By BILL BARLOW/Special to the Sentinel
PETERSBURG – On a hot, sunny afternoon, two Upper Township students ducked into the shade of a canopy outside Petersburg United Methodist Church to accept the first scholarships from the American Legion Aaron Wittkamp Coldwell Post 239 of Tuckahoe.
The $750 scholarships went to a boy and a girl, Konner Yunghans of Petersburg and Elizabeth Wilson of Tuckahoe.
Bill Eisele, the post scholarship chairman, presented each student with a declaration and a check.
The award was planned to take place at the post meeting at Dino’s Restaurant, but the restaurant is doing takeout only under Gov. Phil Murphy’s statewide orders during the pandemic, so a small crowd instead gathered outside, including parents and a few post members.
The students and the post members wore masks for the event.
According to post Commander John Olansen, the scholarships were available to a male and female high school student who are the child or grandchild of a veteran who was honorably discharged. It was not necessary that the veteran live in the township, but the student had to live in Upper Township at the time of the award and have been accepted into a college, a sanctioned trade school of other accredited institution of higher learning, according to a statement from Olansen.
Eisele said there was one applicant who grew up in the township but no longer qualified because the family moved out of town.
Yunghans and Wilson graduated Ocean City High School this year.
It was one of two scholarship presentations Eisele was involved with July 8. That evening, also at the church on Route 610, 17 students accepted scholarships from the Greater Tuckahoe Area Merchant’s Association, according to a statement emailed by Eisele. In another concession to the coronavirus, the awards were distributed as part of a drive-through rather than in a gathering.
Students accepting awards included Delany Lappin, Seth Seitz and Reghan Handley; college students Jack Crowell, Brooke Handley, Anthony Jones, William Kroeger, Eric Love, Kyle Saul, Michael Saul, Jaren Schiavone, Jason Schiavone, Madalyn Sudol, Faith Willet and Joseph Zobler; and graduate students Devon Terwilliger and Fiona Devine.
To receive a scholarship, students must live within the area of the association.
Since 1998 the association has allocated approximately $237,000 to students from the Greater Tuckahoe Area, according to a statement submitted by Eisele.
The Merchant’s Association has several awards programs with funding from several different private sources and through three main scholarship fund raising events: The Pocketbook Bingo event in March, The Tuckahoe River Canoe, Kayak and Poker Run in August and the Professional Craft Show in November. The Poker Run has been cancelled for this year.