Southern Gospel News SGNScoops Digital

Share America Foundation chooses bluegrass bass player for scholarshi​p

ShareHolloway,MikeAward: Mike Holloway (second from right) receives
the 2011 Pearl and Floyd Franks Scholarship from Randall Franks
(right), Share America Foundation president; and SAF Chairman Joe
Turner (second from left) and SAF Secretary James Pelt. (Share America
photo)

 The Share America Foundation, Inc. announced its second 2011
scholarship winner recently at its Sacred Sounds Fridays concert
featuring Testimony Quartet at the Ringgold Depot in Ringgold, Ga.

The events help fund the organization’s Pearl and Floyd Franks
Scholarship. Pearl and Floyd Franks are the late parents and former
entertainment managers of actor/entertainer Randall Franks, “Officer
Randy Goode” from TV’s “In the Heat of the Night.” The scholarships
honor students excelling in the Appalachian musical arts.

“My first performance with Bill Monroe found me on stage with an
instrument that was almost completely foreign to me – a bass fiddle,
it takes a great deal of talent to play one well,” Franks said. “Our
recipient certainly does play well and I know this talent will only
enhance the paths he follows in life.”

Mike Holloway, 18, of Signal Mountain, Tenn. graduated from Signal
Mountain High School and now attends University of Tennessee in
Knoxville.

“Music is what makes me who I am,” he said. “One thing I have learned
from my musical experiences is in a room of 20 or more languages, the
common denominator is bluegrass.”

He began playing bass with fellow students learning to become part of
a new band – the Mountain Cove Bluegrass Band.

“Being with this band has changed me,” he said. “It has taught me to
work with others, communicate with people with a foreign language, and
accomplish goals that might seem impossible.”

Mike said he plans to use the  $1,000 scholarship towards his
educational needs to get a degree aerospace engineering.

“I have been taught to never give up and I believe anything is
possible as long as I have a goal,” he said.

He plays bass with the Mountain Cove Bluegrass Band. For more
information, visit www.mountaincovebluegrass.com.

Mike is the son of Donnie and Macel Holloway of Signal Mountain, Tenn.
He is the grandson of Ken and Thelma Holloway of Signal Mountain.,
Tenn. and Macel and the late Emerson Hubbard of Wise, Virginia.

He continues a family legacy passed from his grandfather Ken Holloway,
who plays several instruments and is a coordinator of the long-running
production at the Mountain Opry in Signal Mountain, Tenn.

Share America Foundation Board members include Franks, president; Joe
Turner, chairman; Gene Lowery, vice chairman; James Pelt, secretary
and Jerry Robinson, Sr., vice president and Adam Cathey.

Share’s next fundraising event is Friday, Nov. 11 at 7:45 p.m. at the
Ringgold Depot, Ringgold, Ga.  featuring the Internationally known
comedian and musical impressionist Johnny Counterfit and the Jeff
Hullender Family. Donation is $5.

For more information about the organization and its programs, contact
Share America, P.O. Box 42, Tunnel Hill, Ga. 30755 or visit
www.shareamericafoundation.org.