More than 30 years after Lambton County hosted the International Plowing Match near Petrolia, the work of its volunteers continues through the awarding of annual scholarships.
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Applications are being accepted for three $2,000 Lambton IPM 91 Scholarships available to Lambton students entering their second year of post-secondary education.
Those wishing to apply are being asked to contact Bryan Boyle by email at bryan@bryanboyle,ca. Sept. 15 is the deadline for applications.
A candidate’s community involvement receives the greatest weight when fund trustees consider applications, said Boyle, one of the trustees.
“That’s 50 per cent of the marks so the well-rounded candidate is the one that wins,” he said. “A person who’s involved in a wide range of things often does way better.”
Academic records and financial needs are also considered.
The emphasis on community involvement “reflects the folks who were active in the IPM in 1991,” Boyle said.
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Boyle said he keeps records of past winners and “you look down that list and there’s pretty active careers and successful community-oriented folks.”
The scholarship fund was created with about $100,000 in local profit from the 1991 International Plowing Match (IPM) hosted by a committee of volunteers in Lambton.
“The thought was this would be a lasting reminder” of the community effort behind hosting the large event “and every year it has proven to be that,” Boyle said.
The 1991 International Plowing Match welcomed more than 90,000 visitors over several days to the farm show and plowing competition hosted by a group of local volunteers.
Organizers in Lambton decided not to follow the typical pattern where local committee members received modest per diems from local profits, with the rest going to charity.
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Instead, with encouragement from plowing match chairperson, the late Leonard McNeil, the Lambton volunteers decided to put the local profit into the scholarship fund after using a little bit of cash to hold a roast beef supper to thank everyone who helped.
Typically, the number of applications each year is in the “10 to a dozen range,” Boyle said.
Winners are announced Thanksgiving weekend at the Brigden Fair.
The scholarships have reached a point in their history where those receiving them today weren’t alive when the 1991 plowing match was held on farms just outside of Petrolia.
“It won’t be too long, and it will be a second generation coming” with previous winners now having families with children at or reaching the age when they will be eligible to apply, Boyle said.
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