The Stuart and Margaret L. Forbes Foundation Inc. Board of Directors has announced the recipient of the 2018 Stuart Forbes Polk High Scholar Award. 

Rick Burney, the recipient, is an honor student at Polk County High. 

As a member of the Polk County High School FFA, he participates in many competitions. These include a truck and tractor driving contest, and a mechanical skills competition. 

Burney is a member of the National Honor Society, whose hobbies include hunting, driving heavy machinery, building, and buying, fixing up and selling older-model Ford trucks.

Burney has gained mechanical experience as an employee at Russell’s Diesel Service.  He works on anything from bulldozers to performing diesel conversions on older vehicles. 

Burney is an entrepreneur who has demonstrated commitment and leadership in any business venture he has pursued. When he was 14, he started his own lawn care business. He eventually moved into the hay transport business. 

Since then, his business ventures have greatly expanded. Recently, Burney has been working with local real estate companies to clean up and prepare homes for resale. 

When he is not off on one of his many endeavors, he is in his shop. Usually he is rebuilding older model Ford trucks for resale.

Burney plans to attend Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University for building and construction.  He is the son of Steve and Ana Burney, and he lives in Green Creek.

The Stuart Forbes Polk High Scholar Award is a $4,000 renewable scholarship awarded to a Polk County High School student who is strong and well-rounded, and who excels in a specific area of study or who demonstrates talent in a specific area such as fine arts education, science education, career education, healthcare or environmental education. 

The student is devoted to service oriented goals; the student demonstrates a commitment to helping others; and, he/she participates in school clubs and extracurricular activities. 

The scholarship is awarded by the Stuart and Margaret L. Forbes Foundation and is administered by the Polk County Community Foundation.

– Submitted by Susan S. McHugh