BY SARAH STEPHENS, OWNER/EDITOR
Conrad Henderson was the first Head Coach for Stanhope Elmore High School when it was established in the 1960s, and later on served as a principal at the school.
He died in August of this year, and his funeral was held in September in the gymnasium of the school he loved and served for so many years. Coach Henderson’s impact will continue, and his legacy will live on for those who knew and loved him. However, his name will also now be associated with a scholarship for a deserving athlete from SEHS each year, thanks to a $10,000 endowment made possible by the Millbrook Men’s Club.
Thursday night, Oct. 24, the Men’s Club presented the $10,000 check to Burton Crenshaw with the Central Alabama Community Foundation at their regular meeting. CACF will manage the scholarship funds, allowing for a deserving SEHS graduating athlete to be presented a $1,000 scholarship each year.
Henderson was a beloved, long-time member of the Millbrook Men’s Club. He even has a camp stew pot named after him at the Club’s pavilion. Prior to his death, he was an active member and always helped out at the annual barbecues the club hosts during the year for their primary fundraisers.
All of those funds go right back into the Millbrook community through monetary gifts, such as this scholarship. The money donated at the meeting Thursday came from those barbecues. For those who loved Henderson, it makes standing in that long line to get the delicious barbecue on July 4th and Memorial Day worth it, indeed.
“We have sponsored a scholarship in the past for a graduating high school senior at Stanhope Elmore High School,” Member Earl Monroe said Thursday evening. “After Coach Conrad Henderson passed, we decided to add another scholarship for an SEHS student athlete graduating. Basically, the requirement is they have to a member of a sports team for more than one year at the school, be graduating, and have a grade point average of at least 3.25.”
Monroe said that the GPA was established in the hopes that a student with those type of grades would go to school and stay in school.
“The student will have to have a recommendation letter from a teacher or coach, and the athletic director. We are putting it on Stanhope Elmore High School to make the choice for us. We will still give it a stamp of approval and pass that to the Central Alabama Community Foundation. The student will receive $500 for the first semester, and $500 for the second semester,” Monroe said.
Monroe added that $1,000 may not seem like a lot of money these days. “But at least it is somebody that we feel is deserving of the award.” The money can go a long way to helping to buy books, or other things needed for college.
Burton Crenshaw addressed the Men’s Club thanking them for making the scholarship possible.
“For those of you who may not know about the Community Foundation, we are now into our 32nd year serving 10 counties in Alabama. Each year we give out close to $200,000 just in scholarships alone to students primarily in Elmore County. It shows what kind of community you are, that you have been in the past and that you continue to be. We are so honored to partner with you and do this. We will do all of the behind the scenes work for you but give (the Men’s Club) credit for helping send a worthy student athlete to college,” she said.
President Bill Myers said the goal of the presentation of $10,000 will grow in interest and provide for the scholarship every year.
“We want this to be sustainable,” Myers said.
About the Millbrook Men’s Club
The Millbrook Men’s Club history dates back to the mid-1900s, when a group of men from the area around present day Millbrook, to include Coosada and Robinson Springs, came together to help the area grow and progress. The club is responsible for creating the Millbrook Fire Department, the first hospital brought to the area, assisting with electrical and telephone line access and much more. They laid the groundwork for much of the infrastructure which helped modernize the area. In essence, they were the local governing body until Millbrook became an official city in 1977. The club’s positive impact continues today.
About Central Alabama Community Foundation
The Central Alabama Community Foundation is a nonprofit philanthropic foundation created by and for the people of central Alabama. Individuals and corporate donors make gifts and bequests of any size for the betterment of our community. Visit their website at www.cacfinfo.org.
