Valley Co. High School Seniors Encouraged to Apply for Barb Marsh Memorial Scholarship

All Valley County high school seniors are eligible to apply for a substantial college scholarship that will be awarded in February by the Hi-Line Sportsmen.

Scholarship winners will be announced at the conservation group’s first-annual fundraising banquet, scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 18, 2017 at St. Raphael’s Catholic Church’s parish hall in Glasgow. This is the third year the Barb Marsh Memorial Scholarship will be presented to qualifying high school seniors. But it’s the first year that the scholarship is administered by the Hi-Line Sportsmen; previously the scholarship was administered by the local chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation.

Scholarship applicants must possess a valid Montana hunting license. Other considerations are community service and participation in hunting and conservation-oriented activities. Application deadline for the scholarship is Jan. 20, 2017.

The scholarship is presented in memory of Barb Marsh, a longtime supporter of wildlife conservation and local youth, who died unexpectedly in January, 2014. Each year since her death, Barb’s partner, Joe Younkin, has sponsored a special rifle that is auctioned at the conservation banquet. Proceeds from the previous year’s auction are distributed to eligible high school students the following year. The amount of the scholarship varies from year to year since it is dependent on funds raised by the auction, but in previous years, multiple $1,000 scholarships were awarded to college-bound Valley County high schoolers.

Younkin has donated another firearm to the Hi-Line Sportsmen’s 2017 banquet that will fund 2018 scholarships. Plan to attend the Feb. 18 banquet to bid on the special scholarship gun—a Henry Golden Boy lever-action .22 rifle—as well as other firearms, sporting goods, and home décor, and to recognize the winner or winners of the 2016 Barb Marsh Memorial Scholarship.

For details about eligibility and other information about the scholarship, students are encouraged to visit with career counselors at high schools in Glasgow, Nashua, Frazer, Hinsdale, Opheim, and Lustre.

Call Jenn Jackson at 263-7339 or email Jackson at [email protected] for information about both the scholarship and the banquet, which raises funds for local wildlife conservation, outdoor recreation, youth events, and our hunting heritage.