Boys & Girls Clubs of Mason Valley Announces 2025 Scholarship Winners : 2023 Youth of the Year Receives Scholarship

6.4.2025 YERINGTON, Nev. – Following what has become a tradition, Boys & Girls Clubs of Mason Valley has awarded three graduating seniors with scholarships to end the 2025 school year.

The Jerry Ogolin Memorial Scholarship, Larry Shipley Memorial Scholarship and Youth of the Year scholarship, totaling more than $8,000, were awarded to graduating seniors Makenna Coombs, Yessenia Zarazua and Aurora Brethauer, respectively. The scholarships were announced at local senior awards. Several of the scholarships awarded were competitive across the organization’s entire service area this year.

Jerry Ogolin was a longtime principal at Yerington High School and an avid supporter of and volunteer with Boys & Girls Clubs of Mason Valley and the Night in the Country Music Festival. He passed away in 2012 after fighting cancer for a third time. The Jerry Ogolin Memorial Scholarship was then established and was awarded to longtime Club kid and now staff Coombs. The graduating senior will be attending Utah Tech University in the fall to begin her degree in special education elementary, a program that would put her down the path to growing youth in her community just like Ogolin. Coombs is a member of National Honor Society and Student Senate, and constantly gives back to Mason Valley through her more than 100 hours of community service.

Makenna Coombs:

The Larry Shipley Give Back scholarship was established by Model Dairy and the Club’s board of directors in 2023. Shipley was affectionately known in the area as the Milk Man and worked for Model Dairy for 30 years. The Club was one of his stops, and over the years, he went from delivering milk to becoming a heavily-involved volunteer. This included taking nearly two weeks off work every year to play a pivotal role in making the Club’s Night in the County Music Festival a success. Larry was diagnosed with cancer in 2022 and passed away from complications following surgery. While the Give Back scholarship traditionally goes to a graduating senior pursuing a trade or craft rather than attending a traditional college, this year’s award went to Zarazua, as her application shone through so powerfully the family chose to make an exception. Zarazua, also a longtime Club kid and now a youth staff at the Club’s early learning center in Yerington, will attend the University of Nevada this fall to begin working on a degree in health care. There are few people that care and commit as much as Zarazua, including being National Honor Society president, all student body vice president, a Link Crew leader, yearbook member, Rotary interact member and multi-sport athlete. Zarazua and Coombs also completed their associate’s degree this spring through Lyon County School District’s Jump Start program.

Yessenia Zarazua:

Youth of the Year, the Club’s premiere award and recognition, goes to an outstanding teen from any of the organization’s clubhouses who competes with a speech, series of essays, interviews and application. Brethauer, who won the award her sophomore year, was officially awarded with her scholarship at her school’s senior awards night. Brethauer was heavily involved in her Club growing up, and continued that into her teen years as a member of the Keystone Club and the Club’s 2023 Youth of the Year. She recently committed to Feather River College, where she will play softball for the Golden Eagles.

Aurora Brethauer:

The Club would like to thank Model Dairy, Night in the Country festival-goers and its donors for making these scholarships possible.

Submitted article.