Central Oregonian

Unveiling a tremendous gift

The largest gift to be given to the Crook County Foundation was revealed at a special event Wednesday evening at the Bowman Museum

RAMONA MCCALLISTER/CENTRAL OREGONIAN

Dave Clements, master of ceremonies for the Wednesday evening unveiling, adds some humor to the event. Clements had a fishing pole with fishing line attached to the covering — but at the last minute, it wouldn’t reel in, so he reached over and unveiled it by hand.

Ramona McCallister

October 11, 2012

There was a hush of anticipation over the audience at the Bowman Museum Wednesday evening as a secret donor for the Crook County Foundation was unveiled.

The host for the event, Dave Clements from Horizon Broadcasting, added some humor to the moment with a fishing pole and line attached to the veil covering the easel that ultimately revealed photos of the late Doris Cutright. The largest gift of the foundation’s history was announced with fanfare and celebration — a contribution of $525,220.66 to establish the Doris Cutright Scholarship Fund.

Approximately 12 years ago, Cutright, a long-time resident of Prineville, sat down with her certified public accountant Les Sundet and talked about setting up a trust. She wanted to establish a scholarship fund to benefit anyone who lives in Crook County and wants to get a better job by going to college or a trade school. Cutright had lived in Prineville for more than 50 years, and when she passed away in 2011, the bulk of her estate was left to create the scholarship fund. As trustee, Sundet determined the best steward of the fund would be the Crook County Foundation (CCF), which already administered a dozen other scholarship funds.

The Crook County Foundation was started by some forward-thinking community members in 1998. The first scholarship fund was received by CCF from J. Paul Rowan. The CCF serves the community in many capacities, but on Wednesday evening, the event was a celebration of the scholarship donors.

“We are out there to serve you,” commented President Gail Merritt of the Crook County Foundation.

She added that in 2012, the foundation had a record year, and awarded $23,000 in scholarships —thanks to their generous donors. Merritt, also recognized the other 13 scholarship donors — who had helped contribute to the foundation’s total endowment of $323,641 — prior to the most recent gift from the Cutright scholarship fund.

Also in attendance at Wednesday’s event were three previous scholarship recipients, who also helped to serve refreshments at the event. They were each given a chance to tell what the scholarship meant to them in their secondary education goals.

Jamie Murray, currently employed by Crook County School District as an elementary instructor, thanked the CCF for the contribution to her education. Without it, she said she would have a great deal more debt coming out of college.

“It really meant a lot,” said Murray.

Kristi Steber, the CCF Executive Director, said that they invest their scholarship endowments with the Oregon Community Foundation (OCF). The policy of OCF is to give a 4.5 percent return of the value of the fund each year for scholarships. Currently, that is approximately $25,000.

“Part of Doris’ criteria and wishes were that she wanted the scholarships to be $2,500,” said Steber.

She added that the committee estimates they will be able to give 10 scholarships.

“She gave the bulk of her estate to the people of Crook County to help them get an education and have a better life,” said Steber.

Scholarship Donors

Scholarship Endowment Funds

Dale and Mary Craig Memorial Scholarship: Administered by Kathi Friedman

John D. Houston Scholarship: Administered by Molly Kee, Jean Edwards, Carol Dunaway

Robert and Nancy Komlofske and Family Scholarship: Administered by Bob and Nancy Komlofske

J. Paul Rowan Scholarship: Administered by J. Paul Rowan

Lookout Mountain Scholarship: Anonymous Donor

Dorothy Edward Hatch Scholarship: Administered by Betty Hatch-Troseth

Lyle Family Scholarship: Administered by Lanny Lyle

Annual Scholarships

Dew it Scholarship: Administered by Gary and Sally Goodman

Contact Industries Scholarship: Administered by Bob Horton

Best Western/Priday Family Scholarship: Administered by Rich and Sandy Priday

Joe Stahancyk Memorial Scholarship: Administered by Seth and Susan Crawford

O’Ryan Ranches Scholarship: Administered by Ryan Hoerauf

Mt. Jefferson Lodge #196 of the Odd Fellows Scholarship: Administered by E.V. Smith