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The Capital Lakefair Royalty Scholarship Program is one of the most
prestigious and longest running scholarship Programs in the local area.
The Program began 50 years ago and has provided more than 220
participants with over $180,000 in scholarship funding. Over the
years funding of this program has come from local companies such as
Venture Bank, Red Wind Casino, area Lions Clubs, as well as other
generous sponsors.
Each scholarship recipient has 5 years to use their scholarship and may
use it towards any type of higher education - traditional degree
programs, trade schools or vocational training opportunities.
What does it take to be a participant in this program? The
requirements of the program generated by Lakefair are: (1) a fully
enrolled junior, (2) the student must have a 3.3 cumulative GPA, (3)
submit a completed application, and (4) two letters of recommendation.
Each participating school may submit a maximum of three qualified
applicants. Applications must be postmarked by the second Monday in
February. On the first Saturday in March applicants are required to
participate in a job interview format process, with a panel of five
independent judges. On the
third Saturday in March the top ten (10) participate in another job
interview with three (3) independent judges, during this interview the
applicants will also give a three minute speech. Once the judges
tabulate the results the top five will become the Capital Lakefair Royal
Court and are now eligible to become Lakefair Queen. Each have now
gained $1,500 in scholarship funds.
The selection process used in selection of the Lakefair Queen; starts
with five independent judges selected by the Lakefair Royalty Committee
Chair. These judges cannot be family friends of any of the
candidates, nor can they be members of the Capitalarians, nor can they
be employees of any of the participating school districts.
The judges, while keeping their identity secret, attend community events
and meetings at which the Lakefair Court members participate or speak.
Both the community events and speaking engagements each make up 50
percent of the final score. The final phase of judging is a
panel interview held the morning of Coronation. A ten-minute
interview is followed by a luncheon with the judges. The scores are
totaled and the participant receiving the most points is determined to
be queen. The queen receives an additional $1,500 in scholarship funds,
for a total of $3,000.
In addition to these judging activities the Court participates in many
other community events such as:
The Program provides an educational opportunity for the participants to
learn about issues in their community and to meet local community
leaders. It enhances their public speaking skills and better
prepares them for their adult life.
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