News Article

NORTH EAST, Md. – Just as farmers aspire to be good stewards of the land they work, the Upper Bay Ruritan Club strives to be good stewards of the next generation of American citizens. For more than two decades, the Upper Bay Ruritan has provided scholarships for Bohemia Manor High School graduates who seek to realize their dreams of a better life through education.

The Upper Bay Ruritan Club, located in Cecilton, Md., provided eight Cecil College students with $1,000 scholarships this fall.

“It is all about helping these young people to improve their lives and be happy. We will do whatever we can to help,” said Mike Scheeler, an Upper Bay Ruritan Club member.

The Upper Bay Ruritan scholarships have helped students earn degrees that will enrich their lives and help Cecil County thrive. These scholarship recipients are pursuing degrees in nursing, elementary education, social work, and agricultural studies.

“I will complete my associate degree in social work this coming December, but without this scholarship, I probably would not be in school this semester. I would have had to take a semester off to save up the money to cover textbooks and other expenses,” said Ashley Kelly, who has applied to the Salisbury University bachelor’s program in social work that can be completed at the North East Campus of Cecil College.

The other recipients of these scholarships include Lily Argoe, Nursing; Isaac Cunningham, Art and Design – Graphic Design; Allison Dopp, Physical Therapist Assistant; Logan Mitchell, General Studies; Julia Rodriguez, Agricultural Sciences; Elliana Triantafillos, Nursing; and Olivia Zicafoose, Elementary Education.

“This scholarship has especially helped with my nursing textbooks, which are not cheap. I have been able to focus on my studies because of scholarship opportunities such as this. I have a 4.0 GPA right now because scholarships have allowed me to focus on my studies,” said Triantafillos, a 2020 BoManor High School graduate. “I have wanted to become a nurse since I was about 12 years old. My grandmother was a nurse and talked about it all the time. She made me fall in love with it.”

Ruritan Clubs are service organizations located in small towns and rural areas. Each club surveys the needs of its community and then works to meet some of those needs. The organization aims to achieve “Fellowship, Goodwill, and Community Service.”

“The Upper Bay Ruritans have been such generous donors to the college for quite some time. You are making a tremendous impact in the lives of our students,” said Cecil College President Dr. Mary Way Bolt.

Organizations like the Upper Bay Ruritan Club have enabled the Cecil College Foundation to provide more than $390,000 in student scholarships. The Upper Bay Ruritan Club has provided more than $100,000 in scholarships in the past two decades through fundraising events like the Ruritan’s annual Fall Spaghetti Dinner.