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Community Corner

The Fourth Annual Friends of Beth Scholarship Walk Draws More Than 100 Walkers

The scholarship walk was created in 2007 by Patty Willis after her sister, former Canton resident Beth Spence Cann, was taken from the family in a case of domestic violence.

When Beth Spence Cann, a 1981 graduate of , lost her life to domestic violence in 2007, her sister of Canton knew she wanted to do something to honor her sister.

“My sister was a victim of domestic violence four years ago and I wanted something to remember her by so we decided to do the scholarship walk,” said Willis at this year’s ‘’ that stepped off from the on Sunday at noon.

“My sister was an artist and a graduate of Canton High so we decided to do a scholarship in her name for students going into the art field,” she said.

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This was the fourth annual 5K walk. To date, the scholarship committee has awarded 15 scholarships – five in each of the last three years – of $1,000 each to CHS students who are pursuing art in college.

Joyce Stedman is on the scholarship committee. She is also the K-12 Visual Arts Coordinator for Canton Public Schools, and she had Cann as a student.

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“Beth was just a wonderful person, she was so sweet and kind to everybody; she was just a very welcoming person,” Stedman said. “She loved to paint, she loved drawing and painting, she loved to build things, she was very crafty, and she liked doing a lot of fine detail. She did anything and everything, she was a very engaging art student.”

Cann was a certified manicure and pedicure specialist who often painted original nail art.

To qualify for the scholarship, explained Willis, students must enroll in an art program, write a letter to the scholarship committee explaining what the scholarship would mean to them, and complete one semester and provide the grades to the committee to receive their award.

Students have attended Lasell CollegeMaine College of ArtMassachusetts College of ArtMaryland Institute College of ArtMassasoit Community College, the Pratt Institute,  and the University of Tampa.

Taylor Lane won a scholarship last year. She is now a freshman at the University of Tampa.

“She is very artistic, she’s very creative and really talented,” said her mother Joanne who participated in this year’s walk. “After she arrived at college, she joined a sorority and soon realized that she is giving back to the community in Tampa because the sorority she joined raises money to help victims of domestic violence.”

Kim White is a co-coordinator of the annual race and was a long-time friend of Cann who graduated from CHS with her husband, Jim White.

“This race means everything to Beth’s family,” said White, as nearly 100 walkers approached the start line. “It shows the support that they’ve had of friends over the course of the last four years, and the outpouring of friendship that Beth brought to the family.”

The race typically raises $5,000 per year. To donate to the Friends of Beth Scholarship Walk, visit http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Friends-of-Beth-Scholarship-Walk/324987351612, contact Kim White at kim.white33@verizon.net, or mail a check payable to “Friends of Beth” to Jeanette Spence (Beth’s mother), 12 Oakdale Road, Canton, MA 02021.

Beth Spence Cann, 44, and two of her three daughters (one was not home at the time of the attack) were shot in the head by Cann’s former boyfriend in her Norton home in 2007. The man took his own life soon thereafter. Cann did not survive the attack but her daughters did. The Spence family said the girls (who all participated in this year’s walk) are doing well.

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