To: All who have an interest in the Paul Soderlind Memorial Scholarship Fund (PSMSF)
WE ARE PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THE 2021 SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS
Click here to view the selectees and their comments.
Date: September 2020
It is with a certain amount of sadness that the board of the Paul Soderlind Memorial Scholarship Fund has directed that 2021 will be the last year of operation. There are several reasons for this action being taken, among them, the lack of new funding and the yearly reduction in the number of applicants (last year there were only 72).
To properly close down the fund the plans are for the fund offer nine $7,500 scholarships for the year 2021. This will use all of the donated funds that remain and at that point the fund will be officially terminated.
There are several people to thank for their support of the fund. Since the fund was founded, Board members Gary Pisel (Pres.), Dino Oliva (VP) (until 2018) George Lachinski (replacing Dino) and Tom Schellinger (Secy/Treas) have managed the fund. Other RNPA members along with the Board (Dick Duxbury, Don Chadwick) have worked to select the scholarship recipients until a few years ago when it was decided to use Wings Financial to review and select the best applications. The applications were then reviewed by the PSMSF Board for final approval.
Any of you who donated to the fund over the years should know that the money has been put to good use in providing for some of the educational expenses of NWA family members. A total of $332,000.00 will have been given out to a total of 70 recipients between 2002 and 2021. All of the money received into the fund came from the donations of NWA employees, a few businesses and in a few cases from those donating “in memory of”.
On a personal note, my sincere thanks to each of you who donated and to Karen Schmitt (Bits & Pieces) and the editors of Contrails for always being willing to publish the information related to the fund. Thanks also to Gary Pisel, Dino Oliva and George Lashinski for their help in making the fund work. I cannot forget to mention the work of Trish Olson and Wings Financial CU and her staff for their work in making the initial selection of the scholarship candidates. Thanks to all.
With some joy and some sadness,
Tom Schellinger
Secretary/Treasurer
Paul Soderlind Memorial Scholarship Fund (PSMSF)
Cc: Gary Pisal (Pres.)
George Lashinski (Vice Pres.)
Dino Oliva (Former VP)
Trish Olson-Wings Financial CU