McConnell stepping down

Feb. 28—Shirley Moyer has always felt driven to help.

By the time she graduated high school, Moyer of Oley Township had already built a resume of volunteer work — helping in the library, assisting teachers and tutoring students who were behind in accounting.

"In school, I was a little on the shy side," Moyer said. "It (volunteering) got me out of my little shell."

The fair bug, too, took hold early for Moyer.

At age 7, she entered a sugar pie pumpkin she grew herself as an exhibit at the Oley Valley Community Fair.

"I never really won, there were a lot of pumpkins," Moyer said. "But it was just the idea that I had something I entered."

Moyer went on to volunteer extensively with the Oley Fair, and her efforts to promote agriculture snowballed as she took on roles with the Pennsylvania Farm Show, Oley Township, the Oley Fire Company and more.

Now, after a lifetime spent nurturing the fruits of her passions — for agriculture, community, fairs and volunteering — Moyer's efforts have drawn high praise from the Pennsylvania State Association of County Fairs.

At their annual convention in Hershey on Jan. 18, the association honored Moyer with the Pennsylvania State Fair Person of the Year award.

Kevin Bieber, Oley Valley Fair Association president, commended Moyer.

"Her detail-oriented style and positive attitude make her irreplaceable," Bieber said in a release.

A family legacy

Moyer's appreciation for the Oley Fair is something of a family legacy — her relative Warren Levengood was one of the original founders of the fair, and she said her family has a history of involvement.

Entering baked and canned goods to compete in the fair was how Moyer scratched her competitive itch.

"I was brought up with it (baking and canning), it was just second nature to me," Moyer said.

The popularity of her entries was undeniable, and Moyer was awarded the trophy for best youth exhibitor during her senior year of high school.

Moyer's love for the fair drove her to take on a variety of volunteer roles, and she was eventually nominated as chairperson of the Oley Fair's Family Living department in 1978.

The department includes a range of contest categories, from needlework, baked goods and photography to decorated pumpkins, recycled junk art and the Lego contest.

Moyer also chairs the Oley Fair's premium book department, tasked with putting together an annual compendium of fair-related topics that is mailed to community members in the summer.

She still holds both roles today — in addition to the head-spinning number of other responsibilities she's picked up along the way.

Those responsibilities extend outside of Moyer's involvement in the fair.

In the early 2000s, Moyer began assisting at the Pennsylvania Farm Show after organizers asked for help.

"I brought my sister and a couple other friends" Moyer said. "We started helping in the family living department. We sort of got hooked on going up to the farm show."

At the 2024 Pennsylvania Farm Show, Moyer co-chaired the baking department and assisted with statewide contests for various baked goods.

Moyer also puts her canning and baking expertise to work assisting with the Oley Fire Company's annual Peach & Ice Cream Festival.

Commitment to community

Community involvement is more than a full-time job for Moyer — she's served as secretary and treasurer of Oley Township since 1983 and works as treasurer of the Oley Fire Company and secretary and treasurer of various township boards, including the planning commission, municipal authority and historical architecture review board.

"I work a lot of hours, spend a lot of nights and weekends trying to get everything done," Moyer said. "I like to keep busy."

Moyer's fair-related efforts have previously been recognized by the state Department of Agriculture, which awarded Moyer the annual Friend of the Fair award in 2012.

But even after earning the association's Person of the Year award, Moyer has no plans of slowing down.

"I just enjoy everything that I do," she said. "I enjoy being with the people in various organizations, just the friendships that have developed over the years."