September 2019 - Two Bristol Eastern High School students, Luke Ashworth and Onyae Hill, attended Laurel Music Camp at the end of June thanks to full-tuition scholarships from the Louise (Humphrey) Van Gorder Music Camp Scholarship Fund at Main Street Community Foundation. This fund usually awards one scholarship. This year, due to the generosity of another family – Bob Alim, Bob Boudreau and Kevin Prior (BBK) – who attended a Laurel Music Camp concert in 2018 and were overwhelmingly impressed, a second scholarship was awarded. Luke and Onyae are pictured here with BBK at Bristol Eastern High School’s band’s annual awards dinner in June where they were recognized for receiving the scholarships.

Every year, Louise (Humphrey) Van Gorder, a lifelong Bristol resident whose true passion was music, would personally fund a scholarship to a young and talented musician to attend the week-long Laurel Music Camp in New Hartford. When Louise’s health began to decline, her family and friends decided to establish the Louise (Humphrey) Van Gorder Music Camp Scholarship Fund so her tradition of assisting avid music students could continue forever.

When asked why this camp was so meaningful to him, Luke said, “I get to learn new things I can’t even imagine with some of the world’s best faculty, all while in a relaxed, friendly environment.”