Six local young people earn 2017 IPM Scholarships at Huron match
BY SHAWN LOUGHLIN
At this year’s Huron County Plowing Match, the organizers of the 2017 International Plowing Match (IPM) in Walton carried on a legacy that has been in place since 2019, handing out scholarships to worthy local recipients.
IPM Chair Jacquie Bishop was on hand at the match to award six young people, all with their eyes on post-secondary education. The recipients are: Dylan Cox, Goderich; Emily Hickey, Auburn; Jaden Shortreed, Walton; Kiara Driscoll, Seaforth; Sierra Wright, Belmore and Lucas Townsend, Blyth.
• Dylan Cox, the son of Andrew and Angela Cox of Orchard Line near Goderich, will be attending the University of Guelph to study mechanical engineering. His community work involves Goderich’s Young Canada Week, Habitat for Humanity and the Goderich beach clean-up.
• Emily Hickey, the daughter of Evan and Katie Hickey of Nile Road near Auburn, will be attending the University of Guelph to study food, agriculture and resource economics. She is a College Royal Ball co-ordinator, Super Thursday Director for College Royal, a student-run open house for the University of Guelph, a student representative for the Student Federation of Ontario Agriculture Students and the Minister of Internal Affairs on her student cabinet.
• Jaden Shortreed, the daughter of Jim and Valerie Shortreed of Walton Road near Walton, will be attending Conestoga College in hopes of earning her Bachelor of Science in Nursing. Shortreed was the 2018/2019 Huron County Plowing Match Princess and has also served as her school’s student council president and she has volunteered with Vacation Bible School and area youth hockey.
• Kiara Driscoll, the daughter of Ben Driscoll and Crystal Whyte of the Bridge Road area of Seaforth, will be attending the University of Guelph in the hopes of earning an Agricultural Science degree. She is the current president of the Ontario Agricultural College 2025 class, a College Royal committee member, the 2021 class Valedictorian and the president of her school’s student council.
• Sierra Wright, the daughter of Steven and Christine Wright of the Huron-Bruce Road area of Belmore, will be attending the University of Guelph in the hopes of earning her Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Science on the path to becoming a veterinarian.
Wright has volunteered with the Belmore Maple Syrup Festival and the Belmore Community Centre, she has served as a note-taker and peer mentor at the University of Guelph and she volunteers with the Wingham Veterinary Clinic and with the Formosa Lioness Club.
• Lucas Townsend, the son of Matt and Aimee Townsend of Blyth, plans to attend Fanshawe College in the hopes of becoming an automotive service technician. He volunteered with the 2017 IPM RV Park, has coached Queen of the Furrow contestants in plowing as a member of the Sodbusters 4-H Club and he earned a silver medal in the Junior division at the Canadian Plowing Championships in Manitoba this past May.
The Huron County IPM Scholarship dates back to early 2019 when those behind the successful IPM dedicated $250,000 to the fund to create a grant resource for local youth pursuing post-secondary education in the field of agriculture. At the time, Bishop said the thinking was that $250,000 would carry the fund for about 25 years, which would hopefully bridge the gap to the next time the county hosts the IPM. Huron County has held the match every 20 years or so, and, as a result, Bishop felt that each subsequent IPM could refill the fund’s coffers to keep it going for the foreseeable future.
The fund is just one of the ways the 2017 IPM infused money into the community. This lasting legacy is part of nearly $500,000 that has been donated to local organizations and charities, in addition to an estimated local economic impact from the match of over $4 million.
When the fund was created, Bishop said she was still receiving daily praise for the match and all it meant to the community, both in terms of economic impact and pride.
“Not a day goes by that I don’t hear a comment thanking us for what a great job we did,” Bishop said. “I’m very proud to have been involved and we did make a difference.”