ASTORIA, OREGON, June 24, 2021—The Clatsop County Master Gardener Association (CCMGA) has selected Westin Carter of Gearhart as the recipient of its 2021 scholarship award. The $2,000 grant will support Mr. Carter, a member of the recently graduated Class of 2021 at Seaside High School (SHS) and already the owner of his own landscaping business, as he begins his studies in business financing and marketing at the University of Oregon in Eugene in September.
“The Master Gardener scholarship is incredibly generous,” said Mr. Carter upon learning of his selection. “It is helping me pursue a higher education that I will be using to further my landscape maintenance business. I’d like to thank the Master Gardener Association for aiding me in my journey to pursue my dreams.”
An SHS honor student, associated student body president, and one of this year’s two valedictorians at the June 1 graduation ceremonies, Mr. Carter, 18, has already demonstrated significant horticultural skills and entrepreneurial acumen. As a sixth-grader, he began his own lawn care business, earning renown in his neighborhood as “the local lawnboy.” From those early days working on his own with one lawn mower and hand tools, he’s built a thriving business— which he incorporated last year as, fittingly, Local Lawnboy LLC. No one man show any longer, Local Lawnboy LLC has two trucks, lots more equipment, and four employees, and will continue to thrive under Mr. Carter’s management and direction as he pursues his college degree. Mr. Carter is also a seasoned community volunteer, having served on the regional councils of the Future Business Leaders of America and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
