Two recipients named for the Ray Baptie Memorial bursary

The Wellington Federation of Agriculture recently announced the recipients of the eighth annual Agricultural Student award for Wellington County students to pursue post secondary studies in agriculture.

Rebecca Hannam, of RR2 Guelph, and Amelia Taylor, of Fergus, have received awards in the amount of $500.

Hannam is currently atten­ding the University of Guelph, working towards a Bachelor of Commerce in agricultural busi­ness. Her ambitions include pursuing a career in agricul­tural education, communi­cations, or crop production. She is in her first year of studies.

Hannam has numerous achievements. She is the cur­rent Fergus Fall Fair ambas­sador, was awarded the title of 2006 Canadian Young Speakers for Agriculture senior champion, and has also re­ceived a Monsanto Canada opportunity scholarship for post secondary studies.

She stated, “Growing up in a farming community has in­stilled strong work values into my everyday life. In addition to work close to home, I have filled the position of resource assistant at 4H Ontario during the summer of 2007 and was the communications assistant for the Ontario Farm Animal Council during the summer of 2008. Both of these positions allowed me to grow and dev­elop as an employee and mem­ber of the greater agricultural community in Ontario."

Taylor is the current Well­ington County Queen of the Furrow, and was a finalist for the title of 2009 Ontario Queen of the Furrow at the Inter­national Plowing Match held in September in Teeswater. She is  is working towards a BA in Agricultural Economics in her first year at the University of Guelph. Taylor like Hannam, is interested in being involved in agriculture education in the future, and promotion of agri­cul­ture to urban communities. She may also pursue a career in agricultural sales and market­ing.

Taylor has an impressive resume. She is work­ing part-time for Ag­Careers.­com as a project manager and sales intern. She works part-time for Fraberts Fresh Foods, a local Buy Local ini­ti­ative store in downtown Fer­gus. She has work­ed for Better Farming mag­a­zine at­ten­ding trade shows and as­sisting with the classified sec­tion . She is active in her church and 4-H.

Applications for the 2009 Ray Baptie Memorial Bursary will be available in June by contacting the WFA adminis­trator Lisa Hern at 519-848-3774. 

 

Comments