Historical Society Announces Two Scholarship Winners

The annual Robert and Janice Barensfeld Scholarships were awarded at the Ellwood City Historical Society on Monday.

Emily Fox, of Riverside High School, and Mark VanHorn, of Lincoln High School, were the graduating seniors who each earned the the scholarships.

The meeting was opened by President Everett Bleakney, who welcomed all present to an exciting evening. Guy Prestia, a WWII veteran lead the group in the Pledge of Allegiance. A thank you card from Guy, to the History Center was read for his 100th birthday celebration hosted by the Center. A letter of commendation from President Biden given to Guy, was shown

Everett then gave some statics on the scholarship program. This is the 23rd year the scholarships have been awarded, to 46 graduating seniors, and a total of $69,000.00. The scholarship committee, consisting of Kaye Houk, Barbara Mastropietro and Mary May were introduced. Briefly, the process of selecting the winning essays entered was explained.

Robert Morabito then introduced Emily Fox, a Riverside graduate. She is the daughter of Jerome and Tracy Fox. Her winning essay was titled “Rock Point Park: An Evolving Park for the People.” Emily is a straight A student, member of the National Honor Society, and has obtained various other academic awards. Emily has been the Captain of the Riverside High School Girls Tennis Team for two years. Emily has kept active at Riverside as an elementary tutor, President of the Bible Club, singer in the Chamber Choir, Worship Leader for her church. Her plans are to attend Grove City College, Grove City, Pennsylvania, to major in English and minor in science, concentrating on technical writing.

Morabito then introduced Mark VanHorn, a Lincoln High School graduating senior. Mark Allen VanHorn, son of Randy VanHorn and Renee Pitrelli of Ellwood, wrote his essay titled “The Rock Point Park Story.” Mark is a senior at Lincoln High School where he participates in extracurricular activities including the musical, marching band, jazz band, National Honor Society, and six other clubs. Mark was selected for Honors, District, Regional, and State Chorus through auditions and was fortunate enough to get to play Willy Wonka in his high school’s production of “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.” He loves music and plans to continue learning and practicing music throughout his college and adult life. Along with music, Mark excels in academics. Currently number one in his class, he loves all subjects in school, with his favorite being calculus. Mark will be attending Grove City College in the fall to study electrical engineering. After graduating from Grove City College, he would like to either continue his education at another institution or start working in his field with computer hardware.

Anna Barensfeld was then introduced to award the seniors their awards. Anna expressed that her Grandparents, Robert and Janice, were avid historians, and also believed in seeing students obtaining higher education. Anna stated she was proud to see the scholarships were continuing on through the History Society. She remarked that the two students, receiving the awards this evening, well deserved their commendations.

The History Society then presented both graduates with additional gifts. A cake depicting both high schools was served to all.

photo submitted