In keeping with its mission of promoting and preserving the Celtic culture, Celtic Cultural Alliance has awarded $3,000 in scholarships to local students to further their studies in Celtic instruments and dance. Aoife Cullen, Abigail Hackett and Zachery Bingaman were each presented with a $1,000 scholarship by Sarah Hesener, CCA board president, at the board of directors meeting recently.

With the scholarship money, Aoife and Abigail will further their studies in Irish Dance and Zachery will further his studies in the bagpipe. Maureen O’Grady of O’Grady Quinlan Academy of Irish Dance and Allen Frank, assistant band director of the Liberty HS Grenadier Band, were present to take part in the awards presentation.

Aoife is a student at Spring Garden ES, Zachery is a senior at Liberty HS, and Aoife is a junior at North Hunterdon, New Jersey, HS.

About the alliance

On Columbus Day weekend in 1988, the first Celtic Classic was presented by a small group of individuals. The goal of this dedicated group was to create an event that symbolized the Celtic spirit and history, and to provide the impetus for an organization that focused on promoting the Celtic culture. This group has now evolved into Celtic Cultural Alliance to better communicate the overall goals of the organization.

The CCA has expanded with year-round programming to support the mission of promoting and preserving Celtic Culture through arts, music, literature, dance and history programs. In keeping with the spirit of “Next Generation”, the CCA also offers scholarships to promising young students of the Celtic Arts. These yearly scholarships are offered to students of the arts, including Irish Step Dance, Highland Dance, Fiddle, and Bagpipes.

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