A Jackman family and the local school district are working together to offer a scholarship for a local person who is interested in becoming a plumber, with the stipulation that they set up shop in the town of about 700 people.

The 2015 Inza and Harry Hughey Memorial Scholarship Fund will provide as much as $2,000 to a person in the Moose River Valley, which includes the towns of Jackman and nearby Moose River, to be trained as a plumber.

“We know it takes several years to become a certified plumber, so we consider this an investment not only in the individual, but in the Jackman region itself,” said Sheryl Hughey Harth, whose family is funding the scholarship. “We have an electrician who is very busy, and we believe the community will support a plumber as well.”

The scholarship is named for Harth’s paternal grandparents, Inza and Harry Hughey, who operated a camp on Long Pond and loved the town of Jackman, said Harth.

When the only licensed plumber in town recently retired, Harth said her family had to rely on a plumber from Greenville, about 50 miles away, in Piscatiquis County, to finish construction on their house.

It seemed like one of the only options in the Somerset County town about 20 miles from the Canadian border. There is also a plumber in Bingham, which is also about 50 miles away, said Harth.

“Those plumbers have established businesses that keep them busy,” she said. “It’s understandable that they’d prefer not to make the two-hour round trip to work here for a few hours.”

The scholarship is open to anyone of any age living in the Moose River Valley. The application deadline is March 15. For more information, contact School Administrative District 12 at 668-5291.