WHEN MEMBERS of Local 1191-W in Walla Walla considered ways in which they could do something positive for their members and dependents, they hit on the idea of scholarships similar to those provided by Council 2.

Not only would such a program help members, they decided, but it also would reach out into the wider community.

They launched the scholarship program in 2001.

When long-time Local 1191-W member Darrell Roberts died of cancer about that time, his fellow Local members decided to put donations that might have gone to other organizations into the scholarship program in his memory.

Each year the Local awards two scholarships of $500, explains Pam Fitzgerald, a member of the Local’s executive board who also sits on Council 2’s Scholarship Committee.

One scholarship is for dependents and one is for continuing education for members at a four-year college, a community college or a technical school.

“If we don’t have anyone who needs a scholarship for continuing education, we award two scholarships for members’ dependents,” Fitzgerald says.

This year the scholarships, which are paid out of a special fund, have been awarded to:

• Rhonda McReynolds, who is equipment pool secretary for the City of Walla Walla for whom she has worked for more than 17 years.

She will be taking classes in photography, which is her passion.

• Brett Mayberry, son of member Patty Mayberry, who is to study at Eastern Washington University where he will pursue a career as an elementary school teacher.

He says he hopes to teach at a small school in the Pacific Northwest and looks forward to returning to the community what it has given him.