The Portsmouth Daily Times
June 18, 2013
Ryan Scott Ottney
The Minford Alumni Association celebrated its Alumni Banquet May 25 at Minford High School, with alumni and guests coming from 13 states. The Minford class of 2013 was also invited to attend as guests.
President Lynn Wessel and Toastmaster Joe Stockham presented $1,000 alumni scholarship to Kirsten Puckett, Haley King, and Jamie Justice. Money for the scholarship is raised from alumni donations and business sponsorships.
Scholarships are also given by families as a memorial for the a family member; the King-Warren Scholarship for $1,000 was presented to Rachel Parker, the Katherine Ault family gave a $1,000 scholarship to Abby Wheeler, and the Katharine Rase Harper family gave a $550 scholarship to Marcus Branch. Two businesses Minford provided a $1,000 scholarship in honor of Richard Powell, and this was presented to Fayeth Lore.
The 50th year class of 1963 presented a $2,300 scholarship to Seth Dingus. This class was challenged by the class of 1962 to meet or exceed their 2012 scholarship of $1,962.
The Alumni Distinguished Service Award was presented to Richard Powell, a 1961 graduate of Minford and retired CEO at Desco Federal Credit Union. He also served on the Scioto County Board of Health and as an officer for the Minford Telephone Company. The award is given to a Minford graduate who has made a significant contribution to their profession or field of expertise.
The Memorial Award was presented to the family of Donald Sanford, who was an active youth sports organizer and helped develop a new sports complex. He also served as a coach, referee and volunteer. The award is given to honor a deceased member for their contribution to Minford School and the community.
The Alumni Association has three awards that may be given to recipients names are submitted to the committee. The Hall of Fame Award was not given this year, and the Alumni committee is seeking nominations for these awards that may be presented at the 2014 banquet. If anyone would like to place a name for an award, contact any alumni officer before March 2014. Officers from the 2014 alumni banquet are President Lynn Wessel, Toastmaster Patrick Gampp, Secretary Treasurer Joe Stockham, and Public Relations Director Mary Conklin.
The Minford Alumni Association began in 1926 when two alumni met and established the first meeting. There were no banquets during the World War II years. After this period, the group met to re-establish the alumni banquets.
The alumni contributions to the school have developed along with celebrations. One of the first group efforts were to aid in buying band uniforms.The alumni restored the class pictures, and today there is a group of picture for every class that graduated from Minford High School. They are now hanging in the halls of the high school.
Special class reunions for the 50th and 25th years began in 1973, and a scholarship fun was established in 1976 from donations given at the banquet.
The 2014 Minford Alumni Banquet will be May 14, 2014, at Minford High School.
Ryan Scott Ottney may be reached at 740-353-3101, ext. 287, or [email protected]. For breaking news, follow Ryan on Twitter @PDTwriter.