The 2024 Perry Family Scholarship recipient is Nathan “Nate” Andrew Large, the son of Jonathan and Joy Large. Nate’s paternal grandparents are the late Roy and the very much alive Sylvia Large. Nate’s maternal grandparents were Charles and Rosemary Moore. Nate’s siblings are Christian Ruscelloni, Elleigh Large, and Aubreigh Large, who live on Raven Rock Road in Ararat, Virginia.
Nate is the eighth recipient of the Perry Family Scholarship started by Thomas D. “Tom” Perry to honor his parents in 2021. $3,500 has been donated to Patrick County High School Seniors from the Dan River District, where Erie Perry taught and was Principal at Blue Ridge and Red Bank Schools. The student must author a 1,000-word essay on the historical topic of their choosing. Nate wrote about “The Civil War and Virginia’s Role Within It.” Tom Perry hopes to publish all the essays submitted to raise money for the scholarship.
Nate plans to study engineering at Virginia Tech. He graduated PCHS with his associate’s degree from Patrick Henry Community College, where he was on the Dean’s List and was a member of the Beta Club at PCHS. Boyd’s Restaurant hosted Nate and Tom Perry for lunch to present the scholarship to Large, where Nate’s grandmother Sylvia joined them. Thanks to Rodney Boyd and his family for supporting the Perry Family Scholarship.
On January 22, 1889, Thomas B. and Mary Jane Barnard, Nate Large’s ancestors, donated two acres of land to the North Carolina Friends or Quakers for education, a church, and a cemetery. Today, the Fellowship Church and Blue Ridge Elementary School are the descendants of that donation. It is a great honor that the Perry Family Scholarship could remember the donation by the Barnard Family by giving this year’s scholarship to Nate.
