On Wednesday, the June Shaver Estate announced the 2023 gifts to the Crookston High School and other organizations in Crookston in the amount of $92,532. June Shaver was a notable donator to the Crookston community with the intent of helping students improve their education before she passed away in 2014. “June’s legacy was the young people in our town. She wanted to help make the kids further their education, and I think Edward Jones is doing a fantastic job,” Annette Hegg, the Executor of the Estate, explained. “This is our eighth year gifting these donations, and it’s unbelievable.” Before her passing, Shaver had invested and planned millions of dollars and set up an estate to continue donating money to organizations that she felt were well-run organizations that helped the community. Since then, the estate has donated in Shaver’s honor to these organizations that Shaver had handpicked herself every year since.
Annette Hegg was a good friend of June and was chosen to be the trustee of the estate before her passing and voiced her happiness in being able to continue donating to the organizations her friend selected. “I’m just proud. Proud that I can be a part of it because I know June is smiling down at us,” said Annette Hegg. “She’s getting what she had hoped for.” Dave Aamoth of Edward Jones, who manages the estate, also seconded the thoughts and honor of donating to the organizations on June’s behalf.
This year seven of the organizations received $12,677, while the eighth (the Crookston High School Drama Club) received about $3,400. In total, the estate has now donated $783,000, according to Aamoth, who, along with the rest of the estate, hopes to continue donating to Crookston for many more years. “This year’s gift was about ninety-two and a half thousand dollars. We sure feel and hope that we can keep this going for a number of years, and I know the organizations and the community appreciate it,” Dave Aamoth explained. “June might have got on us a little bit for being public about this because she was very private about her stuff, but the thing is, every year we do this, we get somebody in the community that wants to start up something like it and promote local charities. Her legacy is not only in this giving but also encouraging other people to do giving in the community too.”
The organizations that received funds were-
Crookston High School Health Care Scholarship Fund
Crookston Pirates Athletic Boosters
Crookston Pirates Fine Arts Boosters
RiverView Foundation
Crookston Community Theatre
Crookston Music Civic Music League
Crookston Care and Share
Crookston High School Drama Club
A picture of representatives of the eight organizations around June Shaver’s plaque in the Crookston High School can be seen below-
Front Row Left to Right: Jane Freeman (Crookston Care & Share), Bryn Caseay (Edward Jones), Charles “Corky” Reynolds (CHS Pirate Athletic Boosters), Gaye Wick (CHS Fine Arts Boosters), Lynne Mullins (Crookston Community Theatre), Sandy Perkins (Crookston Community Theatre).
Back Row Left to Right: Randy Schoengren (RiverView Foundation), David Aamoth (Edward Jones), Sophia Lien (Edward Jones), Annette Hegg (Executor of the Estate), Alvern Wentzel (Crookston Civic Music League), Nate Lubarski (CHS Pirate Athletic Boosters), Beth Carlson (CHS Drama Club), Elaine Metzger (CHS Fine Arts Boosters)
