Horace Smith Fund Awards $216,000 to Area Students
SPRINGFIELD — On Thursday, June 15, the Horace Smith Fund will hold its 118th corporators’ meeting and scholarship awards ceremony at the Carriage House at Storrowton Tavern in West Springfield for recipients, their parents and school counselors, and corporators.
Wayne Webster, chair of the board of trustees, announced that there will be 18 scholarship recipients and three fellowship recipients this year. “Providing that students maintain at least a B average in college, each scholarship provides a total of $10,000 over four years, and each fellowship provides $12,000 over three years. Therefore, the Horace Smith Fund is happy to be able to grant a total award of $216,000 to area students this year.”
The Horace Smith Fund was established in 1899 by its namesake philanthropist, said Teresa Regina, chair of the scholarship committee. “He and Daniel Wesson were the founders of Smith & Wesson, located in Springfield. Mr. Smith’s will provided that the residual of his estate, after several bequests to relatives and institutions, was to be used for public purposes at the discretion of his executors. They decided that it should be used to help deserving students finance their education.”
The scholarships and fellowships are named for Walter S. Barr, a West Springfield businessman, whose widow left the bulk of the family estate to the Horace Smith Fund in 1950. Recipients must be residents of Hampden County. The keynote speaker at the ceremony will be Ryan Migeed of Springfield, a 2015 graduate of American University and past recipient of the Walter S. Barr Scholarship.
This year’s scholarship recipients include Thomas Hendrickson, Agawam High School; Aqsa Maham and Willard McKinstry, Chicopee Comprehensive High School; Xavier Farrell, High School of Science & Technology; Jordan Kei-Rahn, Longmeadow High School; Ashley Gurney, Minnechaug Regional High School; Timothy Canning, Palmer High School; Richard Nguyen, Roger L. Putnam Vocational-Technical Academy; Padraig Smith, Saint Mary High School; David Giang, Kiara Mickens, and Brendan Truong, Springfield Central High School; Ilona Znackharchuk, Westfield High School; Lindsay Gearty, West Springfield High School; Ngan Tran, Springfield Central High School, Bay Path University; Parris Porter, SABIS, Hampshire College; Amelia Vega, Holyoke High School, UMass Amherst; and Kevin Pelletier, Chicopee Comprehensive High School, Westfield State University.
The three fellowship recipients are graduates of the following high schools and colleges: Melanie Gomes, Chicopee High School, Brandeis University; John-Marc Austin, Austin Family Homeschool, Elms College; and Alexander Smith, Minnechaug Regional High School, UMass Amherst.
Students were selected on a variety of criteria, including their test scores, class rank, extracurricular activities, and a personal, written account of why the student feels deserving of financial assistance. Applications for next year’s awards will be available September 15 at www.horacesmithfund.org or by calling (413) 739-4222.
