$300,000 Raised : Centennial Scholarship Goal Reached

Organizers of the Orange County Centennial celebration announced Thursday that they have raised $300,000 for a scholarship fund for graduating Orange County high school students and babies born in the centennial year.

The $300,000 is the seed money for the scholarship fund, which is expected to grow larger with profits from special events and the sale of merchandise and publications during the coming year of special events honoring the county’s 100th anniversary, centennial organizers said.

Orange County was incorporated on Aug. 1, 1889. A year of special events will begin with a bicycle festival through Orange County’s streets on July 31, which is expected to draw some 25,000 participants and half a million spectators. It is being billed as the largest cycling event of its kind in the United States. The day will end with a fireworks extravaganza.

Two-Tiered Program

Scholarships will be given in a two-tiered program, officials said. The first scholarships will be given to seniors graduating from Orange County public and private high schools.

The second tier of scholarships will be reserved for “Orange County Centennial Babies,” all babies born in Orange County between Aug. 1, 1988, and Aug. 1, 1989, who will have a special centennial seal affixed to their birth certificates. They will be eligible for scholarships when they graduate from high school.

The $300,000 scholarship fund has been an integral part of Orange County Centennial Inc.’s $1.5-million budget. But OCCI President Darrell Metzger said the announcement--made at a party for sponsors aboard the Pacific Hornblower yacht in Newport Beach--reflects that the funds now have been raised.

“We’re very pleased to be able to open the centennial year with this base for the scholarship fund and are hopeful that the people of Orange County will embrace the goals of the board and will be as excited as we are about the potential of this unique program,” said Thomas H. Nielsen, Irvine Co. vice president and chairman of the OCCI scholarship committee.

Potential ‘Almost Unlimited’

The money was raised by enlisting sponsors and founders for the centennial events, officials said.

“The potential is almost unlimited,” OCCI Chairman Bob Clifford said of the plan to augment the fund with profits through the year. “From the beginning, we wanted this centennial celebration to leave behind more than happy memories and clever souvenirs. It was the vision of the board to leave a legacy for our future, our youth, in the form of scholarships, which would benefit them and Orange County for generations to come.”

The exact amounts of the scholarships and selection criteria will be determined by a scholarship board, yet to be selected.