AAUW Salem Branch celebrated its CENTENNIAL (founded in October 1922 at Willamette University) in October of 2022! In partnership with the Chemeketa Foundation, this scholarship is awarded to an outstanding student in the final year of their program who has had to...

Established by LIVE (Low Input Viticulture and Enology), the goal of this scholarship is to help vineyard workers gain the skills to move up within the industry. Through its standards and reliance on collaborative research, LIVE promotes the use of of environmentally...

Back in 1955, local entrepreneur Bob Corey opened the iconic Bob’s 19-Cent Hamburger Restaurant at “Capitol and Hood where the food is good!” In his retirement, Bob began a Chemeketa scholarship for high school graduates from Salem-Keizer schools. Bob believed in the...

In memory of Dennis Clark Dennis began his career as an electrician in his early 20s, kicking off a lifelong love of building things and building relationships. After the family moved to Oregon in 1993, Dennis ran his own electrical contracting business before...

Dr. Ana Castilla founded Castilla Orthodontics in 2013 and since then has, along with her amazing team, created thousands of beautiful smiles in the Salem area community. She has been voted Best Orthodontist in the Statesman’s Journal Best of the Mid-Valley and Best...

Both Cheryl and Miller graduated from Seattle University located in the heart of the central district in Seattle, Washington. Dr. Roberts forged her educational path starting with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Seattle University, a Master of Arts in Student...

Newlyweds Frank and Evelyn Schmidt planted their first trees on 10 acres located west of Troutdale, Oregon, near the nursery where Frank Jr. had grown up. He had learned how to grow trees from his father, J. Frank Schmidt, Sr., a leading nurseryman of his era. The...

The Give a Little Foundation is an independent grassroots nonprofit organization. Our mission is to provide one-time assistance to individuals and families in Yamhill County who are experiencing temporary financial difficulties as well as to alleviate hardship and...

Barbara Cockrell has touched thousands of lives in Oregon over the years—as an instructor, as Director of Business and Management curriculum at Chemeketa and as organizer and leader of “2-plus-2” programs in the mid-Willamette Valley and business-education programs...

Former Chemeketa President Gretchen Schuette established this scholarship in memory of her parents, Carl and Esther Gerstacker. Carl and Esther were community minded and fully supported students in their quest to complete a baccalaureate degree. This scholarship...

This year’s Board of Education Scholarship is being awarded in honor of longtime Chemeketa Board Member Ed Dodson, for his profound impact, personal commitment, and many years of dedicated service and devotion to our students and our community. Ed Dodson’s career in...

Memories from her daughter, Joy Lincke My mom was the best! Remembering her illness and our battle is very emotional. I remember her strength. I remember her love, her kindness, her generosity and her larger than life personality. She had a very silly sense of humor...

The Bryce Bagnall and Supporters Of Bryce (SOB) Scholarship was set up in the name of winemaker and vineyard owner Bryce Bagnall who was diagnosed with ALS, often called Lou Gehrig’s Disease. As his health worsened the Oregon wine industry stepped up to help Bryce...

Carmela was born in a small Filipino village as the middle of eight children. Petite yet feisty, her full name was then Maria Carmen Valentina Religioso. She soon adopted the name Carmela. Her family was rather poor and her Dad could not afford to feed all eight...

Doreen Casandra (Cassy) Hanson (Petersen) grew up in Salem, OR. In August of 1982, Cassy married an apple rancher, Douglas Petersen, and moved to the beautiful Entiat Valley, located in Central Washington, and was later blessed with three children, Jordan, Elizabeth,...

This scholarship is made possible by the friends, family, and colleagues of Clayton Vorse. Clayton’s Legacy The last thing Clayton heard in this world was the sound of friends and family laughing upstairs at the 50th birthday party he had planned and staged for his...

Dan Chandler was the founder of Prudential Real Estate Professionals in Salem. He showed an unwavering commitment to helping people achieve success in their lives. Whether he was working in the slums of Mexico building shelter for the underprivileged or working with...

David Swenson, the son of Ed and Judy Swenson, was born in Fullerton, California on March 22, 1965. He died on August 30, 2004 after having achieved the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa. At the time, David was a dedicated instructor of Computer Science at...

An Oregon transplant and a long-time Chemeketa Community College employee, Dawn Beeler Marges was born in Clawson, Michigan on August 16, 1939, a community she visited regularly for the rest of her life. She was the first in her family to attend college and she...

Dean and his family moved to Oregon in 1950 where his father farmed and worked on numerous dairies all over the Willamette Valley. He developed a love of cars and tractors at an early age, working on everything on the farms, including equipment and vehicles. He...

Jerry “Chief” Smith passed away peacefully in his sleep at the age of 91. He was born in Chappell, Nebraska, to Floyd and Viola Smith, and moved to McMinnville, Oregon, in 1936. He served in the Army and National Guard from 1948 to 1953, and attended Portland State...

Hazel Oonah Park Evans was born June 9, 1897, the oldest of the four children of Dr. Edward Evans, a physician and surgeon, in South Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She grew up in a household where education was valued and all four Evans children became college graduates –...

Patty Ann was born amidst the Great Depression in rural Kansas. In the Midwest, these were the difficult days of the Dust Bowl. Several years after her birth, her family moved to the city of Topeka, Kansas. Her childhood years were split between Kansas and Oregon,...

We see possibility in a handful of earth. We’ve been family-owned and family-run since we planted our first vine in 1974. While our family of winegrowers has expanded over the years, one thing that has not changed is our family culture. Wine is our passion, and from...

Barry Lee Coyne has combined three careers that overlap: journalist, counseling and college instruction. He loves creativity and deems his life mission as being creative in writing and community service. Raised in part by grandparents in Brooklyn, Lee developed...

Maps Community Foundation formed in 2010 as the charitable giving arm of Maps Credit Union. The Foundation was established with a focus on improving the quality of life in the communities served by Maps through encouraging financial literacy and promoting economic...

Carol Manka graduated from the Western College for Women, Oxford, Ohio in 1964 with a B.A. in English. Paul Manka graduated from Canisius College, Buffalo New York in 1968 with a B.S. in Sociology. They met at Michigan State University in 1968 while pursuing graduate...

The Pay it Forward Scholarship was established in 2023 by a generous anonymous donor in support of students pursuing a degree or certificate at Chemeketa. This award is offered to students looking to make a positive difference in the future and with the hope of...

This scholarship provides assistance to students enrolled in the Plumbing Apprenticeship Program at Chemeketa Community College. The ideal applicant is passionate about the trades and is seeking to become accomplished in the plumbing industry. The scholarship is...

The mission of our club is to make McMinnville a better place in which to live and work, and, to have fun doing it. We are a hands-on, inclusive, community service organization with a history of programs and projects emphasizing: youth, education, and the...