Rotary announces
2021 award winners
The Cooperstown Rotary Foundation announced the winners of two scholarships for 2021 graduates during a ceremony Tuesday, July 6, at The Otesaga Resort Hotel.
Cooperstown Central graduate Ellie Hotaling is the recipient of the Catherine Davis Black Scholarship.
William Moody, an Oneonta High School and BOCES graduate, is the recipient of the Michael Mayne scholarship.
Moody and Hotaling were acknowledged at their high schools’ commencement ceremonies and received the $1,200 scholarships at the Rotary Club’s luncheon.
The Catherine Davis Black Scholarship award was created in 2015 in memory of Catherine Black, who was a charter member and a founder of the local Rotary Club’s tax-deductible charity.
Black was the first female president of the Cooperstown Rotary Club and went on to be one of the first female district governors. Since Black had a special interest in early childhood education and music, the scholarship criteria stipulates the recipient should be planning to pursue a career in one of those areas, as well as having demonstrated the Rotary tenet of “Service Above Self” by volunteering and contributing to their community.
The Rotary committee felt Hotaling fit the criteria for the award in many ways, including her career goals. She plans to attend SUNY Cortland this fall to major in early childhood education.
During high school, Hotaling volunteered for the Cooperstown Food Pantry and the Mammography Department at Bassett hospital. She was an active member of the Leo Club and the Leadership Training for Athletes club at CCS.
The Michael Mayne Scholarship is given in memory of Michael Mayne, who attended the Edmeston schools and BOCES.
Corp. Mayne was a member of the 5th Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment of the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, a unit of the 25th Infantry Division based at Fort Wainwright, Alaska.
Tragically, Mayne was killed in the line of duty in Iraq in 2009.
Moody plans to attend SUNY Delhi to specialize in mechatronics.
His teachers at BOCES and Oneonta schools applaud him as a leader who embodies the qualities Mayne held: passion, purpose, and an impressive work ethic.