Blake Burman is recipient of first Senator Harold "Potch" Wheeler Memorial Scholarship
(Talk of the Town photo by Jennifer Zartman Romano) Dinner attendees applaud as Blake Burman, standing above, was selected to receive the first-ever Senator Harold "Potch" Wheeler Memorial Scholarship. Burman's mother, Trudy Miller-Longhenry, is seated nearby.
By Jennifer Zartman Romano
Whitley County’s Republican Party and the family of the late Senator Harold “Potch” Wheeler were thrilled to announce that Blake Burman of Columbia City will be the first recipient of the scholarship they recently established.
Burman will be formally presented with the Senator Harold “Potch” Wheeler Memorial Scholarship at the Columbia City High School Honors Convocation in May, but was recognized publicly during the Whitley County GOP’s Lincoln Day Dinner Friday night.
Burman is a senior at Columbia City High School and plans to attend Ball State University where he will pursue a degree in wildlife biology and conservation.
“We hope you will come back to Whitley County after you graduate,” said GOP chairman Jim Banks Friday night after recognizing Burman.
Kim Wheeler, on behalf of the Wheeler family, spoke before the crowd saying, “It is a great honor to have a scholarship in my father’s name.”
Wheeler’s family will continue to support and grow the scholarship, which is managed by the Whitley County Community Foundation, though fundraising efforts.
“For every bag of salt we sell, we’ll continue to put money into it,” Wheeler said.
“This means a lot to us, to our family,” Wheeler said of the scholarship.
Wheeler said they feel that the scholarship is something the late senator would have appreciated.
“When he went down there, he had a high school education and he had common sense,” Wheeler said. Today, most senators have four or more years of post-high school education and they hope the scholarship might better help future individuals with an eye on a political career on equal educational footing with their counterparts.