Scholarship Fund Named in Honor of Founding Member, Chuck Huntington
The Merrymeeting Audubon Board of Directors recently voted to name its scholarship program after Chuck Huntington, a professional ornithologist and long-time friend and mentor to birders around the world. Chuck, who passed away in January of 2017, was the founder of the Merrymeeting Chapter and an avid supporter of its camp scholarship programs.
The Chuck Huntington Scholarship Fund provides scholarships for chapter area teens and teachers to attend Hog Island Audubon Camp, and for younger students to attend the Univeristy of Maine 4-H summer camps at Tanglewood and Bryant Pond. All programs are in one week residential settings. We provide full and half scholarships to approximately 30 students each year. Half scholarships range from $200-300, full scholarships from $595-$1295. Applications for scholarships are made available to area schools in February of each year, and are also available for downloading on this page beginning in January. For more information about our scholarships, please contact any of the following scholarship committee members: Bronda Niese, Chairperson – 406-2396, bniese04@comcast.net; Sue Sergeant – suegeosergeant@comcast.net, 442-8195; Ted Allen –beanallen79@gmail.com, 729-8661; Kathy Claerr – kclaerr1@comcast.net; Steve Spear – 353-8863, sspear32@gmail.com.
For more information regarding the camp programs we support, go to hogisland.audubon.org, or call 843 340-8673 and ask about programs for Teens or, if you are a teacher, Educator’s Week. For children ages 8 – 14, you can review the variety of programs available at Tanglewood 4-H Camp by accessing https://extension.umaine.edu/tanglewood, or by calling 207 789-5868. For Bryant Pond 4-H Camp, go to https://extension.umaine.edu/bryantpond or call 207 665-2068.
Merrymeeting Audubon is proud of its track record of funding about 30 camperships per year. The chapter is able to provide such a high level of support for campers in our catchment area through donations from committed local organizations and generous individuals. In 2019, Tanglewood, Bryant Pond, and Hog Island tuition rates translate to approximately $18,000 in anticipated scholarships.
We invite you to help send a kid to camp too! Please make your tax deductible donation to the scholarship fund. Send your check to: The Chuck Huntington Scholarship Fund, c/o Steve Spear, 9 Livernois Drive, Topsham, ME 04086
Teen and Teacher Hog Island Scholarships Awarded for 2019
Merrymeeting Audubon recently awarded Chuck Huntington scholarships to two Topsham teenagers, each of whom have an intense interest in birding and ecology. Margaret Libby and Weston Barker will be attending Hog Island Audubon Camp’s week long “Mountains to Sea Birding for Teens” program in June. Margaret, who is an Honors Biology student at Mt. Ararat High School, writes that she is interested biology, math, and art, as well as bird watching, butterflies, and wildflowers. She hopes to go into a science-related career and believes that the Hog Island program will help prepare her for that. Weston, who is actively involved in the Maine Young Birder’s Club, has been described by the Club’s coordinator as “an extremely talented birder.” Weston writes that he will endure any adverse climate conditions or difficult terrain to spot a bird he is looking for; “As long as there are birds, I’m happy.” Merrymeeting Audubon is pleased to support these two talented teenagers in their quests to learn more about birds and the natural world.
A Bath Schools Visual Fine Art Instructor has been awarded a Chuck Huntington scholarship to attend the teacher education program at Hog Island Audubon Camp entitled “Sharing Nature: An Educator’s Week,” which will run from July 14 – 19. This experience is designed to help teachers who want to improve their environmental education curriculum. Jacqueline Johnson is an accomplished artist and educator whose work has focused on the connection between art and the environment. Her goal is for her students to experience nature through art, and she is anxious to connect with other educators in the inspiring natural environment of Hog Island. She writes that “on a personal level, my hope is that this camp opportunity will result in a large body of scientific drawings and paintings that would come out of my studio during the remainder of the summer.”
Applications for 2019 4-H Camp Scholarships Now Available
Scholarship applications for Tanglewood and Bryant Pond 4-H camps are typically made available each year in early February, when they are emailed to all area schools. However, you can also access the applications here for downloading and printing:
2019 Tanglewood 2019 Bryant Pond
