Accent on Youth at Arlington Club

by Warren Kane

During June the accent was definitely on youth at the Arlington Club. On June 2 club members cooked hamburgers and hot dogs and provided soft drinks for the annual Washington-Lee High School Key Club picnic. More than 30 Key Clubbers attended plus their faculty advisors and two former Key Clubbers back from their freshman year at college. The event drew 14 Kiwanians, 2 of whom had daughters in the Key Club.

On June 10 the Club awarded scholarships of $3,200 each to 5 graduating Key Clubbers. Scholarship Committee Chair Gloria Rothman presented scholarships to Ryan "Mac" Buescher, 2008-2009 Washington-Lee Key Club president and Division 20A Lieutenant Governor, who will attend Virginia Tech; and Fariha Alam and Pallvi Chopra also from W-L. Fariha is going to William and Mary and Pallvi to UVA. Diana Martin, who was president of the Bishop Dennis J. O'Connell Key Club, received a scholarship to McGill University in Montreal; and Alicia Mau, who was president of the Yorktown High School Key Club, will use her scholarship at James Madison University.

Also at the June 10 meeting the Club's annual Everett A. Demarest Youth Award was presented to Will Troppe. Will was recognized for his academic achievements at the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology as well as his community service contributions, particularly through several Boy Scouts activities. He organized Troop 167's participation in the annual Scouting for Food Drives in 2007 and 2008, resulting in the single largest collections for Arlington's Food Assistance Center.