Gov. Eric Holcomb was the 2023 Harvest Award Recipient. Photo from Indiana State Fair.

By Niki Kelly
Indiana Capital Chronicle

INDIANA — Indiana’s current and former living governors will unite Aug. 14 for “The Art of Leadership with Four Gubernatorial Hoosiers.”

Gov. Eric Holcomb and former governors Mike Pence, Mitch Daniels and Evan Bayh will keynote the 2024 Harvest Dinner at this year’s Indiana State Fair. The Indiana State Fair Foundation is hosting the evening, which includes a reception and dinner.

Each year, the proceeds from the Harvest Dinner support the Youth Development Fund, which benefits Celebration of Champions and 4-H youth participating at the State Fair. The event will take place in the Indiana Farmers Coliseum.

“This special event won’t be about politics or the issues of the day, but rather a friendly conversation about their approach to leadership, reflecting on their time as Governor, and their impact on Indiana over the past 35 years,” the event website says.

Holcomb’s second term ends this year and he has not made public his plans for the future.

Pence served from 2013-2017 before becoming vice president of the United States alongside Donald Trump. He ran for president but dropped out in October 2023.

Daniels served from 2005-2013 and briefly considered a presidential run before opting against it. He then became president of Purdue University from 2013 to the end of 2022.

Evan Bayh is the only Democrat, and he was in office from 1989 to 1997. He then served more than a decade in the U.S. Senate. One of Bayh’s twin sons, Beau, is said to be preparing for a political run in the future.

Two Democrat governors after Bayh, Frank O’Bannon and Joe Kernan, are deceased.

The website says traditional harvest dinners bring together family and friends for celebration and fellowship at the end of a long planting season. They are the culmination of months of hard work, commitment and stewardship. They are the very essence of what it means to be a farmer in Indiana.

The Harvest Award is also given annually at the Harvest Dinner to an individual, organization or company that has made a significant contribution to the growth of our great Indiana State Fair with a focus on agriculture, youth and education.

The cost to buy a table of eight at the event runs from $1,200 to $5,000 with some additional perks included.