Rotary Club of West Orange Awards $14,500 in Student Scholarships

On Friday, June 10, 2011, the Rotary Club of West Orange handed out $14,500 in student scholarships to 14 high school seniors headed for college.  This has been an annual tradition of the West Orange Club since the 1950's.  The event was held at Mayfair Farms with the members of the Rotary club hosting a luncheon for the students and their parents and family members.

The Rotary Club raises the money for the scholarships through it's various fundraisers throughout year, most notably the Taste of the World event held every March, as well as the Annual Super Golf Raffle and Super 50:50 Raffle.  When you buy a hotdog or a soda from the West Orange Rotary concession stand at the July 4th fireworks in West Orange or at the Halloween festivities you are supporting these scholarships as well as many other important local and international charities.

The students are selected by the Club's Scholarship Committee chaired by Rotarian Chris Cohrs along with Peter Ricci, Dr. Jim Huber, Ed Enginger, Mike Karu and Rich Cimo.  The committee devotes many volunteer hours reviewing the applications as well as interviewing the students themselves.  The awards are based on aptitude, community service, extracurricular activities as well as need.

Selected students must be seniors that live in West Orange but can attend any public or private high school. This year, 11 recipients are graduating from West Orange High School, 1 from Montclair Kimberly Academy, 1 from Seton Hall Prep and 1 from Joseph Kutchner Academy in Livingston.

The Rotary club gives out two special scholarships every year named after a child and a grandchild of West Orange Rotarians.  The Jeffrey Corba Scholarship is named after the grandson of W. Don Horn, Sr. who has been a member of the club, with perfect attendance, since 1955.  Don's grandson Jeffrey was killed in a car accident while at college in Wyoming in 2007.  Rochelle Ricci, daughter of Rotarian Peter Ricci, who was killed in a motorcycle accident one month short of her college graduation in 2010, has been memorialized by naming one of the scholarships after her.  Her dad, Peter, awarded the scholarship at the awards ceremony and there was not a dry eye in the house.  The message was:  our children are our most valuable resource. 

The Rotary Club of West Orange also awarded a $1000 scholarship in the name of Walter H. Smith, a Rotarian who died in 2011 at the age of 94.  Walter was a member of the club since 1960 and had perfect attendance for over 50 years.  Donations made to the club under Walter's name provided the funds for the additional scholarship. 

If you would like to make a donation the the West Orange Rotary Scholarship fund, you can contact us at info@westorangerotary.org.  Please visit us at www.westorangerotary.org to see all of the projects and charities that the West Orange Rotary Club supports.