2002 Scholarship Recipient Mullins Receives HHS Class of '61 First Memorial Scholarship
Recent graduate Jonathan Mullins was the first recipient of the Haysi High School Class of 1961 Memorial Scholarship. Denver Bailey and Sue Counts, members of HHS Class of '61, attended the high school awards program on May 27 to present the $250 scholarship award to Mullins. Mullins, the son of Barry and Lana Mullins of Clinchco, plans to attend Southwest Virginia Community College in Richlands in the fall.
The scholarship was established by members of the Class of '61 to honor their classmates who have died. A scholarship selection committee, which included a member of the Class of '61, used a pre-determined set of criteria to select the recipient from a pool of applicants. Mary Lee Owens was the Class of '61 member who served on this year's selection committee.
The Class of '61 met last year, on September 14 and 15, at Breaks Interstate Park for a 40th Class Reunion. Twenty-eight members of the graduating class, along with several friends, family, spouses and classmates who attended HHS during the years 1957-61, were present. The 1961 class members who attended were: Martha Arrington Farmer, Maggie Hill, Juanita Dotson Johnson, Jr. Lockhart, Kennith Branham, Charles Yates, Danny Sutherland, Mac Hay, Kit Sykes, Denver Bailey, Chris Gus, Johnny Viers, Phyllis Rasnake Bostic, Kathleen Barton Rasnick, Margaret Campbell Turner, Mary Lee Owens Sutherland, Sarah Edwards Hall, Virginia Counts Booth, Patsy Dye Conner, Sue Counts, Pauline Yates Jones, Nancy Barrett Killian, Bonnie Sue Deel Ratliff, Jack Ratliff, Gladys Turner Teer, Zay Powers Viers, Mary Hay Beasley and Alta Delaney Edwards. Two teachers, Tommy Street and Katy Jo Powers, were also able to be with the class.
Those who attended the event also wanted to find a way to remember their classmates who are no longer living. The group held a "Remembrance Ceremony" for those classmates who have died, which included the lighting of a candle and a reading for each classmate. Their classmates who have died include: Harry Arrington, Ellis Branham, Glen Colley, Jackie B. Colley, Bobby Counts, Johnny P. Edwards, Norris Edwards, Lowell T. Jones, William Mondrage, Kennith O'Quinn, Ola O'Quinn, Alex Owens, Lois Puckett Ludowici, Tommy Rasnake, Larry Stanley, Charlie Turner, and Patricia Turner Yates. The class has lost 22 percent of its members to death, through heart attacks, cancer and automobile accidents. The 17 who have died were all younger than 60.
Saddened by the loss of their classmates, remaining members of the class, after much discussion, decided to establish a Memorial Scholarship Fund. The fund was established not only in memory of their classmates who have already died, but as a way to make contributions in memory of those classmates who will die in the future. An endowment, the Haysi High School Class of '61 Memorial Scholarship, was created so that a scholarship can be awarded each year to a Haysi High School graduating senior who will be attending college.
This endowment is with the Watauga County Community Foundation which is under the NC Community Foundation. Contributions to this scholarship endowment are tax-deductible. Letters to document donations will be sent to donors to use for tax purposes. In addition, if the donation is given in memory of someone, a letter will also be sent to the person's family to let them know a gift has been given in memory of their family member.
Donations are welcome and any check should be made out to "Haysi High School Class of '61 Memorial Scholarship Endowment" and mailed to Sue Counts, PO Box 2642, Boone, NC 28607.