2008 Scholarship Topic Announced
The Columbus Grove Area Chamber of Commerce announces that the subject for the 2008 scholarship will be the following:
"The Benefits of Social Organizations
Within a Community"
The competetion is open to 2008 graduates of Columbus Grove High School.
The scholarship money is paid upon proof that the receipient earns a 2.5 GPA in the first quarter or semester of college this fall.
The essay should be no more than two pages, double spaced.
The essay should be mailed to Steve Wynn, 1950 Begg Road, Columbus Grove, Ohio 45830 and received no later than July 1, 2008
Winners will be announced at GroveFest 2008
The Columbus Grove Community Scholarship Fund was created and founded by Dick Rimer with an initial donation of two (2) $500.00 bills donated In Memory of Wilma Rimer.
Dick Rimer and The Columbus Grove Chamber of Commerce
are pleased to announce the 2007 winners of the
Community Scholarship
1st Place: Jamienne Scott
2nd Place: Megan Johns
The Chamber of Commerce wishes all the entrants in the 2007 Columbus Grove Community Scholarship contest good luck in their quest for higher education. We received a total of six entries vying for the first prize of $1000.00 and a second place prize of $50o.00.
This is Jamienne Scott's winning essay:
"The Benefits of Living in a Smaller Community"
"Be glad there's one place in the world
Where everybody knows your name
And they're always glad you came
You want to go where people know
People are all the same
You want to go where eveybody know your name"
-Cheers lyrics
The theme song of the television show "Cheers" had it right when they captured the desire of people's hearts: their desire to live in an environment where they could be somebody, where a sense of community and involvement, intimacy and friendship, freedom, and safety exist. Living in a small community is the reply to this desire.
Growing up in a small town, a person has ample opportunity to get involved. There are several clubs, organizations, and service activities to be found. They are simple to join and the people are willing to accept each other. There is an obvious sense of community and intimacy between people who share a small plot of land such as a Columbus Grove or a Pandora. Friends and acquaintances always offer an encouraging word or smile each time they are bumped into on the street, and instead of a, "Hey you!" ...there is a name attached.
In a smaller community, there is also freedom to be oneself. The unrelenting pressure of the city atmosphere cramps a person's individuality. A slower paced lifestyle encourages time to enjoy life and inhale the fresh air. There is also a certain degree of safety that encircles a small town. Unlike large cities with danger around every corner, there is much more security in a small community where law enforcement is increasingly attentive.
It is not possible to live in a community such as Columbus Grove without the obvious quirks only a small town can possess. It should be known that a rumor will take less than half a day to circulate through all the businesses in the area, and it is nearly impossible to drive on Main Street without four people recognizing one's car and waving insanely. It hits hard when in the summer the Dairy Whip becomes the fourth meal of the day and the smell of manure triggers nostalgia for home.
A smaller community obviously has it's benefits, and everyone can share in them. I just might want to venture into a big city for the experience of something new, but a part of me will always desire to remain in that "one place in the world where everyone knows your name." It becomes more than just a community, it becomes home.
Jamienne Scott
2007 First Place
Columbus Grove Community Scholarship Fund
This is Megan Johns' 2nd place essay:
"A Village in Harmony"
The general definition of "community" describes a group of people living in a particular local area. The scientific definition describes a group of interdependent organisms inhabiting the same region and interacting with each other.
The primary organisms in my community are humans, but there are others as well. Contented cats can be found lying on doorsteps or roaming alleyways. Different sizes and breeds of dogs are walked on the sidewal and through the park. Chirping birds perch on windowills while black squirrels chase one another from tree to tree. Flowers bloom by the wooden benches that dot the storefronts downtown. The region that these specific organisms (including myself) inhabit is the small farm town of Collumbus Grove.
Social contact occurs between the dogs being walked and their owners, as well as the cats that stroll by to torment the poor dogs on leashes. The birds leave their droppings on unsuspecting people that pass below their perch, and the squirrels scamper away from the cats that wander too close. People who are not in too much of a hurry may stop to smell the flowers, or pet the dogs, or watch the cats chase the birds or admire the deep, black color of the squirrels ' fur. Of course, people also interact with each other by talking and walking together, and the ones who are driving honk and holler at pedestrians they recognize.
The greatest benefit to living in a small community is getting to see these continual occurrences every time you pass through town. In a big city the inhabitants are much to rushed to stop and smell the flowers as they walk to the post office or up to the ice cream shoppe. They do not get to laugh as their best friend gets pooped on by a bird while sitting under a tree at school watching the band practice. Things are often too far away to walk to in a city, but here in Grove you get there faster on foot than you do by car.
There is always somethng amusing to see and hear in this close-knit community, and there is so much about Grove that makes it much more than just a community with organisms interacting. You cannot go anywhere in town without running into someone you know. Folks in our little town are real nice. Some of the best and brightest come from (and return to) Grove. The community literally glows with pride with its youth-just like our town, itself, glows. Our sunsets are majestic, our starry night skies sparkle with diamonds, and our rainbows are spectacular. It is as if God tossed a handful of natural gems here in this small part of the world, and decided to make it Columbus Grove.
Megan Johns
2007 Second Place
Columbus Grove Community Scholarship Fund
