For 30 years, the Sandhills Cattle Association has awarded scholarships to the youth of the Association members. In that time, 500 applications have been reviewed and reduced to 124 scholarship recipients, who have been awarded $110,250 just from the Sandhills Cattle Association alone. Funds for this program are raised through the annual benefit auction held at every convention. In September of 2020, we brought nearly $6,700 just from the scholarship auction alone, thanks to many vendors’ generous donations throughout the Sandhills region!
This year, we had twenty-one applications for the Sandhills Cattle Association scholarship program submitted for the committee’s review. The committee narrowed down the applicants to eight finalists and ultimately awarded five scholarship recipients. We are pleased to announce that after a very lengthy and rigorous application process, the following five applicants have been selected to receive this year’s Sandhills Cattle Association scholarships!
· Fletcher Larsen received one of the $2,000 Sandhills Cattle Association scholarships. Fletcher is the son of Scott & Kris Larsen and is currently a senior at Valentine High School. He will be attending Kansas State University this fall to study Animal Science with a Pre-Veterinary Option.
· Michaela Keller received the other $2,000 scholarship from the Sandhills Cattle Association. Michaela is the daughter of Shane & Karen Keller and is currently a senior at Valentine High School. She will be attending Eastern Wyoming College to major in Agricultural Business.
· Matthew Daily received the only $1,500 Sandhills Cattle Association scholarship. Matthew is the son of Lemoyne & Rhonda Dailey of Thedford, Nebraska. He is currently a senior at Sandhills High School and will be attending Western Dakota Technical Institute this fall to major in Construction Technology.
· Jon Keller received one of the $1,000 scholarships awarded by the Sandhills Cattle Association. Last year, Jon received the same scholarship! Jon is the oldest son of Shane & Karen Keller and graduated from Valentine High School in 2020. He will continue his Agricultural Business major at South Dakota State University this fall.
· Elle Ravenscroft received the other $1,000 Sandhills Cattle Association scholarship. Elle is the daughter of Eric & Shannon Ravenscroft of Nenzel, Nebraska, and is currently a senior at Cody-Kilgore Unified School. She will be majoring in Physical Education and Health at Chadron State College this fall.
We also have been extremely fortunate to present other scholarships on behalf of longtime members throughout the years, such as Howard Wright and Buzz Kime.
A long-standing memorial scholarship has been offered since 2006 in memory of Howard Wright. Howard was a lifelong Cherry County rancher and longtime member of the Sandhills Cattle Association. This scholarship was funded by the proceeds of two registered Longhorn steers sold at the 2005 SCA Convention and have continued to be replenished thanks to the Wright family. The Howard Wright family has been generous enough to award one $500 scholarship each year since 2006, and in total, they have awarded 17 scholarships in the amount of $8,500!
· This year’s Howard Wright Memorial Scholarship recipient is Elle Ravenscroft of Nenzel.
This year, a new memorial scholarship has been added in remembrance of Kenneth “Buzz” Kime, a lifetime Sandhills rancher and longtime Sandhills Cattle Association member. Funds for the scholarship came from generous memorial donations from friends and family after he passed in September of 2020. The Kime family is generously donating one $1,000 this year in remembrance of Buzz.
· This year’s Kenneth “Buzz” Kime Memorial Scholarship recipient is Elle Ravenscroft of Nenzel.
We want to urge those who did not receive a scholarship to apply again next year. Each recipient can receive the scholarships up to two times, so we also encourage first-time recipients to reapply next year as well! Congratulations to the 2021-2022 scholarship recipients; we know you will do great things for the ag community and represent the Sandhills Cattle Association well!
Volunteers are the lifeblood of any non-profit, and we certainly are no different. We want to thank the Scholarship Committee for devoting countless hours to their tedious assignment of sifting through twenty-one scholarship applications. This year’s scholarship committee included Committee Chairman - Bradley Cardinal of Valentine, Jenn Marlatt of Wood Lake, Sam Hunt of Milburn, Valerie Matulka of Valentine, and Ryan Adamson of Nenzel. We’d also like to thank the Wright & Kime families for their generous donations towards their memorial scholarships. Without their devotion to the scholarship program, we would not be able to ensure the future of agriculture.
If you’d like to support the Sandhills Cattle Association scholarship program or start your own memorial scholarship, we have several options available. Please contact the office at 402.376.2310 or email sca@sandhillscattle.com.
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