WAXHAW, NC – Join the Waxhaw community on Sunday, June 12, from 10:00 am until noon at Cuthbertson High School for the Bill Kennelly Memorial Scholarship Fund Car Show. The event will feature food trucks, raffles, awards, some of Waxhaw’s coolest cars, and the presentation of three scholarships. The scholarships will go to support the education of a fire department member or child of a member, a Cuthbertson athlete, and an immediate family member of a police department employee or volunteer.
These scholarships are presented each year in memory of Bill Kennelly who served the community as a career firefighter, police officer, and Cuthbertson football coach. Bill’s wife Donna Kennelly created the scholarship fund just prior to the COVID pandemic, and she said that the community that makes up this car show ensured that the scholarship fund could continue on when the circumstances seemed impossible to overcome.
“We started the scholarship right after Bill passed, to keep his memory alive,” Kennelly said. “COVID was not known at that point, and when COVID hit, it became really difficult to do things with the scholarship fund. The car community really came through.”
Kennelly said that the car community stepped up when the scholarship fund needed them most, providing support for her efforts when it was hard to find elsewhere.
“The world was shut down, and the car groups came in and were willing to help,” she said. “The Coffee Cruisers in May of this year and last year made us the focus for donations. They covered at least one if not two of the scholarships each year with the donations. The support that Kevin Arndt offered when he organized the cruise last year and the support of everybody coming together meant the world. In a time when the world was going through some craziness, the car groups just jumped in and didn’t even hesitate.”
Bill’s service to his community played a key role in his life and in their family’s life, Kennelly said. She said that their children grew up immersed in the world of law enforcement and fire and rescue services.
“We used to laugh that the police department paid the bills, but the fire department took him away from dinner,” Kennelly said. “That was our life. That was what we knew. Our kids’ three car seats were in the back of the fire chief’s car. That’s what my kids knew, and that’s why my son is a firefighter today.”
Through these scholarships, Bill Kennelly continues to inspire the Waxhaw community in a way truly fitting to a life of service. The gifts of these scholarships and the impact that they make help to carry Kennelly’s legacy of serving his community into future generations, supporting those who strive each day to make their community a better place.
“He always wanted a sandwich and a baseball field named after him,” says Kennelly. “I couldn’t give him the baseball field, but a friend of ours did name a sandwich after him. That friend started a special-needs cafe in New Jersey, so he has that sandwich named after him. I couldn’t do the ballfield, so the scholarship was in place of it. The reason that we do the three scholarships is to represent the three areas of his life that he loved.”
To purchase tickets, or to donate to the Bill Kennelly Memorial Scholarship Fund, visit bkms.betterworld.org. To learn more about Bill Kennelly, the scholarship fund, and for updates on future events visit bigcountry235.com. Make sure to mark your calendar for June 12 to see Waxhaw’s coolest cars as they gather at Cuthbertson High School in the name of one of Waxhaw’s greatest charitable organizations at the Bill Kennelly Memorial Fund Car Show.
