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Friends of Copey Celebrates 10th Anniversary

Posted by Billy Chandler

Ten years of experiences, and 10 years of friendship.

By now, many have heard the story of how Scrapper Broady (’70) went fishing in Costa Rica and came home with a dream of helping Costa Rican students learn English and subsequently help create an opportunity for students to visit the United States.

That dream became a reality and in 2023, there was a celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Friends of Copey – a loosely organized group of friends who donate time and money to support the rural community of Copey, especially the The Copey Learning Center. The center was established to provide English education to its student population therefore providing better life options than those of previous generations.

Although scholarships and other funding support is provided to the Copey Learning Center, one unique project under the large umbrella of Friends of Copey is the Pathway Project. This project makes it possible for 2-3 students from the tiny and beautiful community of Copey to visit the U.S. each summer.

While Friends of Copey celebrated its ten-year anniversary in June, the Pathway Project also celebrated its seventh year by bringing two more students to the United States. They toured Washington DC, then spent a week at a health careers camp at Emory & Henry. Additionally, the Emory guests had a chance to go to Barter Theatre, Hungry Mother State Park, area nature areas, new dining hot spots in the region, a baseball game, and they even learned to play a little golf. They also got to visit with SWVA friends they’ve made who were English teachers and E&H student trip facilitators.

After 10 years, Copey and Emory share many friendships, so the summer event has become something of a reunion. George Whitley (’77) has an annual party for Friends of Copey Affiliates, and this year’s party included guests from as far away as Mountain City, Asheville, and Canada.

Enjoy a conversation with Scrapper about the anniversary on the Duck Pond Wall podcast.

Open gallery

People posing on the street smiling.

In Scrapper Broady’s hometown of Marion, Virginia:

Catalina Cortez (Chaperone from Copey), Margarita Rodriguez (2023 Pathway student), Erick Rodriguez (2023 Pathway student), Scrapper Broady, Carol Barnard.

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  • <div class="lw_news_image"><span class="lw_item_thumb"><a href="/live/news/75-kurtz-appointed-to-atlanta-area-agency-on-aging"><picture class="lw_image"><source type="image/webp" srcset="/live/image/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,232,216/741_kurtz.rev.1507059839.webp 1x" data-origin="responsive"/><source type="image/jpeg" srcset="/live/image/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,232,216/741_kurtz.rev.1507059839.jpg 1x" data-origin="responsive"/><img src="/live/image/gid/68/width/345/height/225/crop/1/src_region/0,0,232,216/741_kurtz.rev.1507059839.jpg" alt="Becky Kurtz E&H '84" width="345" height="225" data-max-w="232" data-max-h="216" loading="lazy" data-optimized="true"/></picture></a></span></div><div class="lw_widget_text"><h4 class="lw_news_headline"><a href="/live/news/75-kurtz-appointed-to-atlanta-area-agency-on-aging">Kurtz Appointed to Atlanta Area Agency on Aging</a></h4><div class="lw_news_summary"> Becky Kurtz is heading back to Atlanta after serving as a chief U.S. administrator. <a href="/live/news/75-kurtz-appointed-to-atlanta-area-agency-on-aging" class="link-with-arrow gold">Keep reading</a></div></div>