Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Troup High School Alumni Association presented its annual scholarships on Thursday night at the new THS gymnasium. Four scholarships were given out on the night to worthy Tiger seniors.

Three students were awarded the Walter Earl Thompson Scholarship this year. Maggie McDonald, Ty Gabriel Medders and Jessica Hart were given the memorial scholarship.

The Walter Earl Thompson Scholarship has been given out by the alumni association each year since 2017 in memory of the former sheriff’s deputy.

Thompson, or Big Earl as he came to be known, was a well-loved deputy sheriff of Troup County who succumbed to cancer early in life.

“He was a big guy with a big heart. He loved Troup High School and was a good friend to all that knew him,” said Hilda Railey, THS Alumni Association Vice President.

Thompson’s sister, Wanda Roberts, who is also a THS alumnus presented the $1,000 scholarships to the three students in her brother’s honor.

The fourth scholarship recipient, Grant Stanton Sanders, was given the Ellis P. Cadenhead Citizenship Award.

The relatively new scholarship was created in 2022 to honor longtime alumni association member and county commissioner Ellis Cadenhead.

Cadenhead founded the Troup High Alumni Association and has been very active in making the association the success it is today, Railey said.

“Ellis has continuously contributed to Troup High School and our community for many years and in many ways,” Railey said.

The Troup High Alumni Association funds the scholarships through its annual concert and member contributions.

“Our association works diligently through the year to raise money to benefit Troup High and the students. Every penny we raise goes to the school by contributing to club or organization needs, travel expenses for students attending state and national conventions or competitions, teacher appreciation, contributions to the school for things they are doing for the students or the school and these scholarships,” Railey said.