UpDate - Vol. 11, No. 33, Page 5
May 28, 1992
First State Gridiron Dinner adds $25,000 to scholarship

     The William P. Frank Scholarship fund, which helps journalism
students at the University of Delaware, received a boost of about
$25,000 as a result of the first annual First State Gridiron Dinner,
held May 16 in Wilmington.
     About 300 people attended the dinner, which featured a show that
poked fun at local and national celebrities in the media, politics and
business.
     The event was sponsored by The News Journal, the University of
Delaware, the Delaware Democratic and Republican parties, the Delaware
Bay Co., Delaware Trust Co., Delmarva Power, the Du Pont Co., MBNA
America and Rollins Environmental Services/RLC.
     At the dinner, Marjorie Meyermann, Delaware's director of
volunteer services and the founder of Adopt-a-Family, received the
first Bill Frank's Heroes Award.
     The Bill Frank Heroes Award will be given annually to honor
Delawareans who have made substantial contributions to their
communities and to the state, but have not received recognition for
their work. "We look for the kind of people who Bill Frank might have
written about in his columns, reminding us that we owe them a debt of
gratitude for their achievements," Sal DeVivo, publisher of The News
Journal, said.
     In presenting the award, DeVivo praised Meyermann's
Adopt-a-Family program as one that "brings together people who want to
help and people who need help during the holiday season around
Christmas time. Marge Meyermann's efforts have brought joy to
thousands of Delaware families."
     The 1991-92 recipient of the Bill Frank scholarship is Gabriela
Marmo, a University senior from Long Island, N.Y. Johnathan Thomas, a
junior from New London, PA., has been chosen to receive the
scholarship for 1992-93.
     Mr. Frank was a well-known columnist for The News Journal and
commentator for WILM for many years. His journalistic career spanned
65 years. Born in New York in 1905, he spent most of his life in
Wilmington, where he died in 1989.