Garden club tour supports scholarships

McMinnville Garden Club has awarded scholarships to three Yamhill County students who are studying horticulture, agriculture or natural resources.

The club’s annual scholarships are funded through the Garden Tour and Faire, which will take place Sunday, June 11.

Tickets for tours of six gardens between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. are $10 each. The free faire will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. downtown with plants, garden art and more. For tickets and more information, go to mcminnvillegardenclub.org.

The 2023-24 scholarship winners are:

* Avery Grell, $1,000, a McMinnville High School graduate who plans to major in agricultural entrepreneurship/agribusiness at Eastern Oregon University. She hopes to work with Oregon AgLink and integrate agriculture into the classroom. She has a business decorating cakes and cupcakes and works in the summer for Farmer John’s Produce and Nursery.

* Allison LaPoint, $1,100, a Willamina High graduate who has completed nearly 45 hours of online college credit with Linn-Benton and Chemeketa community colleges. She will attend Linn Benton next year for a degree partnership with Oregon State University, majoring in animal science with a pre-veterinary focus. An FFA member, she works on her family’s farm and raises market steers to show and sell.

* Leanna LaPoint, $1,100, who graduated from Willamina and, like her sister, has completed almost 45 hours of college credit already. She also will major in animal science/pre-veterinary at Linn Benton/OSU. She also works for her family farm and raises rabbits and steers through FFA.