Lebanon Rotary Club's scholarships

Over the course of the last 40 years the Lebanon Rotary Club has presented college bound students with many different scholarships with various names:  Lebanon Rotary Club Scholarship, InterAct Club Scholarship.

The primary scholarship presented to these students by the Lebanon Rotary Club has been the Melva Palmer Ellis Scholarship.

Pictured above 2021 Scholarship recipients

Pictured Left/above - Rotarians Wil Bradley and  Paul Bobbitt  with the 1987 Melva Palmer Ellis Scholarship recipients

In 1979 Stanley P. Williams, a native of Lebanon, contacted Rotarian Paul Bobbitt of the Lebanon Rotary Club about establishing a scholarship fund in memory of his mother , Melva Palmer Ellis  (she had been a former teacher in Camden and Laclede Counties).   He wanted the Rotary Club to administer the scholarship fund for a student or students from Laclede and Camden Counties  to be open to all students with the following standards:

Pictured  Right/above - 2009 Melva Palmer Ellis Rotary Scholarship recipients with Rotary President Marc Roecke

Criteria for the scholarship:  1.   Planning a career as a teacher.  2.  Express a belief in God and follow religious principles of their individual choosing.  3.  A high scholastic average.   4.  A high level of leadership.  5.  Good character and personality.   6.  Attributes that make a person well rounded and a good citizen who strives for excellence. 

Pictured  Left/above - Rotarians Wil Bradley and Cindy Campbell with the 2013 Melva Palmer Ellis Scholarship recipients.

The Melva Palmer Ellis Memorial Scholarship Trust agreement was signed July 12, 1979.  Stanley Williams made an initial contribution of $25,000 cash and stocks valued in excess of $8,,500.  Real estate owned by Stanley Williams and his wife, Juanita, was donated to the scholarship trust fund in 1982.  Stanley Williams continued to contribute $2,000 each year for many years.

Pictured Left/above:  Rotarian Larry Winfrey with the 2014 Melva Palmer Ellis Scholarship recipients.

The Lebanon Rotary Club continues to place funds in the Melva Palmer Ellis Scholarship Trust Fund.  The restricted funds for the scholarship trust have grown to $144,000.      Since 1979 the Melva Palmer Ellis Scholarship Trust has awarded over $120,000 in scholarships to students wishing to become teachers.

Pictured Right/above - Rotarian Bill Hash with the 2016 Melva Palmer Ellis/Rotary Scholarship Recipients 

Individual Rotarians or other individuals wishing to contribute to the scholarship funds can contact the Lebanon Area Foundation for further information.

Pictured left:/above - Rotarian Bill Hash with the 2015 Melva Palmer Ellis Scholarship recipients.