DOSWELL—The next generation of agricultural leaders were the toast of the State Fair on Sept. 28, when Gov. Glenn Youngkin presented a Suzanne S. Youngkin Endowed Scholarship totaling $10,500 to the State Fair of Virginia Applied Youth Scholarship Program.
Funds are raised annually via collaboration between first lady Youngkin and a rotating Virginia winemaker. Each year, a donation is made to support an agricultural organization of her choice.
“She decided that the wine industry was growing so fast and that each year she would go to work with the winner of the Virginia Governor’s Cup, and they would blend a one-year wine,” Youngkin said.
Sales of Cornus Virginicus III, a limited-release wine by vintners at Mountain & Vine Vineyards and Winery in Nelson County, garnered $8,000 for the fund.
“They worked with the first lady and developed what is a fabulous Cornus Virginicus No. 3,” Youngkin said. “It’s spectacular. The sales of this were so strong that, between the first lady’s own contribution of $2,500, we have $10,500 to get it started today!”
This estate-grown wine features a blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot and petit verdot. Latin for “flowering tree of Virginia,” Cornus Virginicus celebrates Virginia’s flourishing agriculture, farmers, growers and winemakers. Part of the $10,500 scholarship went to a young agriculturalist from Central Virginia.
“We believe so deeply as a commonwealth in our future of agriculture, because we have great faith in the next generation of our agriculture leaders,” Youngkin continued.
Scholarship recipient Savannah Jones is an Appomattox County High School senior and FFA chapter president. She plans on pursuing a career as a large animal veterinarian.
Jones has competed in dozens of livestock contests through FFA, from cattle working to vet science.
“And that’s helped me find my calling,” she said. “I really like the cow side of agriculture, and I think I want to focus on reproduction.”
She was named a national finalist in the National FFA Proficiency Award contest’s agricultural education category—one of only four students nationally to receive the honor.
Jones said she plans to run for a state FFA officer position next year as she decides on her college path.
“She also was a livestock ambassador this past year for 4-H,” said her dad, Bruce Jones, a Virginia Cooperative Extension agent in Appomattox County. “And she pulls a lot of late nights, keeping up with her classwork and school on top of everything else!”
At her home farm, Dark Leaf Farms, Jones has taken the lead in developing educational programming, and raising pumpkins that will be supplied to the governor’s mansion in October. Additionally, Jones participates in Appomattox County Farm Bureau Agricultural Literacy Week activities.
Media: Contact Bruce Jones at 434-352-8244; or Peter Finocchio, Youngkin’s press secretary, at 804-786-2211.
