Scottville Clown Band to award $20,000 in summer music program scholarships

The Clown Band in Manistee on Fourth of July. MCP file photo.

By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief

SCOTTVILLE — The Scottville Clown Band has announced it will award $20,000 in scholarships to middle school and high school music students attending summer arts programs.

The Raymond Schulte Memorial Scholarship will be awarded to 68 students from across Michigan, including 25 local students. More than $12,500 in scholarships are being awarded to students attending Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp. Other programs include Interlochen Arts Camp, Brevard Jazz Institute, the Michigan Musicians Abroad European Performance Tour, and others.

This year’s awards mark the largest amount granted in the band’s 63-year scholarship program.

The Scottville Clown Band’s roots date to the late 19th and early 20th centuries when it served as a community band whose musicians dressed in humorous costumes. The band’s popularity grew and, by the 1930s, it was unofficially known as the Scottville Clown Band. Its signature performances included the Scottville Home Harvest Festival and the Ludington Independence Day parade.

During World War II, the band and the festival were suspended. In 1947, the festival returned as the Scottville Harvest Festival and downtown merchant Raymond Schulte — a second-generation member of the band — officially reorganized the group as the Scottville Clown Band.

Ray Schulte, founder of the Clown Band

Today, the scholarship program honors Schulte, who died in 2007.

In addition to the Schulte scholarships, the Clown Band annually awards a $1,000 scholarship to a West Shore Community College performing arts student through the Robert F. Pinkerton Jr. Scholarship. The award is named after Scottville merchant and pharmacist Bobby Pinkerton, who served as the Clown Band treasurer for more than 50 years. Pinkerton died in 2019.

The Clown Band also annually awards grants to public school music programs in Mason, Lake, Oceana and Manistee counties.

The Scottville Clown Band is a charitable 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Scholarship funds are provided through the Clown Band’s George F. Wilson Memorial Endowment Fund and donations to the organization.

The George F. Wilson Endowment is named in memory of “Big George” Wilson, who served as the street leader and master of ceremonies of the Clown Band from 1947, when he was 15 years old, until his death in 2012. Wilson also served as the band’s secretary for several decades. The endowment fund is administered by the Community Foundation for Mason County.

One of the primary missions of the Clown Band is encouraging youth to pursue the arts. Martin Erickson was the first recipient of a Clown Band scholarship in 1963 when he attended the National Music Camp at Interlochen.

Following his graduation from Mason County Central High School in 1965, Erickson attended Michigan State University before joining the U.S. Navy. He served as principal tuba player and auditions supervisor for the Navy Band, headed the brass section, served as chief in charge of the Navy Concert Band Division and led the U.S. Navy Band Brass Quintet and Tuba-Euphonium Quartet. He recently retired as instructor of tuba/euphonium and chamber music at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin.

Those wishing to donate to the Clown Band may send checks to Scottville Clown Band, P.O. Box 21, Scottville, MI 49454.

For more information about the band and its 2026 performance schedule, visit scottvilleclownband.com.

The 2026 local recipients of the Raymond Schulte Memorial Scholarship are listed below. All students are attending Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp unless otherwise indicated. Schools listed are based on the student’s grade level for the 2026-27 school year.

• Mason County Central Middle School: Avoca Alway, Sloane Alway, Ava Losinski, Tristan McKenney, Barrett Pasco.
• Mason County Central High School: Henry O’Neal.
• O.J. DeJonge Middle School, Ludington: Mina Harley, Kira Bussa, William Mackenzie, Rainee Mackey, Charlotte Newcomer, Lauren Watkins.
• Ludington High School: Charlee Mackey, Teegan Shimel.
• Pentwater Middle School: Karoline Slotegraaf.
• Pentwater High School: Christopher Jeruzal, Janie Hasil.
• Shelby High School: Kasey Oberlin, Cael Omness (attending Brevard Jazz Institute).
• Hesperia High School: Caleb LeBaron.
• Kaleva Norman Dickson High School: Ava Black.
• Manistee High School: Mariah Elkins.
• Manistee Middle School: Payden Turkett.
• Montague High School: Logan Kraus, Autumn Thommen.

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