By Jayson Larson/TVCC Public Information
Scottish poet Thomas Campbell once said, “To live in the hearts we leave behind is not to die.” Those words have served as a poignant remembrance of Kevin Till, whose death from cancer five years ago set in motion a legacy of beginnings, rather than endings, at Trinity Valley Community College.
The Kevin Till Memorial Rodeo Scholarship Golf Tournament benefitting the scholarship through the TVCC Foundation is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 17, at Athens Country Club. Entry fee is $75 per person or $300 per team (individuals are welcome and will be joined with a team). Prizes will be awarded following the event.
This year will mark the fourth year the scholarship has been given. The first recipient was Clay Hayes of Canton, followed by Wenceslao “Lightning” Aguilera of Athens in 2012, Coy Brittain in 2013 and Justice Cathey in 2014.
Kevin’s parents, Dean and Yvonne Till of Athens, worked hard to make the scholarship a reality following their son’s death in October 2009. Though it typically takes several years to raise the funds to endow a scholarship, the Tills were able to raise $25,000 for the fund in one year, one month and two days.
Endowing the scholarship, Mrs. Till said, is a way of paying forward the kindness shown by TVCC Rodeo Coach Brent Bratton, who gave Kevin a scholarship to join the rodeo team after high school. The scholarship, she said, creates a legacy that will one day benefit students who haven’t even been born yet.
“It’s what he loved,” Mrs. Till said. “Kevin loved rodeo and he loved giving back, and that’s what this scholarship is all about.”
For more information on the tournament, contact Gaylord Walden at the Athens Country Club Pro Shop at 903-677-3844. The deadline to enter is Oct. 1, 2014.
Those who are interested in giving to the Kevin Till Memorial Rodeo Scholarship can call the TVCC Office of Institutional Advancement at 903-670-2620 or donations can be mailed to the Trinity Valley Community College Foundation at 100 Cardinal Drive, Athens, TX 75751.