Since 1987, the Goehner Centennial Scholarship has served as a way to help send high school students in the Goehner area to further their education.
The town had a celebration for its centennial in 1987 and with that, the late Caryl Schulz decided to start a melodrama to put on for the city.
“She thought it would be a good idea to have a melodrama. Rveryone thought she was crazy because nobody had ever done anything (like that),” said Lloyd Schulz, Caryl’s husband and now head of the scholarship committee.
The melodrama ended up raising a large amount of money, leading to the question of what was to be done with it.
The decision was made to start the scholarship program.
“When we started the melodrama, we didn't have that in mind at all,” Lloyd said.
While the original plan was to just have two shows that year, the melodrama got a lot of attention, causing its recognition to explode and let the melodrama continue on.
“We sold out everything for 20 years with not much advertisement,” Lloyd said. “Nothing was really planned, it just kind of happened.”
Something that helped the advancement of the melodrama and the funds being able to go towards scholarships was the fact that the whole event was volunteer based.
“Everybody in the community chipped in,” Lloyd said. “People washed dishes and set up and did it all. We didn’t have any expenses.”
One of those volunteers ended up being one of the first recipients of the scholarship.
“I was putting numbers on the tables for how Lloyd decided to have the tickets outlined and I was washing the linens every night or every morning to get ready for the night.” said Nancy (Imig) Smith.
At the time, the requirements mostly involved just living in or around the Goehner area, but a project for the community also had to be done. Smith decided to do something quite unique, creating a copper rendering of the Goehner school.
“I had gone to Goehner school, so I thought there’s some history from going there,” she said.
Smith was able to put that scholarship, then worth $500, toward her schooling at the University of Nebraska.
After the passing of melodrama director Roger Harpham in 2007, Lloyd decided to sit down and see how much money the melodrama had raised in the 20 years it had been active.
“We took inventory and we found out that we had raised over a million dollars,” Lloyd said.
While the melodrama took a hiatus from 2006 to 2014, the money that has been saved up and now through investments, the scholarship fund has grown substantially, bringing the annual award up to $1,500 and expanding the range of recipients out of city limits into areas like Seward and is sent out to many students.
On top of the standard scholarship that is given out, they have also started the Caryl Shulz Performing Arts Scholarship, as well as the Roger Harpham Performing Arts Scholarship worth $2,000.
“They have to apply for these scholarships, and there are no restrictions as far as where they live,” Schulz said.
Since it has been started, the scholarship has been given to more than 250 students with over a quarter of a million dollars awarded.
“I'm sure there were many other ideas (of what to do with the money) that were bantered about before the scholarship was decided upon,” Smith said. “I'm thankful that they chose that and I think it's a wonderful way to spend that money for the community.”
The Goehner Centennial Scholarship is a nonprofit under Seward County Bridges, making donations tax-deductible. Donation checks can be made to Seward County Bridges, Inc. with “Goehner Centennial Scholarship” noted in the memo. Donations may be dropped off at the Seward Civic Center or mailed to Seward County Bridges, Inc., 616 Bradford St., Seward, NE 68434.
