“This is a grand idea,” said Barbara Scalzi, who married Scalzi in 1979. The couple have two children, Lucas and Lacey.
The idea for the scholarship originated with Jessie Nelson, a commercial fisherman and past president of NPFA.
“I always felt that Drew wanted to give back to the community and thought it would be a good way to help students, especially people in the fishing industry,” Nelson said. “Whether people realize it or not, Homer relies heavily on commercial fishing. Now we have a scholarship that is directed toward the maritime industry.”
Originally from Connecticut, Drew Scalzi began commercial fishing after he moved to Homer in 1978. He was a deckhand and then skipper of the F/V Betty Lou, the F/V Midnight Sun, the F/V Western Queen and the F/V Baltic Sea. In 1988, he bought his own boat and named it the F/V Anna Lane after his mother.
In addition to fishing, Scalzi served on the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly from 1992-2000. He was elected to the Alaska State House of Representatives, and represented the southern Kenai Peninsula in 2001 and 2002. Scalzi was a member of the International Pacific Halibut Commission, on the NPFA board and the Alaska Coastal Policy Council. He was named Mariner of the Year in 1997.
In 1995, Scalzi worked on development of the Seafarer’s Memorial. Located on the Spit, it honors those whose lives were lost at sea. That same year Scalzi was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. In 1999, he had a stem-cell transplant. Four years later, the cancer returned and he underwent a donor stem-cell transplant in Seattle.
“He couldn’t sleep and wanted to do something, so he wrote a book about the Seafarer’s Memorial,” Barbara said of the time Scalzi was in Seattle for the transplant. “He wanted to thank everybody that worked on (the memorial).”
The resulting book, “The Seafarer’s Memorial - A Tribute to the Living and the Lost,” was just released and is available at Kachemak Gear Shed and North Wind Home Collection. It includes short stories shared by families who lost loved ones at sea, photographs and an application to purchase a brick at the memorial. The book sells for $10 a copy. All proceeds are going to the scholarship, which has been created through the Homer Foundation.
“The North Pacific Fisheries Associ-ation came to us and wanted to establish the fund,” said Joy Steward of the Homer Foundation. “We’re in the business of growing endowment funds that will always be here for the community. A (monetary) gift comes to us as an irrevocable gift from an individual or an organization and we invest it.”
Proceeds of the book will fund this year’s scholarship, but earnings on the investment through the Homer Foundation will help fund future awards.
“They are hoping to grow it in a big way,” Steward said of NPFA’s plans for the future. “They’re talking about the day when they have $2,000 earnings annually and can have two scholarship awards.”
Echoing Steward, Buck Laukitis, NPFA president, said. “We see this as the beginning of a bigger scholarship.”
Laukitis and Scalzi met after Laukitis moved to Homer in 1988.
“I was so impressed with (Scalzi), his heroism, how he dealt with problems in the commercial fishing industry and with his health. I can’t think of a finer person,” Laukitis said.
The scholarship also will serve as a reminder of the contributions commercial fishing and commercial fishing families make to the area, Laukitis said.
Interested scholarship applicants must be residents of the Homer-Anchor Point area, be between the ages of 16 and 25 and either have personal experience in the maritime industry within Alaska or have family members involved in the maritime industry within Alaska, or are planning to pursue technical training to work in Alaska’s maritime industry.
Criteria for selecting a scholarship recipient include personal goals, a resume, two letters of recommendation and a demonstrated interest and connection to the maritime industry in Alaska. Priority will be given to graduating high school seniors. For more information, contact Steward at 235-0541.
Applications are available to the Homer High School counseling office, at North Wind Home Collection and at the Homer Foundation. Completed applications can be left at any one of those locations. The deadline is 4 p.m. May 1.
Donations can be made to the scholarship through the Homer Foundation. They are tax deductible.
“I want to keep Drew’s memory alive and this is a great way of doing it,” Barbara said. “I’m tickled its happening. Drew loved Homer and we all miss him.”
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