Croton Lions 2026 Scholarship Awards
The Croton Lions Club is pleased to announce the recipients of three scholarship awards this year. The graduating Croton Harmon High School seniors are Vincent Flynn, Maya Sebestyan, and Max Newman.
Vincent will continue his studies at SUNY Buffalo, Maya is headed to Michigan and Max will be attending Boston University. They each spoke about their community service projects and future plans before receiving their awards. Community service is a required element to be considered for this award.
The scholarships this year were named for Lions Gerry Klein and Vic Conte, and Brian Fitzpatrick as a friend of the Lions.
The students each received a check for $5,000 dollars to aid them in continuing their education. The Lions Club was able to increase the amount of scholarships from $3,000 to $5,000 this year through fundraising efforts and the generosity of the village residents.
Since 1939, when the Croton Lions Club was founded, over $500,000 in scholarships have been awarded to deserving students. The Lions are the largest service organization in the world with over 1.4 million members who work to improve their communities through service. Our motto is “We Serve” and the Croton Lions are happy to serve the village of Croton on Hudson.
Lions president, Bob Anderson, closed the dinner with some thoughts for the students to carry forward. He asked them to remember the people who helped them and to pay it forward. He suggested they make service to others a part of their growth as a person. Any small gesture of kindness and caring towards others is very rewarding. He suggested finding a group or organization that is important to them and donate some time.
He also quoted Aaron Sorkin, “Don’t ever forget you are a citizen of this world, and there are things you can do to lift the human spirit – things that are easy, things that are free, things that you can do every day: Civility, Respect, Kindness, Character.”
The scholarship award dinner was held from 6-8 p.m., June 17, 2026, at Franco Martini Restaurant, 2025Albany Post rd., Croton, NY. It was attended by Lions, students, family, friends and guidance counselors of the students and a good time was had by all.
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Photo credit: Steven Giacobello Photography
