The Lions Clubs of Mathews, Middlesex and Lancaster counties are inviting gifted young people in the vocal or instrumental areas to compete for a musical scholarship. The competition will be held at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 20 at Rappahannock Westminster Canterbury in Irvington.

A program to benefit and assist youth, the Lions of Virginia Bland Music Scholarship Foundation Inc., promotes cultural and educational opportunity for musically talented young people in Virginia, primarily of high school age.

This goal is achieved through progressive competitions, beginning in January, at the local Lions Club level, and culminating in May in a competition among 12 finalists. The Bland Foundation oversees the running of the competitions and also provides as much as $18,000 to the 12 finalists.

The scholarships must be used for college tuition, music lessons, summer music programs or other music education endeavors.

The scholarship is named after James Bland, a popular African-American c...