Elementary School Fair Ambassador Revel Beck continues her family's fair legacy
BY SCOTT STEPHENSON
Whitechurch’s own Revel Beck may be coming to the end of her stint as a third grader, but she’s not about to spend her summer slacking off. Not only has she been out there raising capital for the Belgrave Playground reconstruction project, but Beck has just accepted the position of Elementary School Fair Ambassador. That means that, in September, she will be officiating the 102nd edition of the fair in Belgrave, which will see scores of elementary-aged students from nearby schools descending on the hamlet of Belgrave for an unbridled celebration of education in all its forms. As ambassador, Beck is expected to make a speech to all those students to rally their spirits around the year to come. She was kind enough to sit down with The Citizen to discuss what she hopes to accomplish during her tenure as ambassador.
Beck didn’t just decide to run for office on a whim - by becoming the Elementary School Fair Ambassador, she’s shouldering the weight of a multi-generational family legacy. She said her great-grandfather entered the fair when he was young, as did her grandparents. Two of her cousins have been ambassadors in the past, and her mother even opened the event in 1988! Beck is young for an ambassador, but it only took her two days to memorize the speech that won her the title. Her grandmother is over-the-moon excited, and the rest of her family is also very proud of her for carrying on with this tradition, and for being such a community-minded person, even when she’s not acting in an official capacity.
One of the real benefits of ambassador programs is the way they foster important skills like public speaking in rural young people. Beck rates her current comfort level with public speaking at a respectable “medium good”, but she’s already started advocating for the agricultural community. “We need to keep the environment clean, and not be polluting, so farms can grow.” Her favourite crop is beans. “They’re yummy, and fun to plant.” When it comes to farm animals, Beck has to go with a classic - the horse. In the long term, she’s thinking about becoming a veterinarian someday, but right now, she’s planning to spend her free-time this summer dancing, playing sports and going on trips to places like Darien Lake, where she’s hoping to ride on all the rides.
She’s also hoping to touch on some universal themes for her big speech in September. She’s thinking about talking about how she became ambassador, how much she likes entering the fair, and how much fun it is. Beck likes to enter craft projects and flowers into the fair, and she’s placed first in quite a few categories over the years. Last year, she even received the most points overall, which was exciting. But her family has always told her that winning isn’t everything, as long as she tries her best. “It just matters what’s in your heart,” she advised. “Just do your best, and just go with it.”