Published: May 25, 2008 11:12 pm      

Scholarship dinner slated

Event will also honor educator, artist

Ashland — A Saturday benefit will serve up dinner as well as tributes to a retiring school superintendent and noted Tri-State artist. The event will also raise money for scholarships.

The Rosa Parks Scholarship Formal Tribute Dinner will honor Phil Eason, who is leaving Ashland after stepping down as superintendent of city schools, and painter Jerry Johnson, whose works are displayed at several area churches, Greenbo Lake State Resort Park and King’s Daughters Medical Center.

The dinner will raise scholarship money for United Communities to Advance Our Neighborhoods, said founder Brenda Martin, a longtime parent activist who is president of the Northeast Kentucky Association for Gifted Education and a regional PTA president.

UCAN is a nonprofit organization that offers job re-entry and family-oriented seminars, youth advocacy and senior citizen support.

The 7:30 p.m. dinner at Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital’s Bellefonte Center campus will be preceded by a reception from 6 to 7 p.m., with music by the Boyer family. Tickets are $75, with a $10 discount for school employees and military personnel.

Sponsorships and corporate tables are available. For details and pricing, call Martin at (606) 571-0917.

Proceeds will allow UCAN to offer need-based scholarships to students primarily in Boyd and Greenup counties, Martin said. Other scholarships will be offered through speaking and writing contests, she said.

UCAN also can provide guidance to students on finding and applying for other scholarships, Martin said. “There’s a lot of scholarship money out there if you know where to find it and are motivated.”

The honorees are two role models for area youth, said Martin. “Phil’s legacy will continue to touch many lives in Ashland long after his resignation and departure,” she said. “Jerry Johnson has graced this community with visions of beauty, emotion and history.”

For more information about UCAN, visit www.ucanchange.webs.com.

MIKE JAMES can be reached at mjames@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2652.