Farm bureau will award scholarships

Georgia Farm Bureau will award four $1,500 scholarships to high school seniors this winter, Lee Anderson, Columbia County Farm Bureau president, recently announced.

Students are eligible to submit an application if they, a parent or legal guardian were a member of the Georgia Farm Bureau as of April 1, 2001. The Georgia Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co., in cooperation with the Georgia Farm Bureau Women's Committee, sponsors the scholarships each year.

Applicants must plan to enter a unit of the University System of Georgia or Berry College during the 2002-03 academic year to pursue a course of study in the field of agriculture and environmental sciences, family and consumer sciences or a related agricultural field. All applications must be submitted before Friday, Dec. 7, 2001.

''I would like to encourage high schools seniors who are planning to pursue a degree in agriculture or family and consumer sciences to consider applying for the Farm Bureau Scholarship," said Nancy Thomas, Columbia County Farm Bureau Women's Committee chairwoman. ''Farm Bureau welcomes the opportunity to assist our state's future ag leaders in continuing their education. Career opportunities in agriculture are widely diverse, from biotechnology to economics to communication."

The 10 people selected as state finalists must attend an interview with the scholarship judges in Macon on March 2, 2002. The four state winners and an alternate will be announced during a luncheon after the interviews.

Scholarship recipients will receive $750 during their freshman year of college and will receive the remaining $750 their sophomore year, provided they maintain a B average their freshman year.

For more information about the scholarship or an application, call Lisa Land at the Columbia County Farm Bureau office at (706) 556-6258.

Founded in 1937, the Georgia Farm Bureau is the state's largest general farm organization with more than 332,000 member families statewide.