Webb scholarships: honor rolls and remembrances

As high school graduation approaches for seniors at the Town of Webb Schools, the young women and men who will receive diplomas also may look forward to receiving a scholarship that will help them meet the financial burden of furthering their education. The Town of Webb Schools offer many such scholarships, a number of which carry the name of a former teacher or administrator.

These educators made a major contribution to the history and heritage of the community. They devoted their lives to educating generations of Webb young people, many of whom became community leaders and responsible citizens of the Central Adirondacks. Today’s graduating seniors may not be so familiar with the names attached to the scholarships, so this is the time of year to remember some of the Town of Webb Schools’ former educators and others who are honored with an award in their name.

The Jack Leach Scholarship, awarded to a “cooperative school student,” is named for the man who served as the supervising principal of the Town of Webb Schools from l958 to l977. Mr. Leach was much beloved in the community and has remained the standard by which every Webb school administrator is compared. After his retirement, he and his family purchased the Adirondack Woodcraft Camps where he continued to educate young people.

The Herb Daiker Scholarship in Science is a memorial to the man who, following his graduation from Notre Dame University and service in the military in World War II, taught elementary science in Inlet and then in Old Forge from 1964 until his death in 1978. His dedication to teaching was such that during his final illness he conducted classes from a lounge chair brought into his classroom. He was married to Midge Daiker, a physical education teacher at the Webb schools for 33 years, and together they bought and ran Daiker’s Inn on a seasonal basis until the popularity of snowmobiling made it a year-round establishment. Their son, Tal, continues to operate the family business.

The Albert Gawehn Science Scholarship is named for a teacher of chemistry and physics who retired after 30 years with a perfect attendance record having never missed a day of school. In addition to teaching he also served as adviser to the Student Council for many years.

The Joe Dunn Memorial Scholarship for a Well-Rounded Athlete honors a resident of Old Forge and Big Moose who taught biology from 1961 to 1986 at the Town of Webb High School. He also served as an adviser to the Student Council, as chairman of the NYS Ski Racing Association, and he coached two Olympic skiers. A trail at McCauley Mountain Ski Center is named for him. His interests also included water skiing and scuba diving, often on Big Moose Lake where he and his wife owned and operated Dunn’s Boar Livery.

The Marge Risley Memorial Scholarship in Mathematics remembers a teacher who taught during the 1950s and then returned from 1965 until her death in 1975. She was called a “hard” teacher by her students, but her classes were recognized for their high averages on Regents math exams.

Scholarships that memorialize educators are only a fraction of the awards available to Webb graduating seniors. There are scholarships offered in the name of community leaders such as The William Wark Scholarship for Business, named for the manager of the Pfaff Insurance Agency in Old Forge. Mr. Wark came to Old Forge in 1930 after working at Price Waterhouse in New York City. He was married to Mildred Pierce Wark, a long-time and popular teacher at the Town of Webb Schools.

The Sam Garmon Scholarships are awarded to “a lady and a gentleman” in the graduating class, and they recall one of the early developers of Old Forge going back to the 19th Century. Garmon Avenue in Old Forge is named for him.

The Jeff Carr Memorial Scholarship for a Hard Working Student is named for a 1978 graduate who died in a motorcycle accident in 1981 when he was just a semester short of earning his Bachelor’s Degree from SUNY Cortland.

Students who receive these scholarships and the many more that are offered by the Town of Webb Schools are earning more than a monetary award; they are receiving touch stones that will forever connect them to the history and heritage of the town and school where they lived and learned.