Alex Fenton, winner of the 2026 Vets Finding Vets Soldiers’ Friend Scholarship, is pictured.

Vets Finding Vets has awarded Alex Hudson its 2026 Soldiers’ Friend Scholarship.

Fenton was the choice of the judges because of his two years with ROTC while attending Niagara University, and for his future plan for becoming a chaplain and an officer in the US Army.

Fenton visited the Fenton History Center recently and received the military tour through the Fenton Mansion/Museum and also the check for $1,000 for his further education toward his goal.

Gov. Reuben Fenton was referred to as the Soldier’s Friend from bills that he was successful in passing while still a representative in Congress, having to do with the livelihood of the aged veterans of the American Revolution and the War of 1812. The list is long regarding the many Civil War-related soldier and veteran issues that he attended to prior to becoming governor of New York and after his term ended.

The Soldiers’ Friend Scholarship also gives the Fenton History Center and its Vets Finding Vets group an opportunity to highlight the veteran and patriotic groups who met in the Fenton Home after it was purchased by the city in 1919 to become a Soldier and Sailor Memorial.