Fire department awards two scholarships
The Wrightsville Beach Fire Department awarded $2,000 scholarships to two students as part of the Wrightsville Beach Fire Department Relief Fund Scholarship.
Garrett McQueen, a fire equipment operator and lead intern for the department, will use his portion of the funds to finance a graduate degree in criminal justice from the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Loren Williams, the daughter of lead fire equipment operator Jeff Williams, will use her scholarship as she begins her study of meteorology at the University of North Carolina Charlotte this year.
The scholarship is designed to help local members of the department and their children seek higher education. The scholarship fund is created through the remaining balance of the N.C. Firemen’s Relief Fund, which is funded through insurance premiums and distributed to each department.
Seafood market starts scholarship fishing tournament in former employee’s memory
Motts Channel Seafood will host an October fishing tournament that’s being launched to fund a scholarship to honor the memory of a former employee who was killed in an automobile accident.
The Mandie Phillips Memorial Inshore/Offshore Fishing Tournament will encourage participation from all levels, from the occasional angler to the tournaments veterans, with all proceeds going toward a scholarship fund to help local Appalachian State University college students with education expenses.
The Oct. 13-15 tournament will award prizes for flounder, speckled trout and Spanish mackerel in the inshore categories and wahoo, tuna, and king mackerel for the offshore categories. Additionally, to remember Phillips’ Aug. 9, 1993, birthday, any angler that brings in a fish weighing 8.9 pounds or 19.93 pounds will win a piece of Phillips’ artwork.
Phillips, a long-time employee of Motts Channel Seafood in Wrightsville Beach, died in a December 2014 car crash.
“Mandie had a zest for life that was contagious to those around her,” said Alison Long, chairperson for the nonprofit organization sponsoring the tournament. “She always had a positive outlook and really knew how to connect with people. It is our hope that this tournament can help college students who share her passion for making the world a better place.”
Wrightsville Beach Park to host annual dog disc competition
Dogs of all skill levels will compete in costume, attitude and skill during the 23rd Annual Bark in the Park at Wrightsville Beach Park on Saturday, Oct.1. The 2016 Hyperflite Skyhoundz Canine Disc Championships are open to dogs of all abilities and experience at disc catching.
Dogs will be scored based on distance and accuracy in their catches with extra points awarded for discs caught in the air. Awards will also be given to the best-dressed dog, best-dressed team, and dog displaying the most personality.
Attendance is free for participants and spectators, but dogs must be registered with Wrightsville Beach Parks and Recreation in order to compete.
