Overby Award Moves Ahead

October 2, 2012

Solicitations for donations for the Erma Overby Scholarship at Valley City State University will be sent in the coming weeks, but the Valley City-Barnes County Health District can no longer be a part of the effort to recognize the former CCHD director.

Overby, who passed away on June 4 at age 87, worked as a school nurse and the director of the City-County Health District when the two departments merged in 1978. In 2004 the state recognized her with the Outstanding Service in Public Health Award.

CCHD director Theresa Will said she was advised by Barnes County States Attorney Lee Grossman to turn further work on the scholarship over to VCSU.

“That’s not a problem,” Will said. “We can’t send the solicitation letters out on City-County Health overhead because a county program can’t look at supporting one or two people, we’d have to support the whole community. Since the scholarship will go to one or two people, City-County Health can’t put any money into that scholarship fund, and we can’t use my time or our resources to do that.”

The Erma Overby Scholarship Committee will meet in private this week to iron out the details of the scholarship’s requirements. So far the committee has not narrowed down the criteria required by the students, other than a community-minded nursing student with good grades.

VCSU requires a minimum investment of $10,500 to endow a scholarship. Donations can be sent to the VCSU Foundation: Attn. Overby Scholarship, at VCSU, 101 College Street Southwest, Valley City, N.D., 58072.