Earlier this week, four Yolo County graduates and their families were honored by Woodland’s Dinner on Main board members and awarded the first scholarships given by this non-profit organization. The scholarships are to help the next generation of students in Agriculture and Culinary Arts.

The four graduates are as follows:

Ava Delgado, a Woodland native and 2025 graduate of Pioneer High School, will use her scholarship to pursue further education in Nutritional Science at UC Davis. Delgado’s family owns a restaurant locally, and she has a desire to return to the community and help create accessible, culturally aware nutrition education and programs that help make healthy eating feel welcoming.

Bella Herrera graduated from Da Vinci High School and is a sixth-generation Yolo County resident. Herrera is passionate about Agriculture and has been involved in 4H and FFA for 11 years, raising and showing pigs, and has numerous awards and honors. She will be attending a junior college in Texas and then transferring to a university to study Ag Business, and hopes to use her degree to pursue a career in the Agriculture Industry and volunteer in the community.

Brian Chavez-Ledesma, a Woodland resident and recent graduate of Pioneer High School, has a passion for using food to create a cultural experience and using new foods to connect with others. He is planning on attending Woodland Community College and pursuing a career in Culinary Arts as a chef.

Payton Brookshire, Woodland resident and 2025 graduate of Woodland Christian High School, has a love of Agriculture and the ability to connect with students. Brookshire is passionate about Agricultural Literacy and its role in the future of farming. Her plan to return to Yolo County to be a part of bridging the gap between producers and the public aligns perfectly with the mission of Woodland’s Dinner on Main.

Each of these four students was well deserving of this year’s Dinner on Main scholarship, and the board is excited to begin offering these scholarships each year to help build the future of Yolo County Agriculture and Culinary Arts.

For more information on how you can get involved with Woodland’s Dinner on Main, please visit www.woodlandsdinneronmain.org

Each year, the city of Woodland hosts its annual Dinner on Main event, where the community enjoys live music, local beer, wine, and small bites, all on a long farm table along Woodland’s Main Street. Attendees take their seats alongside local business owners, government officials, ranchers, farmers, and community leaders, and partake in a locally sourced, family-style culinary feast, fostering connections and friendships.

Woodland’s Dinner on Main allocates the proceeds from their event to provide four local high school seniors with scholarships to pursue education in Agriculture or Culinary Arts. Additionally, funds raised will support our local Edible Learning Garden and benefit hundreds of local businesses.

This year’s Woodland’s eighth annual Dinner on Main is set for Sunday, Sept. 21, with the theme, “Bringing it Back to Our Roots.” Tickets are available on www.woodlandsdinneronmain.org, but they are limited and expected to sell out quickly.