Helen Weston was the first woman to serve as a Lincoln County Commissioner. She died while serving in office. Her husband, George Weston, established a scholarship fund in her memory and started giving awards of the interest monies in 1991. The award is given to a deserving student from Lincoln County who shows an interest in government and/or politics.

The Lincoln County Republican Committee (LCRC) recognized the 2018 winner at their monthly meeting on June 27 at the Newcastle Community Center. From many outstanding applicants, the board awarded a $1,000 scholarship to Lillian Sherburne, Boothbay Region High School graduate who will be attending Simmons College in the fall where she will major in political science with an emphasis on public policy. Accompanied by her dad, Bill Sherburne, and other members of her family, Sherburne recognized her dad in her remarks who taught her that “hard work starts at home.”

The Helen Weston Scholarship Fund has been under the stewardship of LCRC with an elected board serving to represent the secondary schools of Lincoln County continuously since 1991. The board has not always been able to make awards each year due to low interest returns, but with the recent market resurgence under the policies of the President Trump administration, County Republicans have awarded $2,000 in scholarships in the past 2 years. With the 2018 award, LCRC has awarded 17 scholarships to deserving students of Lincoln County since the fund's inception.