By TIM THORNBERRY
Kentucky Correspondent

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Greening grass and newly born foals are true signs of the coming spring in central Kentucky. The Fayette County Farm Bureau Federation (FCFB) Farm Equipment Consignment Auction has become another.

This year’s auction marks the 27th year for the sale and will take place March 20 at the Kentucky Horse Park with hopes of being as successful as last year’s record breaking event.

While the auction is a good way for attendees to get great deals on equipment that ranges from tractors to lawn equipment, the motivation behind the sale is a scholarship program it supports.
Carrie Johnson, executive director of FCFB said all of the money earned will go toward the scholarship fund.

“One hundred percent of the proceeds that we make from this sale go to our scholarship program to give to high school seniors in Fayette County,” she said. “We have given 25 scholarships so far since the FCFB Education Foundation was formed in 1993.”
That amounts to half a million dollars so far according to Johnson. In fact, the scholarships are the primary focus of the auction. “That’s why we do it,” she said.

Each award is worth $20,000 and is given to the chosen student in increments each semester by way of an application process. The sale itself has grown in popularity with as many as 1,200 people registering to buy at the 2009 event said Johnson. And based on past years, about 1,000 pieces of equipment will be available. The other amazing thing about the event is it is completely managed through volunteer labor. Johnson estimates that at least 75 helpers are around at any given time.

Even in bad economic times, the sale is proving to be a success. Speaking of 2009 numbers, Johnson said it was the best they had ever had.

“I think people are coming and looking for good used equipment. Rather than going and buying new, they are shopping and trying to save a dollar,” she said. “More of the equipment sold last year than maybe in years past.”

While that is a win-win situation for buyers and seller, the students that benefit from the scholarship money are the real winners.
Johnson said she is compiling information about those that have won in the past recognizing that many have gone on to be successes in areas ranging from veterinarian medicine to broadcast journalism.

One such former student and scholarship recipient is Sarah Lane who graduated from high school in 1999 and went on to attend and graduate from Brigham Young University.

Lane grew up on a farm and currently works in marketing for the U.S. Equestrian Federation (USEF), which is the national governing body for the equestrian sport. If it sounds familiar it could be because of the publicity the state has received as host of the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games coming to the Horse Park in September.

Lane said the scholarship she received was instrumental in her getting her college degree and going on to her current position after working as a broadcast journalist at a local television station.
“I knew it was something I wanted to reach for and a goal I set for myself,” she said of going to college.

“It was a huge weight off to know that I would be able to focus on school and less on holding down a job with long hours in addition to school. So, it freed me up to a large extent so I could focus more on my studies and for me that had a huge value.”

Lane added that the Fayette County program is not only a model for Farm Bureau scholarships in other counties but as a model for Farm Bureaus across the nation.

“There really are very few programs that can rival a $20,000 college scholarship,” she said.

“If you think about how it takes a village to raise a child, Fayette County Farm Bureau is that village. They become vested in who you are as a person and what your successes will be. They surround you and become sort of your village that you take with you even in spirit to school. So you know there are these people who are rooting for you and supporting you and you don’t want to let them down.”

Lane also said that the board that oversees the scholarship fund is kind and gracious enough to let a student pick their college even if it is out of state, but she always knew she would come back.
“Farm Bureau wants to know what your plans are and what your plans are concerning the farming industry and how you plan to give back. It was always a part of my plan that I was coming right back to Kentucky.” she said. “I grew up on a farm so that life has always been a part of who I am.”

Besides her work at the USEF, Lane and her husband have a small farming operation next to her parent’s farm.

In addition to the four-year scholarship FCFB will award this year to a high school senior, the auction will also fund, for the first time a two-year $2,500 vocational-technical scholarship available to a Fayette county student seeking a two-year vocational-technical degree. That award will be available to students 18 or over so that in the event they may have lost their job and are returning to school to learn a new trade, the scholarship could assist in that endeavor according to Johnson.

Those bringing equipment to the sale can do so on March 18-19 from approximately 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The sale can be accessed through the main gate of the park and will begin at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday.

For more information call the FCFB at 859-253-0023.