The Community Foundation of the Kootenay Rockies (CFKR) has recently awarded two post-secondary scholarships to local students.

Connor Thompson is the inaugural recipient of the $750 Pidoca Construction Group Memorial Scholarship. Connor has completed his first year of carpentry studies at the College of the Rockies (COTR) and is now a level two apprentice.

The Pidoca Construction Group Memorial Scholarship was established in memory of Brent McIver, a Mount Baker Secondary School (MBSS) graduate and accomplished Red Seal carpenter and builder. The MBSS scholarship selection committee awards this scholarship to a student who is pursuing studies in the field of carpentry, at an approved post-secondary institution.

Alexander Harding is the 2019 recipient of the $1,000 Mark Mahovlic Memorial Scholarship, which was established in 2014. Alexander is pursuing his post-secondary studies at the College of the Rockies.

The recipient of the Mark Mahovlic Memorial Scholarship is selected by the Mahovlic family, working with the MBSS scholarship selection committee. Eligible students are caring, friendly, and helpful MBSS graduates, who may have a passion for golf/hockey, with preference given to a student pursuing post-secondary studies in computers/technology, at COTR or Mount Royal University, with financial need as a potential consideration.

“The Community Foundation would like to share our sincere and heartfelt thanks to each of the McIver and Mahovlic families, for remembering their loved ones through the establishment of these permanently invested scholarship endowment funds,” said Lynnette Wray, Community Foundation Executive Director.

“The interest from these endowment funds will ensure that these scholarships are available to local students, every year, forever,” Wray added.

Brent McIver

Brent Richard McIver (1975-2017) was born and raised in Cranbrook and graduated from MBSS in 1993. Brent was a well-liked and highly admired young man who excelled at virtually anything he focused on, and after a colourful youth exploring high school jazz band and professional competitive snowboarding, he concentrated his artistic expression through the broad trade of carpentry. Brent graduated at the top of his Carpentry class at the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) in 1995 and received provincial honors for being the only student to have aced his Inter-Provincial Exam (Red Seal qualification) with the top mark in Alberta and B.C.

Brent rapidly became a force to be reckoned with in the world of British Columbia’s competitive custom-residential fields, establishing the Pidoca Construction Group before his 30th birthday and building many attractive, luxurious homes across the Lower Mainland and the East Kootenay.

The majestic mansions designed and created by Brent’s hands stand as some of the finest residences in the province and have been prominently featured in Architectural Digest magazine as examples of returning long-lost ethics of art back into building. Brent cared about carpentry and expected all carpenters to care about their trade as well.

The Pidoca Construction Group Memorial Scholarship will be awarded to an inspired Carpenter of Tomorrow who seeks to create something special and stunning with their hands, their minds, and their hearts.

Mark Mahovlic

Mark grew up in Cranbrook and graduated from Mount Baker Secondary School in 2009. In the fall of 2010, he moved to Calgary to pursue a Bachelor of Computer Information Systems at Mount Royal University. Making friends wherever he went, Mark’s bright smile and open heart were traits that described him best. A gentle giant, Mark was always there for people who needed a friend or helping hand.

A young man with a wide variety of skills, Mark found his passion in hockey, golf, computers and technology at a young age and excelled. He played golf from the young age of 3 until he was 21 and played in the CMHA from age five to 18, most years as a goalie. During those years in golf and hockey, he aced the 13th hole on Cranbrook Golf Course, won the East Kootenay Zone Junior Championship and the Cranbrook Golf Club Junior Championship as well playing on the MRU Golf Team in Calgary; played as goalie in the 2005 Friendship Hockey Tournament and was awarded Player of the Game in the 2010 Bantam Zone Hockey Title Game, as well as participating in the Gold in the Net Camp all 5 years eligible.

This scholarship has been arranged to honour the memory of Mark Mahovlic: his kind and giving heart, his life-long dedication to golf, his truly Canadian passion for hockey, and his love of learning about computer science.

Established in 2003 as a federally incorporated not-for-profit and a CRA-registered charity, the Community Foundation of the Kootenay Rockies is governed by a 13-member, volunteer Board of Directors and employs one staff person. CFKR holds a total of approximately $2.5 million in 37 permanently invested funds. Since its first community grants in 2004, the Community Foundation has shared almost $500,000 with local projects and programs in our communities.

For more information about how to establish or donate to a scholarship endowment fund, members of the public are invited to contact the Community Foundation by phone (250-426-1119), email ([email protected]), or this link.

Lead image: Alexander Harding, 2019 recipient of the Mark Mahovlic Memorial Scholarship. Photos courtesy CFKR

Community Foundation of the Kootenay Rockies

---

Article Share

---