Photo courtesy Michael Pierce
Taylor Lewis
By Lisa Scott
Special to The SUN
Taylor Lewis has been awarded the Chase Regester Memorial Scholarship and will receive $1,000 for the 2020-2021 academic year.
This scholarship is designed to honor the memory of Charles L. Regester III “Chase” (May 29, 1986-Aug. 2, 2006), who was raised on a ranch and spent his childhood and youth involved in 4-H, rodeos and ranch life. He graduated from Pagosa Springs High School in May 2005 and was pursuing ranching as a career.
Regester loved animals, the great outdoors, his friends and family and had a great sense of humor and a “whipping and spurring” approach to life. This scholarship was endowed by Mr. and Mrs. Robert Lindner to honor Regester and his family for living and preserving the history and traditions of the American West. Mr. and Mrs. Charles Russell Jr. added to that endowment.
Lewis has been involved with 4-H since 2011 and has raised and shown swine and steer. She has had numerous successes with her animals by placing within the class a number of times and has been awarded showmanship awards in 2015 and 2019. Active in Future Farmers of America (FFA), she has held the president and vice president positions and has represented the local club at state and national convention.
Writing, “4-H, FFA and rodeo have been a huge part of my involvement, but my interest began from family. My grandparents were ranchers and hay farmers. My parents are ranch managers. To learn the cattle business, my brother and I purchased 12 cows two years ago. It has been tough to keep up, while being in school and sports, but it has been very educational, teaching us responsibility, financing, planning and overcoming obstacles. While it is hard, I also consider it to be fun and inspiring.”
After she received the prominent Ralph Outcalt Scholarship, a four-year award, Lewis made the choice to attend Adams State University to study agricultural business.
Many may know Lewis as a leader on the basketball and volleyball courts, and she was recently named the Intermountain League Winter Female Athlete of the Year for basketball. Taylor maintains a 3.7 GPA, has saved her 4-H livestock sale proceeds and has worked throughout high school to save money for college. While Lewis thinks she will pursue a career as an agricultural loan officer, she is very excited about her future in the agriculture industry and the opportunities that will be presented within this college degree.
This scholarship is designed to support a student pursuing postsecondary education of any variety which can include university, college, community college, technical, business, vocational, agricultural or ranch training program. The basic requirement for any scholarship applicant is that they have participated in rodeo, 4-H, FFA or have agriculture or ranching background and upbringing during their high school years.
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