Alumni association presented scholarships totaling $29,000

 By Steve Short 

With five new scholarships added in 2004, the Milan High School Alumni Association awarded twenty-eight college grants during this year’s Alumni Day totaling $29,000.

Twenty-six different students in the Milan High Class of 2004 will benefit from the scholarship program.

Debbie Ownby McManus, president of the alumni association during the past year, thanked alumni members for their generosity and support. “I received an alumni scholarship over twenty-five years ago, and it was important to me,” said McManus, a 1979 graduate now residing in Milan. “We appreciate the money you have given over the years.”

McManus told the Alumni Day audience that some members of the association were under the misconception that all scholarships were privately funded.

Some scholarships are funded by the association while other scholarships are privately funded by families and organizations. Most scholarships are derived from dividends on investments.

The Milan High Alumni Association (MHSAA) reported endowment funds of about $416,000 in May, 2004. The endowment has built over the years from membership dues and contributions. Last year, about $26,700 was received in donations and $23,550 awarded in scholarships. Available funds for the alumni association totaled $119,000 for the 2003-04 fiscal year with expenses reaching about $38,000. Expenses for Alumni Day invitations, programs and the banquet were about $7,000.

This year the dollar value of grants funded by the association was increased from $750 to $1,000. “The contributions by alumni members go to the scholarships,” said Debbie McManus. “We hope to increase the amounts in the future, because college is increasing every year in cost.” McManus noted that families and relatives of alumni members are the beneficiaries of the college grants.

This year three new alumni funded grants were established honoring MHSAA volunteers, each worth $1,000: the Elizabeth Keaton Owby & Mary Moore Collins Scholarship, the Bobbie Sue Pratt Priddy Scholarship; and the Rex Tatum Scholarship.

Two new private scholarships presented this year were the Betty Fisher Short Scholarship and a Class of 1974 Scholarship in memory of classmate Stevie Beasley.

Of this year’s twenty-eight scholarships, fifteen were funded by MHSAA and thirteen were funded privately.

The grants vary in amount from several hundred dollars to the largest scholarship, the L. R. and Hassie Powell grant, which totals $5,000. Some private scholarships fluctuate annually depending on interest rates.

All of the scholarships go to the natural and adoptive sons and daughters of MHS grads who attend Milan High School, with the exception of the Andrew Holt Scholarship, which is awarded through a random drawing process and can go to a student at any high school.

Mrs. McManus commended this year’s recipients who attended Saturday’s event. “We’re proud of you; you studied hard and have been good citizens and represent what the alumni association is about,” she noted.  

2004 Milan High Alumni Scholarships

Total value approximately $29,000

The name of the scholarship is followed by the graduate of the class of 2004 who received the grant.

MHSAA funded scholarships ($1,000 each)

Lamar Pittman scholarship – Lindsay Tucker

Johnnie Hale Metcalf scholarship – Travis White

Andrew Holt scholarship – Jason Belew

Edith Holt – Amanda Marie Mitchell

J. W. Thomas – Brittany Broach

Lurla B. Daniels Keith – Rachel Szopinski

Milton Mayo – William York

Wylie Wheeler – Megan Pope

Norris Hassell – Morgan Pickard

Marcelle Moore – Brian Jones

Laura R. Stewart – Zachary McMinn

Ralph Holt – Chris Hughes

Rex Tatum – Sam Sullivan

Bobbie Pratt Priddy – Rachel Hutchison

Mary Moore Collins and Elizabeth Keaton Ownby scholarship – Lacie McCurley and Lindee McCurley

(Privately funded scholarships of varying amounts)

Jeff Hopper – Daniel Beasley

Hazel Culver – Amanda Kay Barnett

L. R. & Hassie Powell – Sheena Newbill

Robert Lee & Mildred Caldwell – Tim Mosby

Ed Jenkins – Joy Jenkins

Allie Vee & Martha Blankenship – Rickey Goff

Christy Fisher Coleman – Chad Autry

Pete Evans – Sarah Thompson

Jimmy Dyer – Britney Elaine Goodrich

Deonza Spain Pafford – Daniel Beasley

Class of 1966 – Mark Minton

Betty Fisher Short – William Bradley Jones

Class of 1974 in memory of Stevie Beasley – Daniel Beasley