The Tom McHugh 5K Run/Walk event will kick off this year’s 2026 Rock Hall FallFest celebration, a festival created by Tom McHugh himself over 25 years ago. The festival brings our local community together and greets thousands of visitors from across the eastern seaboard showcasing small town Rock Hall celebrating its heritage as a waterman’s town. The Tom McHugh Run for the Arts 5K Run/Walk event aims to raise awareness of the late Tom McHugh’s legacy and to help grow the Tom McHugh Arts Scholarship established in 2025 with Mid-Shore Community Foundation in Easton, Md. To Sign up for the Tom McHugh 5K go to the link: https://runsignup.com/Race/MD/RockHall/TomMchughArtScholarship
The Tom McHugh Scholarship for the Arts carry’s on his work by nurturing young talent springing up from within the community. The scholarship aims to cultivate the next Tom McHugh, someone who will elevate our society through a life dedicated to the arts and personal creativity. The scholarship is administered by Mid-Shore Community Foundation, a non-profit, 501 C. Mid-Shore Community Foundation and will maintain the scholarship in perpetuity with defined guidelines and dedicated volunteers and staff. The first Tom McHugh Scholarship for the Arts award in the amount of $ 750.00 was presented to Laila Sidky in May, 2026 at the Kent County High School’s Senior Awards Ceremony. This Fall, 2026 Laila will be attending Frostburg State University studying Early Childhood Education and Art. The Scholarship Committee looks forward to following her college experience.
The following quotes from the late Tom McHugh help describe his life-long devotion and tireless commitment to arts education in our schools and community.
“When I retired early from Vassar, I vowed to my students that I would take the things I learned there and convert them for use in some other setting. Those things Vassar taught me were a love of community service, that every act is a teaching act, that the best learning takes place in settings that are artistic and creative, and that the arts are critical to any learning atmosphere.” ~Tom McHugh, about the founding the Mainstay in 1997
We would like to thank all the generous sponsors of the Tom McHugh Scholarship and Tom McHugh Run for the Arts 5K. Top Sponsors of the Tom McHugh Scholarship, include Betsy and Dick Durham, Sue and Bryan Matthews, and of the Tom McHugh Run for the Arts 5K, Bartholomew Kreiner, DDS, Haven Harbour Marina Resorts, and Lynn & Julia Hilfiker of Gunther McClary Real Estate, Rock Hall. A list of remaining sponsors of both the Tom McHugh Scholarship and Tom McHugh 5K Run/Walk can be found on the Tom McHugh Arts Scholarship website: tommchughscholarship.com
