Thanks to the generosity of so many local and summer people, the Boothbay Region Student Aid Fund (BRSAF) now boasts 54 “Named Scholarships.” They are named once the donor has committed the sum of $10,000 to fund the award.

One of these scholarships bears the name “Ron Calhoun Rotary Club Memorial Scholarship.” Endowed by the Boothbay Region Rotary Club in the year 2002, the scholarship honors the memory of Ron Calhoun, a late member of the club who expressed a deep and abiding interest in and concern for the accomplishments of Boothbay Region High School graduates.

In recent years this scholarship has been supported not only by the Rotary, but also by Barbara Williams of East Boothbay, an old friend and admirer of Ron Calhoun. Students chosen to receive the Calhoun Rotary Club Memorial Scholarship exhibit the Rotary Club’s motto of “Service above Self.”

The 2013 award winner who exhibited such excellence in service was Sarah Caron, now a student at Wheaton College. Located in Norton, Mass., a verdant town located halfway between Boston and Providence, R.I., Wheaton prides itself not only for its academic programs, but also for its athletics, especially its women’s sports program.

One of Wheaton’s women’s sports is basketball, whose coach, Melissa Hodgdon, scored over a 1,000 points while a student and basketball player for Boothbay Region High School, 1983-1987. Visiting her alma mater a year or so ago, Hodgdon watched Caron on the court and immediately recruited her to play at Wheaton. She even allowed Caron to retain her Boothbay Region High School number, 10.

Caron loves Wheaton, which she claims reminds her in its size and setting of Maine’s Colby, Bates or Bowdoin. Her schedule of studies, basketball, social activities and music, keeps her very busy. She especially likes her science courses, in particular the laboratories. Currently, Caron is considering exclusively majoring in biology at Wheaton as well as participating in a college-related program offered by the nearby Woods Hole Oceanography Institute.

Much of Caron’s inspiration for ocean sciences originated at our own Bigelow Lab and its Keller-Bloom program. In her words, “Being part of the Keller-Bloom program at the Bigelow Laboratories for Ocean Sciences in Boothbay Harbor sparked my interest for Oceanography and broadened my passion for science.”

Indeed, Caron received the prestigious 2013 Maureen D. Keller Scholarship for her exceptional participation in the Keller-Bloom program.

The Boothbay Region Student Aid fund joins in congratulating Caron for her award and for her busy and successful freshman term at Wheaton. For more information on the BRSAF and how to set up a “Named Fund” please go to www.boothbayharborstudentaidfund.org.