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Scholarships Honoring Community & Military Service
 
The Ayer Rotary Club administers two scholarship programs for college-bound high school students from Ayer, Harvard, Shirley and Devens. The scholarships are awarded annually in the spring based on applications submitted by high school seniors.  Please check back here or contact us at ayerrotary@gmail.com for additional information on how to apply.
 
The Rotary Scholarships
 
The Ayer Rotary Club annually awards up to three scholarships to high school seniors from Ayer, Harvard, Shirley and Devens in the amount of up to $2,000, payable to the recipient after the successful conclusion of his or her freshman first semester. The scholarships are awarded based upon academic performance, a written essay and a demonstrated commitment to community service. The scholarship is funded by the Rotary Club's fundraisers, including the world-famous Ducky Wucky River Race.

The Captain Daniel Eldredge Scholarship Fund
 
Donations may be made by check payable to the Ayer Rotary Club and mailed to P.O. Box 239, Ayer, MA 01432, with a note in the memo line: Capt. Daniel Eldredge Scholarship.
 
The Captain Daniel Eldredge Scholarship Fund is awarded to a high school senior from Ayer with an interest in a military career. The scholarship honors the memory of retired Navy Captain Daniel Eldredge, the son of long-time Rotarian Robert Eldredge and his late wife Kathy, a retired Ayer public school teacher.  The first annual scholarship was awarded in the amount of $1,500.  The scholarship is funded by donations from the Eldredge Family and its many relatives and friends.
 
According to a remembrance of Dan's life and career, "He graduated from Ayer High School in 1980. He was awarded an appointment to the United States Naval Academy, Class of ’84, in Annapolis, MD. After USNA commissioning week in 1984 he completed nuclear propulsion training and submarine training before reporting to the USS Casimir Pulaski, SSBN 633 (Blue). In May 1989 he left active duty to attend Tulane Law School in New Orleans, Louisiana. He graduated cum laude in 1992. In 1994 Dan graduated with honors from Naval Justice School and reported to Naval Legal Service Office, Northwest, Whidbey Island Detachment where he served as defense counsel and legal assistance officer. During his Naval career as a JAG (Judge Advocate General’s Corp) he completed tours in New Orleans, Norfolk, Puerto Rico, Washington State, Oregon (where he graduated cum laude from Lewis & Clark Law School in 2005 with an LL.M. in Environmental and Natural Resources Law), California, Hawai'i and DC at the Washington Navy Yard. After 27 years in the Navy he retired and became the Admiralty Counsel for the Navy’s Supervisor of Salvage and Diving since 2016. In that same year, he earned an M.A. in Defense and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College."