Tjaden Scholarship Endowment Fund

            Both the Tjaden Terrace and the Tjaden Scholarship Endowment Fund were established in 1997 to honor the lives and impact of Rod and Sandy Tjaden on Historic Medora.  Rod served as Director of Medora Operations for the Gold Seal Company and was the first Executive Director and President of the Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation.  Rod and Sandy’s association with Medora stretched out more than 30 years.  Sandy remains a member of our board today.  Earnings from the permanent endowment fund provide scholarships to outstanding Medora summer employees who are continuing their college education.  Annually, twenty-six scholarships of $500 each are awarded by the Foundation.

            Recipients of these scholarships for the summer of 2007 were:

• Aaron Axvig – Bismarck, ND
• Kristi Boen – Frazee, MN
• Marcus Boykin – Williston, ND
• Erica Browne – Fairview, MT
• Helen Escalada – Nogales, AZ
• Carmen Fiesel – Martin, ND
• Daneen Fiesel – Martin, ND
• Shauna Franchuk – Fargo, ND
• Lisa Green – Glendive, MT
• BreeAnn Gronowski – Bismarck, ND
• Paul Gysberg – Great Falls, MT
• Stacy Jaeger – Bismarck, ND
• Raissa Johnson – Gwinner, ND
• ^ Justin Keller – Wahpeton, ND
• Rachel Killen – Greybull, WY
• Alissa Klose – Fairview, MT
• Jenny Marboe – Dickinson, ND
• ^ Leanna Marcusen – Taylor, ND
• Cody Meduna – Plaza, ND
• Filip Peno – Belgrade, Serbia
• * Lance Rambousek – South Heart, ND
• Julie Stoen – Valley City, ND
• Lonella Streitz – Eagan, MN
• Darrick Thorson – Fargo, ND
• Amanda Weston – Bismarck, ND
• Jettie Wold – Arnegard, ND

^Denotes Tim Johnson Award
*Denotes Winston Satran Award

            When Rod was not ambling along the boardwalks of Medora greeting visitors, he could most often be found on a golf course.  It is fitting, then, that a golf tournament started in his memory now provides much of the income for the Tjaden Scholarship Fund.  Each June, The Rod Tjaden Memorial Golf Tournament, held at Bully Pulpit Golf Course, draws golfers from across the region and the country to play this spectacular Badlands golf course and to contribute to the endowment fund.  In 2007, the tournament, which has become one of the premier charity golf events in the state, generated $30,000 for the Tjaden Scholarship Fund.