Lebanon Area Fair scholarships benefit area youth beyond high school

The fair scholarships Madison Copenhaver received in 2024 helped her realize her dream job and also being able to open and operate a part-time sewing business. 

She said she obtained a two-year business administration associate degree from Harrisburg Area Community College before getting a full-time job in the sewing department at Atomic Design, a subdivision of Rock Lititz in Lancaster County.

The scholarships awarded annually at the Lebanon Area Fair assist youth members like Copenhaver apply funding toward their educational pursuits beyond high school, whether at a two- or four-year college or vocational tech training program. 

“I really enjoy it, and I love going to work every day. I also actually do sewing on the side from home too,” Copenhaver, 19, said about her passion for sewing. “I do part-time bridal (and prom dress) alterations, so I do a lot of sewing day to day. FFA is definitely where I got started with it all.”

Copenhaver said she received $1,000 each for the fair and BBQ scholarships, and she applied those funds to her educational pursuits at HACC. That proceeded her landing a dream job with the company that provides a variety of services for musical entertainers, including set and stage designs.

Copenhaver served for three years as president of 4-H Friends Club in Lebanon County, where she took sewing projects for 10 years. She’s a 2024 graduate of Cedar Crest High School and the 2023 Lebanon Area Fair Queen.

“It’s a lot of scenic, custom jobs. Some of the jobs I can’t actually talk about because they’re under NDAs (non-disclosure agreements), but I do different stage elements for shows,” she added.

The education she received is an asset in operating her side business, too.

“As far as using my degree, I would say I really use my degree when I’m doing my own business stuff, just with financing and all the accounting classes that I took definitely have helped me,” she said. “I also took a really good business management class and economics class through HACC. So it’s definitely all really come full circle. But yeah, the scholarships definitely helped a lot with my schooling, and it’s got me to where I am today.”

Scholarships awarded at the fair

There are a number of scholarships – depending on a youth’s qualifications – that they can apply to receive each year during the fair, according to scholarship chair Alice Jones.

There’s the Lebanon Area Fair, Katie Eckert Memorial, and Msgr. John W. Mignot/PSACF scholarship programs, Jones said. The scholarship programs have various criteria and each year up to $1,000, and occasionally more funding, is available depending on the number of applicants. 

Lebanon Area Fair Scholarship

Jones said the scholarships are funded by multiple sources. The 5K race, car show, and merchandise store provide a portion of their proceeds while the ham and chicken BBQ sales are what Jones calls “big contributors.”

“It’s truly a community effort with so many people from the community contributing,” she said, adding that there are a combined 6,000 ham and chicken BBQ tickets sold annually. “It takes a village.”

The ham BBQs are held Sundays and the chicken dinners are sold on Thursdays annually. A fair favorite of many attendees, both fund-raisers sell out, which contributes greatly to the funds received since most of the food is donated by area businesses. 

Jones said some volunteers use vacation time from their full-time jobs to work at the fair.  

“People are committed to the fair, it’s their work ethic, I think the ag community has a very strong work ethic and many of the people who volunteer are in that community,” she said. “They’ve been working all their lives and they don’t see it as being a miserable time. It is hot, it is a lot of work, and it takes a lot of people to put on the fair, to put on the BBQs. That work goes on year-round, and people love doing it. They don’t view it as work.” 

Another contributing event to the scholarship fund is the silent auction that’s held throughout fair week, with Jones noting the proceeds, ranging from $4,000 to $6,000 annually, are the “biggest source of income for the scholarships.”

Jones noted applicants don’t necessarily have to seek an education in an ag-related field to receive a scholarship.

“They have to be a high school graduate or have a GED or a homeschool diploma,” she said. “Where they are in the ranking in their school, their major coursework, that kind of thing. The relationship with the fair and with the community. I mean, we look at community involvement, volunteer work, extracurricular activities, and a little bit of financial need.”

Katie Eckert Memorial Scholarship

Created in memory of Katie Eckert, the fair is pleased to offer one $500 to $1,000 scholarship toward the higher education of an individual, according to information concerning this scholarship posted on the fair’s website. 

Applicants must be current or former members of Lebanon County’s 4-H Goat Club or Dairy Club, FFA, or dairy royalty. Previous winners of this scholarship are not eligible to receive it again.

Eckert was a 17-year-old sophomore at Northern Lebanon High School when she and her boyfriend died following a vehicle accident Jan. 17, 2007 on Route 343 in Bethel Township, near Fredericksburg. 

Eckert was a member of the Northern Lebanon FFA, and was the Lebanon County Alternate Dairy Princess at the time of her death. She was a former Lebanon County Dairy Maid, and she was active in the 4-H Club and the Norlebco Dairy Club, where she held several officer positions.  

Msgr. John W. Mignot/PSACF Scholarship

This scholarship is, in many ways, higher education dollars there for the taking. 

Promoted by the Pennsylvania State Association of County Fairs, fair participations can apply for one of six scholarships provided by the organization. 

The problem is, however, that few potential recipients from across Pennsylvania are submitting applications for this $1,000 scholarship, according to PSACF secretary/treasurer Harry Reffner. 

“We’re just not getting the applicants. I don’t know what the reason is, but we plead with them, we advertise it. We go to the 4-H committees, the clubs, and no one applies. We don’t get any applications,” Reffner said. 

One of the few requirements for this scholarship, which Reffner said has existed for about 20 years, is being active with the local fair and having the nomination submitted by a candidate’s local fair board. There’s up to six scholarships that can be awarded annually, he added, with no more than three applicants in a given year hailing from the same fair.  

“We’ve had people, you know, in nursing,” Reffner said. “You have to participate in the fair, and the fair has to nominate you, but you may be going to a nursing school and not necessarily to an (ag)-related college.”

If you go

The 70th edition of the Lebanon Area Fair will be held Saturday, July 25 through Saturday, Aug. 1. General admission prices are $5 after 3 p.m. daily. Children 10 and under and parking at the fairgrounds, at Lebanon Valley Expo Center & Fairgrounds, 82 Rocherty Rd., Lebanon, are free. 

Check the events page of the Lebanon Area Fair’s website for the schedule.