RUMFORD — A group of Vietnam veterans is holding a lobster bake from 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 17, at the American Legion hall to raise money for a scholarship for graduating high school seniors.
Tickets will be sold at the American Legion for $20 each. One ticket will buy two lobsters, a bowl of seafood chowder and corn on the cob.
“An inexpensive price for a really good cause,” said Mike Mann of Mexico, who helps organize the scholarship fund with other Vietnam veterans. “100 percent of these profits will be going toward a scholarship fund for seniors that attend Dirigo or Mountain Valley High School. We won’t be keeping a dime of it.”
Mann said the lobster bake attracted 260 residents last year, and he’s hoping to surpass that number this year.
“I’m shooting for 300 or more,” he said. “It’d be nice to increase the numbers by 50 or more each year. A number of Vietnam veterans will be helping out with the cooking, and we’ll be offering takeouts for people who can’t stay at the event.”
Mann said to qualify for a scholarship, a graduating senior must submit a 500-word essay on “What does freedom mean to you?”
“We don’t care if the students are going for a PhD, or if they’re going to a trade school for two years,” Mann said. “We’re not snobs, and as long as the student is trying to better themselves by going to a college, that’s our only criteria. We figured that the money will help kids purchase books.”
The recipient of the scholarship will be selected by a group of veterans.
“We’re completely impartial in how we select the recipient,” Mann said. “We don’t play favorites or anything like that.”
The deadline for purchasing tickets is Aug. 15, Mann said.
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