Richard and Arlene Torgesen Memorial Scholarship

Richard Carroll Torgesen Memorial Scholarship

          From long before the time they first held hands and walked across the tracks to attend Soda Springs High School (now Soda Springs Junior High), Richard and Arlene Torgesen were immersed in the friendship and community spirit of Soda Springs, Idaho.  Dick played first-string guard on the basketball team and was part of a men’s quartet that performed all across the valley. Arlene was the accompanist for all the school choirs, plays, and even the movie theatre, and played piano in the area dance band.  After a year in college, Arlene at Idaho State and Dick at Utah State, they started married life in Soda Springs working for the Largilliere Department Store and Horsley Brothers Lumber.  Eventually they homesteaded southeast of town by Lakey’s Ranch and then used that to buy a piece of land still in sagebrush north of China Hat.  Through the years as their farm grew, they used their many talents to instill a desire for more education and a work ethic in many of the young men and women of the community.  They did this through scouting, their church, their participation in the local school system, and by providing job opportunities for them on the ranch.  Arlene was president for the PTA for many years, and worked hard for Farm Bureau, DUP, Boy Scouts, and the Soda Springs Civic Club.  She was an active part of fund drives, community celebrations, and school extra-curricular activities.  Dick served as chairman of the ASC Board, was on the Governor’s Idaho Air Pollution Control Commission, and President of the Farm Bureau.  He served on the Federal Housing Administration Board to help young farmers get started.  He was a member of Lions Club, and a dedicated scouter, giving outstanding service on the Eagle board of review.  He was a scoutmaster for many years and the list goes on.  Both he and Arlene were the recipients of the Silver Beaver Award and were Grand Marshals of the July 4 celebration in 1992 for the City of Soda Springs. Dick was also elected to the Idaho Agriculture Hall of Fame.

            Their six children all went through the Soda Springs schools, four graduating as valedictorians and one as salutatorian. Richard and Arlene believed in supporting their children in higher education.  All six received some type of advanced degree, several cum laude, and one valedictorian of the College of Engineering at Utah State.

            Because of their love for young people and their pride in their potential to achieve, Dick and Arlene wanted to endow Soda Springs High School with funds to support annually two scholarships of $2,000 each.  One scholarship would be in their names, the Richard and Arlene Torgesen Memorial Scholarship, and the other in the name of their talented and beloved son, Richard Carroll Torgesen, who lost his life when only ten years old on the evening of Christmas day 1944 at the hands of a hit and run driver.  It was their hope that the Richard and Arlene and Richard Carroll Torgesen Memorial scholarships would enable many young people to start on the road to greater achievement and a lifetime of fulfillment.

SCHOLARSHIP AGREEMENT

Between the Soda Springs Education Foundation, an Idaho non-profit corporation, (hereinafter the “Foundation”, the principal of the Soda Springs High School, and the Richard and Arlene Torgesen family as follows:

 1.  The Foundation agrees to make available to the principal of the Soda       Springs High School an annual sum equal to the interest on the invested principle to be used as two equal scholarship awards given to two members of the graduating class of the high school.

2.  A committee is to be chosen to select the students to receive the awards.  Its members are to include three representatives appointed by the president of the Foundation, one representative from the high school, and one representative from the Torgesen family.

3.  The committee is to meet to consider applicants for the awards no later than four weeks before each year’s commencement exercises.  An award need not be given each year, but if deferred, may be given to two or more candidates in a subsequent year.

4.  The award is to be used to pay full-time tuition and or books at an approved college, university, or vocational school.  The monies are not to be paid to the student directly, but will be paid jointly to the student and the school upon registration at the school of their choice.

5.  The selection committee shall consider the following criteria in the awarding of the scholarship:

          a.  Educational and vocational ambitions, as indicated by the candidate in an essay (300 words or less) describing his or her future plans.

          b.  Extra-curricular and community activities.

          c.  Three letters of recommendation from individuals in the community who are qualified to comment on the student’s moral character, integrity, and potential for the future.

          d.  High school transcripts.  These are to be considered in the selection, but are not to be pivotal in the choice of the winner.

          e.  An in-person interview, between the committee and the leading contenders for the award at the invitation of the committee members.  The applications should be made far enough in advance to allow committee members to review the applications prior to the interview.

           f.  Preference to be given to any applicant of Torgesen lineage.

          g.  Special consideration to those with financial need.

6.  If the committee chooses, each award for a given year may be divided between two or more applicants who are equally deserving.

7.  The name of the awards will be the Richard and Arlene Torgesen Memorial Scholarship, and the Richard Carroll Torgesen Memorial Scholarship.         

8.  No action taken as a result of this agreement by either the Foundation or the principal, or the committee to be formed hereunder shall be influenced by any bias or prejudice on the account of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

9.  This agreement shall be in effect for the school year 2002-2003 and thereafter, until all of the parties shall elect to terminate.  Upon termination, the principle shall be distributed as a scholarship or scholarships.

10.  The principal agrees to use whatever means are reasonable and necessary to give ample exposure of the availability of this scholarship to all potential applicants, and to encourage anyone interested in it to apply.  The methods used to publish the details of the opportunity to the student body of Soda Springs High School are to be explained each year to the committee for their review and comment