Former Farm Reporter Provides 4-H Scholarship

Retired CBC Farm Reporter Ray Wilkinson presented a scholarship in his name at the North Carolina State 4-H Congress on July 20, dubbed Ray Wilkinson Communications Day. The presentation took place at a luncheon at the McKimmon Center on the NC State campus. Wilkinson and son Dan, the current Farm Reporter at WRAL-TV, served as keynote speakers for the event. A 4-H educational scholarship, the Ray Wilkinson Communications Scholarship provides a rising college

Retired CBC Farm Reporter Ray Wilkinson created a 4-H scholarship.

freshman $1,000 to attend the college of his/her choice. Wilkinson gave the 2001 scholarship to Megan Jones from Tyrell County. She will begin studies in communications at Meredith College in Raleigh this fall. “The scholarship was started when Ray retired from Capitol Broadcasting and held a series of lunches across the state to raise funds which were matched by CBC,” explained Dan Wilkinson. “The fund now stands at over $150,000 and goes to a deserving young person who is planning to study in the area of communications.”

For the event, both Wilkinson’s talked about the changes in TV farm broadcasting that have happened over the last 30 years. Their keynote addresses were part of overall theme of the Congress, “Communications.” Son interviewed father for a live noon report on WRAL-TV, and spoke on camera with recipient Jones as well.

Ray Wilkinson retired as the VP/GM of Tobacco Radio Network from CBC in 1995. He has received numerous honors over the years including induction into the National Association of Farm Broadcasters Hall of Fame and the North Carolina Broadcasters Hall of Fame. Although retired, Wilkinson still does the Agriculture Community Awareness Reports for both CBC’s North Carolina News (NCNN) the nationwide National Association of Farm Broadcasters News Service (NFBS).