Milton Garden club awards $15,000 in scholarships for 2024
The club awarded three $3,000 scholarships to Sussex County high school
students in the class of 2024. Brock O’Day graduated from Sussex Tech
and will be attending the University of Kentucky studying Ag Economics.
After graduation Brock hopes to return to Delaware where he plans to
continue his family’s legacy as a 5th generation farmer.
Brock O’Day is seen above with MGC Scholarship Committee Chair, Carol Smith.
Nate Hayman graduated from Indian River H.S. and plans on attending
North Carolina State University majoring in Agriculture Education &
Horticulture Science with a minor in Landscape Architecture. Nate wants to
prioritize teaching future generations how to cultivate the land and make
the most of what is available to remain self-sustaining.
While home schooled our final high school student, Rain Vasey, is no
stranger to hard work and perseverance. While helping to work on her
family’s farm and studying, Rain has been very active in 4H programs in
Kent and Sussex counties. Rain plans to study Agriculture at Delaware Tech
before transferring to Eastern Kentucky University to become an agriculture
applicator pilot in what is traditionally a male dominated field.
Above (left to right): Rain Vasey; Louise Huntley, committee member; Carol Smith, committee chair; Diane Lockwood, committee member; Nate Hayman.
This year the club awarded two $3000 post-secondary scholarships to
students from Sussex County attending college in the State of Delaware.
Emely Mendoza is entering her senior year at Delaware State University
where she is majoring in Plant Science. Her future plans are to attend the
University of Maryland Eastern Shore for her master’s and/or apply for a 2-
year program at Longwood Gardens. Emely received the Leah Betts
scholarship in memory of one of the clubs’ longtime members.
Our final scholarship in memory of Herb Flickinger, donated by friends of
the Milton Garden Club, was awarded to Meredith Carey who is entering
her senior year at the University of Delaware where she is a full-time
student studying insect ecology and conservation. Her future plans include
graduating with a master’s degree in Entomology from the University of
Delaware.
Above (left to right): Pat Stone, committee member; Meredith Carey, Emely Mendoza; Louise Huntley, committee member; Carol Smith, committee chair.
