Willis and Vada Hoskinson Scholarship
Willis and Vada Hoskinson were lifetime Turon area residents. Vada graduated from Sterling College and was an elementary school teacher. Willis attended the University of Kansas and was a longtime employee and officer at the Turon State Bank. Prior to their marriage, Vada Watson was selected as the first Miss Kansas Wheat Girl in 1925. The contest was sponsored by the Kansas State Agricultural College to promote wheat. The young Vada traveled to Washington, D.C. and presented President Calvin Coolidge with a small bag of wheat from Kansas, marked “Kansas Grows the Best Wheat in the World.” Because of this honor, she traveled throughout Kansas and the United States promoting Kansas wheat.
The purpose for establishing this scholarship fund was to, in part, thank the residents of Turon and the surrounding area for all of their support of Vada as the Kansas Wheat Girl. In addition, it was Mr. and Mrs. Hoskinson’s desire to promote post-secondary education among the young people of the Turon area.