Brief history as written for Ekwanok's 75th anniversary in 1974
Ekwanok Scholarship Trust
Benefiting our caddies and high school and college age employees
Since 1899 Ekwanok members have enjoyed the challenge and beauty of our 18 hole championship course nestled into the mountains of Manchester Village. We are a club steeped in history and tradition and proud of the fact that Ekwanok CC is the last remaining walking golf course in Vermont. To take a caddie and play golf on a warm summer’s day or crisp fall afternoon is a delight. In an effort to maintain and enhance the caddie program, the Ekwanok Scholarship Trust was established in 1964.
Since its founding, the Ekwanok Scholarship Trust has operated as a not-for-profit entity whose sole purpose is to help support caddies, course workers, wait-staff and other students who work at Ekwanok during the summer and are pursuing undergraduate or advanced degrees. The Scholarship Trust awards grants to caddies/employees who apply each year by submitting an application explaining their post-secondary educational objectives. While most of the applicants are attending two or four year colleges, the Trust has on occasion awarded scholarship help to less traditional programs such as technical schools or trade schools for those students who have chosen to continue their education in this manner.
Each year the members of Ekwanok are invited to make a voluntary donation and a vast majority of the members support this effort enthusiastically, allowing the Trust to make significant grants to the students who work so hard to make Ekwanok a special place. In addition to this annual support, the Trust started an endowment in 1997 to allow the accumulation of a fund to augment the monies raised each year. Members are asked each spring to consider gifts to this endowment and the members and other friends of the Trust have contributed generously to build this endowment. A few members of the Trust board with experience in investments have generously given their time to manage this endowment responsibly. The Trust draws a percentage from the endowment each year to be given as scholarship aid. In addition, Ekwanok runs a member/member tournament each summer, the proceeds of which are given to the scholarship fund.
While the number of workers who are in college varies each year, we have given as many as 26 awards, in a single year and awarded over $80,000 in some years. In the past 10 years, the Trust has provided $673,000 to area students. We know from talking to the recipients and their families that sometimes the help given by the Trust can make a critical difference in whether or not a student can afford to go to college. And for all students receiving grants, the awards help them to graduate with far less debt than would be possible without the Scholarship Trust.
New members will become familiar with our caddie program starting with their first round of golf, and will have an opportunity to support it with donations to the Ekwanok Scholarship Trust and by playing in our popular caddie tournament in late June.
When you are able to……take a caddie. It’s life in the slow lane, at its best.