DAVENPORT — Seventeen area high school students were awarded scholarships worth $1,000 or more at premier night of the 23rd annual Quad City Regional Auto Show Thursday evening.
The Community Foundation of the Great River Bend gave away a total of $46,500 in scholarships this year, which is the most given to date, according to a news release. Funds for the scholarships are supported through proceeds from the auto show and area sponsors.
"I will say though, all of these students have great resumes, great things going for them and we should be very very proud of the school systems and the kids we have coming out of them," Mark Zimmerman, owner of Zimmerman Honda said. "Sometimes the news is all about the bad kids but there are a lot of good kids, and a lot these good kids are going to stay in our community hopefully and come back when they finish school."
The show opens today at 10 a.m. and runs through Sunday at the Davenport RiverCenter, 136 E. 3rd St. Tickets are $6 for adults, $3 for children age 7-12, and children 6 and younger are free.
Moline High School senior Mckenzi Mitchell was the recipient of a $4,000 scholarship. She said she plans on putting the money to good use as she self-funds her schooling at the University of Iowa next year in pursuit of a dental degree.
"It's so exciting," Ms. Mitchell said. "I am paying for school mostly on my own so this has been like really meaningful for me."
A $4,000 technical/trade school scholarship was awarded to United Township High School senior Dalton Stahl. He said his uncle got him interested in working on cars, and he has been taking auto mechanics vocational classes at UT for the last two years.
"I could go for automotive technician or I thought about starting my own business," Mr. Stahl said. "I will stay with it my whole life, whether it's a career or not."
Thomas Popisil, executive manager at Eriksen Chevrolet Buick, 325 E. 1st Ave., in Milan, said that the way the weather is looking for this weekend, they are anticipating record crowds for the auto show.
"We got a lot of people, they get into December and January and they postpone and they are kind of waiting for spring time," Mr. Popisil said. "I think the auto show for us is a big kick off for that. We usually see a lift in sales, and it gets people thinking about spring time."
Jill Green, owner of the Green family of dealerships throughout the Quad-Cities, said that the auto show discounts being offered have helped "train" customers to visit the show and check out the new lineups of cars and other vehicles available.
Derek Lehmann, marketing manager at Sexton Ford, 3802 16th St. in Moline, said that the auto show booths are "very informational" and help customers see new models ahead of their visit to the dealership.
Source: Auto Show awards $46,500 in scholarships
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