Tartan Graduate Jason Naugle Remembered Through Weekend Softball Tournament

An airplane accident cut graduate Jason Naugle’s life short, but family and friends have made certain that his memory lives on through scholarships for Tartan students and donations to local youth programs.

The Jason Naugle Memorial Scholarship Foundation will hold its 14th Annual Cuts Classic Softball Tournament Saturday and Sunday, June 4 and 5, at .

Naugle died at age 27 when an equipment failure caused the airplane he was flying to crash, said his mother, Evie Naugle. He had studied aviation at the University of North Dakota, and he was literally on the last flight he would need to get his pilot's license, she said. Now the largest of the scholarships the foundation gives out goes to a Tartan student who plans to study aviation. Jason was a 1989 graduate of Tartan.

“Basically, we wanted to keep Jason’s name in memory as long as we can, and we wanted to help out children that wanted to go into aviation and be a pilot and could not afford it,” Naugle said. “We wanted to help them so we could keep some good kids flying and also we just wanted Jason’s memory never to die.”

Through the softball tournament and a golf tournament the group puts on each year, they raise about $8,000 annually for scholarships, said Greg Briggs, a friend of Jason’s who helps organize the tournaments.

The money goes to a $4,500 academic scholarship for aviation related studies (spread across multiple years of college), a $500 Leadership Award scholarship for a member of the Tartan boys varsity hockey team and a $500 Leadership Award scholarship for a member of the Tartan softball team, Briggs said. The rest goes to various youth sports programs and schools as needs arise, he said.

“We’re just kind of looking for ways to help kids out,” he said.

About 12 women’s teams and 20 men’s teams typically participate in the big softball tournament, he said. The women will all compete on Saturday, he said, with the championship game at 8 p.m. The men will compete on Saturday and Sunday with their championship game at 2 p.m. Sunday, he said.

The golf tournament is Friday, Sept. 16, at in Stillwater. Anyone interested in playing in the golf tournament or the softball tournament can contact Briggs at (651) 261-2355 or at gebriggs@gmail.com. Registrations to play in the softball tournament will be accepted through  2 p.m. Thursday, June 2. A flyer with tournament information can be found in the photo section of this article.