As volunteers in Lambton County prepare to host the 2027 International Plowing Match , a legacy from the 1991 match is still going strong.

Sept. 15 is the deadline this year for applications to the IPM 91 scholarship created after Lambton hosted the large plowing match and show at a site just outside of Petrolia in 1991.

The local fund awards annual scholarships, currently three awards of $2,000, to Lambton residents entering their second year of university or college. Recipients traditionally are announced at the Bridgen Fair on Thanksgiving weekend.

After more than three decades, 116 scholarships with a total value of more than $165,000 have been awarded.

The scholarship fund was created with about $125,000 a committee of Lambton volunteers earned hosting the 1991 plowing match that drew thousands to a site near Petrolia.

Bryan Boyle, the only remaining original scholarship trustee, said volunteers in other host communities typically have shared profits after making a one-time community donation, “and that’s where it would end.”

Lambton’s volunteers in 1991 decided instead to use the profits to create a community scholarship that could live on.

Along with Boyle, a new generation of trustees have come on board in recent years to see the fund continue.

“It’s really meeting the goals” of “helping those kids” who receive scholarships while maintaining the profile of the 1991 event in the community, he said.

Recipients who have gone on to successful careers in the community include a veterinarian who opened a local practice and a principal of an engineering firm, Boyle said.

The value of the scholarships awarded has fluctuated during the years, being as low as $1,000 at times, but trustees decided several years ago to set it at $2,000 so it would be “meaningful” for the recipients, Boyle said.

The fund’s balance remains “in that hundred grand range” and even if awards “chipped away a little at the principal, it would outlive us,” he said.

Typically, trustees receive 10 to 12 applications each year, Boyle said. Often, they come by word-of-mouth from previous year’s recipients talking up the scholarship.

“That, in itself, has kept a constant flow of applications,” Boyle said.

An applicant’s record of community involvement makes up 50 per cent of their score. Academic achievements, as well as financial and discretionary needs account for the balance.

“They don’t necessarily have to be a brainiac,” Boyle said. “But, having said that, the marks that these kids get, if they’re very involved in the community,” indicate they often tend to do well academically, he said.

The scholarship is available to students studying in any field and aren’t restricted to those related to agriculture, Boyle said.

Applications reviewed by the trustees are generally very competitive, he said.

“Sometimes there’s five or six you agonize over and other times there’s two or three that really emerge as obvious winners,” Boyle said.

~Paul Morden~
Sarnia Observer