Scholarship Winners

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A helping hand continues to play a key note for many would-be musicians. Thanks in part to the various corporate and private sponsors, and other donations from the festival, Oklahoma's International Bluegrass Festival continues to offer the Mike Clark Music Scholarships to talented musicians needing a helping hand. The scholarships are awarded to musicians seeking to establish or build upon their knowledge of traditional acoustic instruments and music styles. Most often, these scholarships are used to help cover the costs of lessons, camps and other music classes needed for students to fine tune their skills and add to their musical repertoire. OIBF also brings in scholarship funds with the annual auction. Musical instruments, art and other donated items are auctioned each year to help augment the scholarship fund. OIBF Scholarship Committee Head, Jim Garling, praises the program and calls on everyone to help the OIBF continue offering the scholarships by donating to the cause. "We have the privilege of not only helping young musicians, but also adding to the future of bluegrass", Garling said. "Recently we were able to award scholarships for a total of nearly $10,000." Having been involved in the scholarship program for a few years, Garling added he has observed that the number of applications for scholarships have increased, but that more funds are needed to help young musicians receive scholarships. The board of directors would love the number of scholarships to grow every year and works hard to help ensure that possibility. "The easiest way for anyone to help out is to make a donation at the festival," said Garling, also known as Cowboy Jim Garling. OIBF is a non-profit, 501(c)3 organization which enables donations to be tax deductible. Interested persons can make donations at the festival or by following the instructions listed on-line at www.oibf.com.

All photos © 2009 by Don Shorock