Eastern Shore Land Conservancy (ESLC) announced the first ever recipient of its Howard Wood Memorial Scholarship. Blake Holliday, a resident of East New Market, was recently awarded the $1,000 scholarship at a small awards ceremony held at ESLC’s
Queenstown Office. The Scholarship honors a founding board member of ESLC – Howard Wood- who was committed to maintaining the Eastern Shore’s rich rural and agricultural legacy.
“I really am honored,” said Holliday, a Chesapeake College student who plans to attend the University of Maryland in 2012. “I appreciate it especially with how the economy is. I hope I can make Mr. Wood proud – I’ll do my best.”
The Howard Wood Scholarship was established by the family of the Mr. Wood to honor his lifelong commitment to youth, conservation and the Eastern Shore’s rich rural heritage.
ESLC is currently accepting applications for the 2012 scholarship. The scholarship application is open to anyone looking to pursue a career in agriculture, land use planning alternative energy planning or other conservation related field. The competition is open to those who are residents of the six counties ESLC serves – Caroline, Cecil, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot. Applications are available via ESLC’s website. To apply, applicants should fill out an application, provide a high school or college transcript and submit a 500-word original essay describing their response to the following question:
Consider the Eastern Shore in the next 25 years – what is your vision for the Shore? What will you do to assure the Eastern Shore remains the rural gem and special place that it is for the future? Please include your academic plans, career aspirations and future goals when responding to this question.
“Young people like Blake are the key to the Shore’s future and we are so grateful to the Wood family for this generous gift to help a local youth further his education.” said ESLC’s Executive Director Rob Etgen. “We hope this scholarship will help assure the Shore’s rural legacy that was so important to Howard is maintained for future generations.”
Scholarship applications are due by December 31. Applications will be judged by a panel in January and one scholarship recipient will be selected and announced in 2012.
For more information about the scholarship program, contact Eastern Shore Land Conservancy at www.eslc.org.
About the Howard Wood Memorial Scholarship
Howard Wood spent summers at his grandmother’s farm crabbing, sailing and swimming if the jellyfish weren’t too thick. He helped with chores and learned to drive her Model T pick-up. After college and law school, Howard decided to live year round at Indiantown – the farm next door to his grandmother’s – and opened his law office in Centreville. He soon became aware that the increasing urbanization of the Shore threatened the livelihood of many of his clients – farmers and watermen – as well as the natural and fertile beauty of the area he loved so much. Howard spent many volunteer hours working with the Maryland Environmental Trust and was a founding Board member of ESLC. He helped many neighbors, clients and friends place conservation easements on their land. The Wood Family has established this scholarship in Howard’s memory and feel that helping a student interested in a career in conservation continue or start their education would honor his legacy.
ESLC is a private, nonprofit land conservation organization dedicated to the preservation of farmland and habitat on the Eastern Shore. Funded by member contributions, ESLC helps landowners to discover, evaluate and implement any of the voluntary land preservation options available. Since its inception in 1990, ESLC has helped landowners to protect more than 50,000 acres of farmland and important habitat on 251Eastern Shore properties. Visit eslc.org for more information.
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