Wow, how bright the future of our industry is! Shown on these two pages are the first recipients of the annual COLE Publishing college scholarships. We launched our college scholarship program last year with the intent of giving two $1000 scholarships – one for a Pumper subscriber's child, and one for a Cleaner subscriber's child. When it came time to review the applications and vote for winners, we never realized it would be so tough to choose just one recipient for each scholarship. Consequently, we decided to pick a runner-up for each scholarship too, and award them $250 each.

One of our qualifying requirements for the scholarship was that the applicants must plan on continuing in this industry in some capacity after college graduation. As you read these wonderful essays written by the recipients, you'll understand just how tough our decisions were to make. You'll also appreciate that in a few years these fine young men and women will return to the industry along with their previous hands-on experience, further education, enthusiasm, and a strong desire to do things the right way. Warm congratulations to all!