoons in a barn. He stared quietly when he drove over to pick Amanda up one day and saw her sitting in a pig pen, covered in mud. The pig had knocked her over and Amanda couldn't get up because she and her friend, Crystal Fincher, were laughing so hard. One afternoon, Amanda came home and said she was pregnant. Her mother, Millie, a 59-year-old therapist and nurse at Oak Hill Hospital, sat beside her asking what she would do. Amanda didn't think she was ready for a child. She hadn't yet graduated from high school, didn't have a driver's license.
Her father still got angry that Amanda had gotten pregnant by a boy who was not good enough and did not stick around, but he tried to keep those thoughts to himself. Amanda learned how to change a diaper and began to understand what Dallas needed when she cried. Amanda graduated from high school and enrolled in community college to become a veterinary technician. She started talking about having a few acres of her own in Hernando County, where she could raise rabbits and pigs and steers. The FFA students became an extended family for Dallas, always wanting to hold her. This week, students are showing their animals at the fairgrounds, and more than a few tears have fallen as they washed pigs and groomed steers. They keep waiting for Amanda to walk through the door. Typically, the rivalry between students from Hernando and Central high schools boils over during the fair. "We usually want a pound of snot out of each other," Ahrens said. "It don't matter, we could be fighting over tiddlywinks. We want to win." But they all knew Amanda. And inside that tin-roofed barn on the fairgrounds, no one seems to care about winning this year. The Hernando High students decided they wanted to help their colleagues at Central. One of their fellow students backed out of the show and they had an extra pig to auction Saturday night. The proceeds will go to a fund for Dallas. They hope people will buy the pig and donate it back so they can raise as much money as possible. They have already adopted Dallas as an honorary FFA member. "She has real potential," Ahrens said. "She likes pigs." Amanda's parents, who have come to the fair with Dallas in their arms, have been overwhelmed by the support from the FFA members. Amanda's father, Phil, 63, now thinks he might understand why she had a child. "Look at the gift she left us," he said as he wept quietly. "What better gift? I don't know how we will ever understand it all. But now I understand that piece." -- Jamie Jones can be reached at 754-6114. Send e-mail to jjones@sptimes.com.
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From today's Hernando Times |
