Wilton Garden Club Awards Scholarships To 2 High School Seniors

**News Release Submitted by Wilton Garden Club**

June 13, 2023

Wilton Garden Club is proud to announce that it has awarded Marybeth Wheeler Scholarships to two high school seniors from Wilton: Lucy Corry of Wilton High School and Tony Musilli of Fairfield Prep.

The Marybeth Wheeler Scholarship is bestowed in honor of Marybeth Wheeler who was a member of the Wilton Garden Club for more than 50 years. She was a dedicated conservationist who had a special interest in preserving and propagating native flora and was the driving force behind the Garden Club’s Herbarium which resulted in the award-winning book, Ferns and Flowering Plants of Wilton. Samples she and other garden club members collected comprise over 1,000 plant species growing in and around Wilton which can be viewed at Yale University Herbarium at the Peabody Museum of Natural History.

Lucy Corry was chosen for this award by the science teachers at Wilton High School because of her outstanding performance in environmental science, her deep concern for the environment and her interest in Connecticut flora and its connection to local wildlife. Her many accomplishments during high school are varied and exemplary: She serves as Co-President of Safe Rides, Vice President of the Spanish Honor Society, and as a mentor for the Wilton chapter of Ms President US. She is also a member of the National Honor Society, a three-year starter for Wilton High Varsity Lacrosse, and a recipient of the Trinity College Book Award for Excellence in English. Lucy looks forward to attending Georgetown University in the fall.

Tony Musilli was awarded the scholarship because of his longstanding involvement in horticulture. He has volunteered at the Wilton Trackside Youth Garden since the fourth grade, built mobile handicap raised garden beds for Wilton Commons, installed pollinator gardens at Middlebrook School and his home, and participated in seed sowing for the Youth Garden and Wilton Garden Club’s annual plant sale. Tony has also volunteered at the club’s sale and served as a member of its Scout Flower Guard. Additionally, Tony is an Eagle Scout, a member of the National Honor Society (he graduated Summa Cum Laude and in the top 5% of his class), a recipient of the Fairfield Rotary Club Certificate of Honor, and was named the 2023 Southern CT Conference Scholar Athlete for his academic excellence and four years of rowing on the Fairfield Prep crew team. He will attend the University of Notre Dame this fall.

“We are thrilled to award the Marybeth Wheeler Scholarships to these Wilton graduates who have gone above and beyond during their high school years. We wish them continued success in the next chapter of their lives,” said Wilton Garden Club President Ann Margaret Mannix.