CENTRE HALL — It is a tradition for some to attend the Centre County Grange Fair which brings fun and laughter to thousands of people and to a lucky few they get to extend their stay and camp overnight at the Fair Tent Campsite Area.

For the last six years as a Gold Sponsor of the Grange Fair, Jersey Shore State Bank has donated a family tenting space to a family that could use some time away from the challenges of life and just enjoy being at the fair.

This year with help from Tides, a non-profit peer support group dedicated to helping individuals and families coping with a death of someone special, JSSB was able to find not one, but two families to donate the tent space as the fair runs from August 16 through the 24.

They are the Hoover and Bautista families.

PHOTO PROVIDED The Hoover family looks up at the camera.

Brant Hoover tragically lost his wife, Misty Hoover, in October of 2016 from an automobile accident. Misty was a popular elementary school art teacher in the Juniata County School District. Even in death she was making this world a better place. As it was her wish to be an organ donor, every single organ in her body was matched and given up for donation.

Brant has received many touching letters from those lives that Misty saved with her donations. Since then Brant and his two small daughters, Sage, 8, and Aspen. 5, have been active in Tides and feel it is a place that they can be open and share their story. “Being around others who share in sorrow is somehow comforting,” Brant expressed.

The Hoover family now lives in Park Forest and enjoy riding bikes and scooters around the neighborhood, playing disc golf and they love to camp and canoe. Attending the Grange Fair is something they look forward to every summer. Brant said, “The girls have been going since they were infants. We would pull them around in a red wagon and take them through the animal exhibits, and the many other exhibits. We have a tradition, the first thing we do when we get to the fair is go eat soup in a bread bowl, usually Chicken Corn, and then we make our way eventually to the greatest thing at the fair, a warm Peach Dumpling with cinnamon ice cream! We love the fair and are so excited to sleep over,” Brant said.

Tonya Bautista sadly lost her husband and best friend Aris Bautista after a brief illness this past December. Aris and Tonya were raising their three children, Sienna,13, Zachary,11, and Maverick, 7, in New Mexico where Aris was working as a Physician Assistant. Aris was also active in his community as he volunteered as a martial arts instructor for children at his local church. Martial arts was something the Bautista’s did together as a family. Now that Tonya and the children have relocated to the State College area to reconnect with family, they hope that someday they will be able to get back into martial arts but have found it difficult and emotional to take up with a new instructor. All the children are athletic and love to swim, play basketball and enjoy drama and art activities.

“Their father was very talented in art and has passed down this love for drawing to his children,” Tonya said. Since living in PA, they have been active with Tides support groups. Maverick said, “I’m happy to have a place to go where I can talk about my dad.” Sienna said, “Tides has helped me express my feelings” and her brother Zachary says, “Tides has helped me express my feelings outside of talking.”

Adjusting to living in a completely different environment than New Mexico has been challenging, but the kindness of strangers in a world with so much adversity has served as an eye-opening experience, Tonya expressed. This will be the first time to the Grange Fair for the Bautista family. Many have told them about the fair and they are looking forward to the rides and hoping to enter their mom’s homemade tea and fruit leather into the food competitions.

Jersey Shore State Bank is honored to be able to offer the free family tent space to the Hoover and Bautista families.