A Legacy That Keeps Giving: Buccaneer Scholarship Program Awards Nearly $70,000 to Union High School Seniors

By John W. Peace II

BIG STONE GAP- 6/28/2026 – For Adam Harris, current Big Stone Gap town councilman and member of the Buccaneer Scholarship Program board, serving the organization is about much more than handing out scholarship certificates. It's about preserving a legacy that began long before he ever joined the committee.

"I was invited by Roger Daugherty to come on the committee in 2023," Harris said. "He wanted some younger people involved and wanted someone who represented Appalachia and could help continue what this program has become."

That legacy was on full display Sunday afternoon as nearly 80 people—students, parents, benefactors, and community members—gathered at the Taylor-Lewis Baptist Community Center in East Stone Gap for the annual Buccaneer Scholarship Awards Luncheon. Big Stone Gap Town Councilman Tyler Hughes served as master of ceremonies for the event, one of the community's most cherished traditions.

This year, the privately funded scholarship program awarded approximately $70,000 to graduating seniors from Union High School who will continue their education at Mountain Empire Community College.

The scholarship has grown considerably over the years. The standard award recently increased from $2,000 to $2,500. In addition, $500 awards are given each year to previous recipients who finish with the highest grade point averages after completing their first year and continue their education.

For Harris, one of the most meaningful parts of the program is the luncheon itself.

"We require students to attend because we want them to meet the people behind these scholarships," he said. "Many of these awards were created in memory of someone. The students get to hear those stories and understand that somebody believed in them enough to invest in their future."

Many of the scholarships are endowed by families honoring parents, grandparents, classmates and friends who have passed away. The annual gathering allows those memories to live on through another generation of young people.

The committee itself remains intentionally small, with fewer than 20 members, many serving because of their own family connections to the scholarships.

"We're trying to make sure this program continues long after we're gone," Harris said. "Roger and the original committee built something special, and now it's our job to keep it moving forward."

To understand how special, though, you have to go back more than two decades and visit with the man who started it all.

For Roger Daugherty, founder of the Buccaneer Scholarship Program, the scholarship fund was born out of gratitude.

"I just wanted to give back to Big Stone Gap," he said.

Daugherty knows the town's history as well as anyone. He graduated from Big Stone Gap High School in 1956. His father was one of the original Buccaneer football players. For decades, his family operated Daugherty's Grocery Store, located across from today's ABC store on Clinton Avenue in the building now occupied by Big Bore Outfitters. The store became a gathering place for generations of Big Stone Gap residents.

Local entrepreneurship didn't stop there. His maternal grandfather, M.K. Murphy, owned both the old Big Stone Gap Theater and the town's drive-in theater, while his aunt and uncle operated the beloved Carmine's Restaurant.

In 2003, Daugherty said he felt what he describes as a "divine inspiration" to create a scholarship for local students. With guidance from Nancey Edmonds Smith of the Slemp Foundation and assistance from Donna Stanley at Mountain Empire Community College, the idea became reality.

The first year, the program awarded three scholarships worth $1,500 each.

Nobody imagined what it would become.

Today, the Buccaneer Scholarship Program's endowment has grown to more than $1.8 million, with approximately 30 permanently endowed scholarships that will continue supporting students for generations. More than 211 scholarships have been awarded since the program's founding.

This year, the program added the new Buccaneer Gold Scholarship. Big Stone Gap's Matthew Martin became the first recipient of the award. At just 18 years old, Martin has maintained a perfect A average while working a part-time job. He recently graduated from Mountain Empire Community College and will begin his third year at UVA Wise this fall.

Daugherty said the committee has never focused solely on grades.

"We're looking for well-rounded young people," he said. "Students who participate, who work, who are involved in their communities. Those are the kinds of young people who usually succeed."

The partnership with Mountain Empire Community College was also intentional. Restricting the scholarship to MECC students keeps administrative expenses low and ensures that nearly every donated dollar goes directly to helping local students.

This remarkable growth did not happen by accident. Daugherty credits many people for helping build the program over the past 23 years.

Among them was W.H. Clark, a successful Big Stone Gap native who chose to merge his own scholarship fund with the Buccaneer Scholarship Program. Clark contributed more than $100,000 to the effort and endowed three scholarships that will continue helping students for generations to come.

Today, that family tradition of giving continues through his daughter, Caryl Clark Smith, who remains actively involved with the program and is a familiar face at the annual scholarship luncheon, documenting the event through her photography and helping preserve the memories of each new class of recipients.

Daugherty also credits Nancey Edmonds Smith, Class of 1957, along with early supporters George Litton, Class of 1954, and Roy Laster, Class of 1956, whose dedication helped transform a simple idea into one of the region's most successful community scholarship programs.

Along the way, the program has been supported by countless alumni and friends of Big Stone Gap. Donations have ranged from as little as five dollars to as much as $400,000, proving that every gift matters.

As Sunday's luncheon came to a close, another class of Union High graduates left with scholarship certificates in hand and the encouragement of an entire community behind them.

For Harris, that's the true meaning of the program.

For Daugherty, it's simply giving back.

And for Union High School and the entire community, the Buccaneer Scholarship Program has become something far greater than a scholarship fund. It has become a living reminder that in the mountains, people still take care of their own and invest in the future one student at a time.

Anyone interested in making a donation or establishing a lasting legacy gift through the Buccaneer Scholarship Program is encouraged to contact Dr. Amy Greear at AGreear@mecc.edu. Since 2018, under the leadership of Dr. Amy Greear, VP of Institutional Advancement at Mountain Empire Community College, the program has achieved rapid growth. Those interested may also contact Daugherty directly at darcoemc@gmail.com.

Photo Gallery: https://photos.app.goo.gl/GHKc7z9zTyKEqGUN8

2026 Buccaneer Scholarship Recipients

Matthew Martin, Hannah Dotson, Elijah Schlobohm, Ethan Shuler, Avery Thomas, Laci Lancaster, Jackson Baker, Landen Blanken, Olivia Campbell, Gracelynn Swinney, Camden Wharton, Noah Hale, Jonathan Collins, Kaitlyn Fore, Alexis Shupe, Maddox Hefemiester, Madison Hall, Ryleigh Bowman, Nathaniel Boyd, Austin Sidham, Kamieron Stivers, Braxton Bunch, and Ethan Vanzant.

From the Back Porch

Stories from Big Stone Gap, VA are why I wrote A Boy From Crackers Neck. Growing up on our family dairy farm in Big Stone Gap, I was raised on stories of World War II, including those of my grandfather, Captain Jimmie Galloway, a B-17 pilot who flew thirty missions over Europe. It's a story about ordinary folks from small towns who found themselves in extraordinary times. 

Big Stone Gap has inspired storytellers for generations, from John Fox Jr.'s The Trail of the Lonesome Pine to the bestselling novels of Adriana Trigiani. Today, those stories continue through what I call the Big Stone Gap Storyverse, a world of Appalachian history, folklore, family farms, coal camps, and mountain characters. If you enjoy stories of rural America and the people who helped shape it, A Boy From Crackers Neck is available on Amazon.

Where the mountains still remember.

John W Peace II

Big Stone Gap, VA