By Gloria Austin
Staff Writer
In order to give more local youth a chance to compete in hockey, a former Houlton family has stepped up to help defray the cost of starting out in the sport.
Jamie Millar, along with his sisters Beth and Mary, will be making five scholarships available for Mites players ages 4-8. Applications will start to be taken at SAMHA’s “Try Hockey For Free” on Saturday, Nov. 2 at the Millar Civic Center.
“Recipients will be based on financial need,” explained Cindy DeLucca, SAMHA board member. “The recipients will be picked by the SAMHA board. Families will need to fill out an application.”
The application is on the SAMHA website at www.samhahockey.org under documents.
The Millar family was involved with establishing hockey in the Houlton area, along with other dedicated parents and volunteers who “willed” it to happen.
“As the son of John A. and Marion Millar, several things were very clear at a very early age,” said Millar. “One, my parents centered every moment of their lives around our family and the community. Secondly, if there was something to be done in the community, my dad was going to get involved. If it meant doing something that would benefit the youth of ‘his’ little town, we were going to be involved.”
That legacy will continue thanks to the Millar scholarships.
“My dad knew deeply that the success of a child was going to be greatly increased if they were ‘involved’ in sports and had a sense of ‘family and community,’” Millar explained. “He worked his entire life trying to make sports, particularly hockey and skating accessible to ‘everyone’ … regardless of their social economic status or their family situations. He wanted them to have a chance Exactly the reason that I chose to do what I could to help out.”
The five local scholarships will be funded through the John A. and Marion Millar Scholarship Foundation.
“The Foundation will be funded through many different avenues, all of them charitable,” said Millar. “The intent is to continue to fund this Foundation and broaden its reach to the youth and community of Houlton, Maine.
The Millar family is working on the initial details of how the Foundation is going to be established.
“Growing up in a small community with my mom and dad as parents, often created some embarrassing moments with my fellow chums and classmates just because everything we did, my dad was sure to be involved,” said Millar. “It is ironic and funny how age and maturity has changed that ‘embarrassment’ into immense pride and a deep sense of being benevolent at every chance I get. If nothing more, my parents always did their very best to do the ‘right thing’, regardless of its popularity or lack there of.”
For those needing more information on the scholarship offerings, call DeLucca at 532-0183 or attend the “Try Hockey For Free” on Saturday, Nov. 2 from 8:30-11:30 a.m. at the Millar Civic Center.
“As the heirs of the Millar family, my sisters (Beth and Mary) and I have a great deal of pride in Houlton, Maine and we are so very proud of what our parents set as ‘the examples to live your life by,’” said Millar. “Our sole intention is; if we can give just one young child the opportunity to have skating and hockey as his/her beacon in life, along with family and education by making this donation and establishing this Foundation, we have in some small way preserved our mom and dad’s legacy. We are so very proud to do so.”
