T-Shirts still available for those who donate $100+
The IBMA Foundation is pleased to announce that $23,600 has been raised for the Gloria Belle Memorial Scholarship in its first month of existence. The scholarship is named in memory of Gloria Bernadette Flickinger (1939-2023), best remembered for her work with Jimmy Martin and the Sunny Mountain Boys under the stage name, “Gloria Belle.”
Spearheaded by Foundation board member Becky Buller, the first scholarship will be offered for the fall semester of 2025. The scholarship is for a student enrolled in a college, tech, or trade school who is engaged in the bluegrass music community, either as a musician/singer or behind the scenes as a DJ, event producer, graphic designer, videographer, photographer, luthier, etc.
Click here for more information about the scholarship.
If you would like to help the IBMA Foundation honor the memory and music of Gloria Belle by encouraging the next generation of bluegrass music, please consider making a tax-deductible donation of any amount by clicking here.
For donations of $100 or more, we would like to thank you with a Gloria Belle Memorial Scholarship t-shirt. Click here to donate $100 or more to get a Gloria Belle t-shirt.
Our heartfelt thanks to the following donors who helped us meet the $20,000 goal to set up an endowment to fund the annual scholarship: Fred Bartenstein, Becky Buller, Nancy Cardwell, Jim and Kathy Kortge, Laurie Greenberg, Doug and Pat Miller, Trisha and John Tubbs, John Young, and the many Becky Buller Band fans who contributed to Becky’s Facebook birthday fundraiser in 2023-24.
“Although we were both part of the Daughters of Bluegrass projects, I never got to know Gloria Belle personally,” said Buller. “But as I’ve studied her story and work, I’ve come to greatly admire her passion for bluegrass, her musicianship, her sweet spirit, and her tenacity, which is why I set out to establish this scholarship in early 2023.”
Donations to the Gloria Belle Memorial Scholarship will be set up as an endowment. The interest earned from this endowment will be used to fund the annual scholarship. The larger the endowment is, the more the Foundation can distribute every year as a scholarship in honor of Gloria Belle.
Thanks in advance for your continued support of this important new scholarship!
Enjoy Gloria Belle singing and playing the banjo on “Banjo Pickin’ Girl” here. Tater Tate, Paul Gerry, and John Palmer are the other band members on this recording from a 1967 album, Gloria Belle Sings Bluegrass.
RETURN to the July 2024 issue of The Cornerstone.
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