Cold weather fails to slow annual Horn trail ride
Photos by Charles Kerr

More than 500 people showed up for the 18th annual Horn Memorial Scholarship trail ride and parade despite wintry weather this past Saturday.

The Horn scholarship program started in 1981 in memory of Anita Renay Horn, "a very special child" who died of cerebral palsy at age 11, according to her aunt, Glenndale Horn.

At first they held drawings for prizes, but then they started doing a trail ride to raise money for the scholarships. When it became a matter of as many cars as horses following the route, they started calling it the trail ride parade. Children join in riding bikes and ATVs.

Every year 400 - 500 riders show up, not just locals but people from Beaumont, Lufkin, Newton, as far as Dallas and beyond, according to organizer John Horn.

Glenndale Horn estimates they have given more than $40,000 in scholarships to Jasper High School students over the years. Depending on what the parade earns, they give four or five scholarships, usually $400 or $500, each year.

"It's not just for the A students, but also the special students who maybe aren't college bound," Glenndale Horn said.

Students can apply for scholarships for vocational training or for any kind of advanced education. The deadline for applications this year is April 12, so it is not too late for students to contact the JHS counselors' office and get an application.

Deadline for

scholarship appplications is April 12

- See your JHS

counselor