Thousand Islands High School Graduate Tye H. Doxtater Awarded $1,500 Scholarship
CLAYTON — Tye H. Doxtater was recently named the Class of 2024 recipient of the Mary Bastian Memorial Foundation Scholarship of the Northern New York Community Foundation.
Tye graduated in June from Thousand Islands Central School. He will attend SUNY Potsdam this fall where he plans to study history. Tye aspires to become a high school history teacher.
Tye is an accomplished three-sport athlete competing throughout high school in varsity soccer, basketball, and lacrosse. He was a soccer and basketball team captain his senior year. He also played on several travel lacrosse teams and has committed to play lacrosse at SUNY Potsdam.
Off the athletic field, Tye is a top-ranked honor student who participated in numerous extracurricular activities and clubs, including school newspaper, Science Olympiad, and Sources of Strength. Outside of school, he was extensively involved in his community as a volunteer for 4-H Camp Wabasso, the Disabled Persons Action Organization, and the Clayton Opera House.
Tye is the son of WindiAnne Roberts and the grandson of Forrest and Sherry Matteson, and Tina Graham, Chaumont.
Mary Bastian’s son, Robert Bastian Jr., daughter, Donata Williams, granddaughter, Alexandra Buduson, and dear friend, Amy Fitzsimmons, presented Tye with the Mary Bastian Memorial Foundation Scholarship and a $1,500 award.
About Mary Bastian
The Mary Bastian Memorial Foundation was established as a permanent fund of the Northern New York Community Foundation in 2021 to provide educational support to graduating seniors from Thousand Island Central School, Alexandria Central School, or LaFargeville Central School, who are pursuing careers in education. Recipients will have also demonstrated interest in improving their physical well-being and enhancing their lives through activities and the community.
Mary Bastian passed away in September 2018 at the age of 80. A native of Antwerp, Mary graduated from Ithaca College with a bachelor’s degree in physical education. She began her teaching career at Clayton Central School, now Guardino Elementary. Shortly after she was married, Mary and her husband, Robert Bastian Sr., put their teaching careers on hold and moved to Morrisville, N.Y., where they owned and operated several businesses for a few years before purchasing Marble Island, an 18-hole golf resort in Winooski, Vt.
In 1971, the family returned to Clayton and Mary resumed her teaching career, working in schools in Lyme and Cape Vincent as well as Jeff-Lewis BOCES before she joined the staff at Thousand Islands High School, where she remained until she retired in 1996.
Mary coached the Thousand Islands girls’ varsity soccer, volleyball, basketball, and softball teams, leading her students to numerous championships and titles. She spent summers volunteering for special needs children and giving to her community for 25 years with the Clayton Youth Commission, serving as a mentor, coach, and secretary. She also mentored young women as a Girl Scout leader.
The 4th Annual Mary Bastian Memorial Golf Tournament tees off at 9:30 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 15, at Natali’s C-Way Resort & Golf Club, 37067 State Route 12, Clayton. All tournament proceeds help build the Mary Bastian Memorial Foundation Scholarship at the Northern New York Community Foundation. Tournament sponsorships are still available. Contact Alexandra Buduson, alex@1000islands-clayton.com, to learn more.
About the Northern New York Community Foundation
Since 1929, the Northern New York Community Foundation has invested in improving and enriching the quality of life for all in communities across Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence counties.
Through partnerships with businesses and organizations, charitable foundations, and generous families and individual donors, the Community Foundation awards grants and scholarships from an endowment and collection of funds that benefit the region. Its commitment to donors helps individuals achieve their charitable objectives now and for generations to come by preserving and honoring legacies of community philanthropy while inspiring others.
The Community Foundation is a resource for local charitable organizations, donors, professional advisors and nonprofit organizations. It also works to bring people together at its permanent home in the Northern New York Philanthropy Center to discuss challenges our communities face and find creative solutions that strengthen the region and make it a great place to live, work, and play.