Chamber gives away more scholarship money in 13th year of event than ever before

[March 22, 2012]  The annual Ag Scholarship Breakfast of the Lincoln/Logan County Chamber of Commerce was at 7 this morning at Lincoln Christian University's Laughlin Center. The annual breakfast is a free community event, which this year celebrated its 13th anniversary. Over those years, $78,000 has been awarded in scholarships to high school seniors and college students who are pursuing an education in agricultural-related fields and have aspirations to return to Logan County.

"Since the inception of the Ag Scholarship Breakfast, we've gone from having 17 sponsors in 2000 to 58 sponsors supporting this outstanding event in 2012," said Andi Hake, executive director of the Lincoln/Logan County Chamber of Commerce. "This event started out with a goal of giving away two $750 scholarships that first year, to now giving away $10,000 to a total of eight recipients. In addition to giving away the scholarships, we feed over 300 individuals a wonderful breakfast and provide a great program at no cost. There is not much you can do for free these days. It is ALL thanks to our local business community."

This year $10,000 in scholarships was awarded. Scholarship applications are evaluated by a committee from local Logan County businesses that have made a key investment in this event. The committee is provided a scoring sheet, and the scholarship candidates are judged on their applications, essay questions, academic merits, activities and future agriculture-related endeavors.

2012 Ag Scholarship winners:

• Hannah Allen graduated from Mount Pulaski High School and is a freshman at the University of Illinois, studying food science and human nutrition. Her parents are Ralph and Lori Allen.

• Chelsea Coers attends Lincoln Community High School and plans to attend Lincoln Land Community College to study agribusiness. Her parents are John and Andrea Coers.

• Nicholas Davis attends Lincoln Community High School and has been accepted to Lakeland College in the John Deere Ag Tech program. Nicholas' parents are Todd and Melissa Davis.

• David Fulton graduated from Lincoln Community High School and is a sophomore at the University of Illinois and Parkland College in a dual-enrollment program. He is pursuing a degree in agricultural leadership education. David is the son of John and Sherry Fulton. This is the second time David has won the chamber's Ag Scholarship.

• Zack Huffer graduated from Lincoln Community High School and is a junior at Illinois State University, studying crop and soil science. Zack's parents are Jeff and Patty Huffer.

• Orry Ingram graduated from Lincoln Community High School and is in his senior year at Truman State University, pursuing an education in agricultural business. Orry is the son of Larry and Verdeen Ingram. This is the second time Orry has won the chamber's Ag Scholarship.

• Morgan Kincheloe attends Lincoln Community High School and plans to attend Illinois Central College to study veterinary medicine. Morgan's parents are Jay and Rhonda Kincheloe.

• Andrew McCarty is a graduate of Mount Pulaski High School and is a sophomore at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, pursuing a degree in animal science and agribusiness economics. Andrew is the son of Robyn and Richard McCarty. This is the second time Andrew has won the chamber's Ag Scholarship.

The breakfast was catered by Guzzardo's and included a program from the Hartsburg-Emden ag issues competition team, under the direction of Betsy Pech, and a guest speaker, Chad Yagow, past scholarship recipient from 2000. Yagow is now an engineer with John Deere.

The chamber's Ag Scholarship Breakfast is designed to recognize the economic impact of agriculture in Logan County and is possible due to the generosity of many Logan County businesses.

The annual breakfast directly reflects the mission of the chamber's ag committee to enhance the Logan County economy by strengthening ag and business relationships, exploring and implementing value-added opportunities, developing and marketing agricultural tourism attractions, and encouraging natural resource management.

[Text from file received from the Lincoln/Logan County Chamber of Commerce]