For immediate release: July 23, 2007

BLOOMSBURG — Sixty-seven students from five area high schools have been awarded scholarships from the Fred G. Smith Golden Rule Trust Fund to attend Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania in the 2007-2008 academic year. The list of recipients of the $153,350 in scholarships was released by Thomas M. Lyons, the university’s director of financial aid.

Smith, who owned and managed Nesbitt’s Cut Rate Drug Store in Shenandoah and Tamaqua, bequeathed $3 million for scholarships to the university in 1985. A resident of Shenandoah, his intention was to help residents of his and surrounding communities attend college. The scholarships have been awarded over the past 16 years to nearly 1,000 area students. The fund is administered by Union National Bank of Mount Carmel.

Established in memory of his late wife Marion, the scholarship fund benefits Bloomsburg University students who are residents of Ashland, Mount Carmel or Shenandoah boroughs, or Mount Carmel Township. Students must also attend one of five high schools: Cardinal Brennan, Mount Carmel, North Schuylkill, Our Lady of Lourdes and Shenandoah Area.

A majority of awards are renewals, with 30 students attending Bloomsburg for the first time. Individual awards range from $600 to $4,000.

Bloomsburg University is one of 14 universities in Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education. The university offers its 8,000 students the opportunity to pursue one of 65 bachelor’s, 18 master’s and one doctoral degree.