Christina Amano Dolan/ The Local
Left, Ashland Strawberry Faire Executive Director Lorie Foley presents this year’s scholarship winners to the crowd of attendees in the Hanover Arts and Activities Center. Middle, Lynn-Lee Williamson, a Patrick Henry High School student and winner of the Tafi Yourtee Scholarship, gives her acceptance speech, talking about her love for stage performing. Scholarship winner Mati Ford, an Atlee High School student, gives her acceptance speech during the Ashland Strawberry Faire Scholarship and Sponsors Recognition event.
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School, Mechanicsville High School, Patrick Henry High School, The Hanover Center for Trades and Technology and Randolph-Macon College. Every year, the Faire’s scholarship committee reaches out to career counselors at the public high schools, the principal at the Hanover Center for Trades and Technology and the College Advancement Department at R-MC with the scholarship’s amount and criteria. Counselors then select which student best suits each catered scholarship based on their qualifications and aspirations. Despite a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Faire Committee was able to distribute $12,000 in scholarships in 2021 without dipping into the general funds needed for the 2022 Faire. Even without holding the event, organizers raised funds through various fundraising activities and donations from the community, businesses, churches, committee members and vendors. The reception, which was held at the Hanover Arts and Activities Center, began by presenting a few sponsors with plaques and gifts of appreciation. This year’s recognized sponsors in attendance were the Hanover Arts and Activities Center, Town of Ashland, The Local, Mega Walsh, Food Lion and Village Bank. Lorie Foley, executive director of The Faire, presented this year’s scholarships. Nine of the
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The Mechanicsville Local
scholarships are given in memory of three of the founding members of the Faire. The Tafi Yourtee Scholarship is given in memory of founding member Tafi Yourtee, who appeared on Broadway and later took residence in Ashland. She continued her acting career through local theater groups such as Barksdale and Swift Creek and held a passion for finding new talent. This year’s recipients were Lynn-Lee Williamson (Patrick Henry High), Caroline Berry (Hanover High), Nedra Matia Ford (Atlee High) and Sophia Lynn (Mechanicsville High). Williamson will be attending Hollins University to continue her education in the performing arts. She credited her mom with encouraging her to pursue theater at a young age, where she “fell in love with stage performing.” She performed in productions throughout middle school and high school. “My patience and hard work has paid off, and I get to move on to the two things I love most – singing and acting,” she told the crowd, which was followed by a round of applause. She thanked the Strawberry Faire Scholarship Committee for awarding her a scholarship. Ford will be pursuing her musical career at Shenandoah University Conservatory and has performed in a variety of musical theater productions inside and outside of high school. “I hope to not only continue studying and performing for the next four years of college but hopefully, after college, I will be performing for the rest of my life,” Ford said. Lynn could not attend the reception due to a school conflict but provided an impressive
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singing tape that was played for attendees along with a heartfelt message of appreciation to the scholarship committee. Lynn will be attending the University of Southern California as a music industry major. She wrote that the arts have played a “huge role” in her life, as she participated in many community theater productions, school choirs and select honors choirs throughout her high school career. “I hope to uplift musicians and make my mark on the music industry, and this scholarship will certainly help me do so,” Lynn wrote. “I admire your mission, and I am so grateful to have been selected.” The Jay Pace Scholarship is given in memory of founding member J. Malcom Pace, a Randolph-Macon College alumni and former reporter for the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Pace eventually transitioned to the role of editor and publisher of The Herald-Progress and enjoyed mentoring many aspiring reporters as they began their journalism careers. Four high school students who plan to major in journalism received this scholarship. Lucy Henning (Atlee High), Carl Chittum (Patrick Henry High), Jacob Estes (Mechanicsville High) and Alyssa Lawhorn (Hanover High) were this year’s recipients of Jay Pace scholarships. “I want to thank everyone for this scholarship, and I am so honored to receive it,” said Henning during her acceptance speech. She will be attending Virginia Tech to pursue her dream of becoming a sports broadcaster for ESPN. Chittum said he “fell in love with the idea
of film” while taking a television production class and will be attending either Bowling Green State University or Appalachian State University in pursuit of a film career. Lawhorn will pursue a major in history and minor in communication studies at Hollins University. She has served as editor in chief and other roles on her school’s yearbook staff and was “grateful to have met so many young journalists” over the years. The Norman Bugge Scholarship is given in memory of Norman Bugge and awarded to a student attending Hanover Center for Trades and Technology. Bugge worked for the Verizon telephone company and volunteered his time to help build the Faire’s stage, wire the electrical panel and offered other helpful services. This year’s Bugge Scholarship was awarded to Chloe Lowery. She will be attending Virginia Tech in pursuit of a career in electric engineering. The Richard S. Gillis Jr. Scholarship is given in memory of founding member and former R-MC student “Dick” Gillis. He served as the mayor of Ashland, coining the town’s slogan as “Center of the Universe,” and later served on the Hanover County Board of Supervisors. The scholarship is given to a student majoring in political science at Randolph-Macon College. Mason Denseley was gifted this year’s scholarship. For more information about The Ashland Strawberry Faire, which will be held on June 11, and the Hanover County Scholarship Program, visit the website: https://ashlandstrawberryfaire.com/.
