Celebrating Culture and Friendship at CAEP Fest 2017

Another weekend of camping, culture, and networking is in the books for CAEP! CAEP hosted its annual festival for J1 interns and trainees in conjunction with Ashby Appreciation Days July 14-16. 138 trainees and interns from 20 different countries attended the fourth annual CAEP Fest in Minnesota. The weekend of festivities was complete with games, networking, camping, music and cultural activities, including a day spent with the locals in the rural Minnesota community of Ashby. More importantly, CAEP Fest was an opportunity for interns and trainees to share and learn about the local culture, make connections and build friendships with their peers from around the globe and with local community members.

Trainees and interns set up camp on Friday and enjoyed the day playing games, networking, dancing and concluded the day with a wonderful pork chop dinner kindly grilled by CAEP hosts, Dale and Patty Trebesch. Interns and trainees then spent the entire night dancing to chart toppers from around the world.

On Saturday, CAEP participants started the morning with a game of soccer against the locals. Participants then had lunch with local community members in the Ashby city park where they had the opportunity to visit with the locals, learn about life in the United States, and share information about their home countries.

Following lunch served by the Ashby Community Club, CAEP trainees and interns shared facts about their countries with the locals.

With over 20 countries represented at CAEP Fest, CAEP illuminated Ashby during the Ashby Appreciation Days parade with the bright colored flags carried by participants. Following the parade, trainees and interns danced the night away at the Ashby street dance, hosted by the Ashby American Legion. Many interns and trainees shared and taught dances from their home countries with the locals.

The grand prize drawing for a new Apple iPad was won by Pablo from Paraguay!

We were thrilled to see everyone who came and would like to thank each and every one of our trainees, interns, recruiters, and hosts who made the trip- especially those who flew and drove thousands of miles! So many wonderful friendships and memories were made throughout the weekend.

A big thank you to everyone who helped make CAEP an awesome event for our international guests. Thank you to our staff and those who volunteered their time! Thank you to Travis Belka, Jade Gehrke, Jake Haugen and Tony Kaste. Thank you to CAEP hosts Dale and Patty Trebesch who kindly grilled pork chops at our welcome dinner! Thank you to the city of Ashby and it’s citizens for graciously welcoming CAEP to your beautiful community. Thank you to the Ashby American Legion for allowing CAEP to take part in your annual street dance. Also, thank you to the Ashby Community Club for inviting us to join you for lunch and for allowing trainees and interns to share information about their cultures and home countries.

A huge thank you to our sponsors who graciously opened up their pockets and hearts to international exchange. We appreciate you sharing apparel and products from your USA based agricultural companies! Our international trainees and interns were excited to learn about your brand. Thank you to West Central Ag, RDO Equipment, Red River Grain, Giant Seeds, Friederichs Seed Plant, Zeigler, and Cargill Inc.

 

To view more photos and videos from the Fest, follow us on Facebook!