A local man who won $1 million on a popular television game show has come back to Logan County to help local students achieve their own dreams.

Sam Murray, a native of Chapmanville, presented Eddie Canterbury of Logan Bank and Trust and the Southern Foundation with a check endowing a $2,000 annual scholarship for 20 years to benefit Chapmanville High School students.

Murray said he was a last minute candidate for the show but won the big prize in the end.

"I just want to say it is good to be back," said Murray, who has been home for two weeks visiting friends.

Murray joked about the accolades that have come his way from his home town, quipping that all he did was "be more lucky than anything."

Of the scholarship, Murray noted that he did not go to college when he finished high school, adding "I'd like to come back and attend school here myself."

Murray instead went to Philadelphia, where he has been bartending prior to winning the $1 million. He said his being an "expert in gobbledygook" helped him win the show.

Murray said he was actually offered a scholarship in music when he was in school at Chapmanville but turned it down, thinking it was not a valid career path. He said he later realized it was a mistake not to attend college when he traveled around the country as a singer.

Murray said that when he worked as a delivery driver he liked to listen to quiz shows and he began auditioning for them by traveling to New York frequently. Murray actually auditioned six times before he was picked for "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" and was chosen on the last day as the final contestant.

He said he got an opportunity to get involved in a tournament and made good on it by answering a question nobody else even attempted to answer, about the number of people who had lived on earth. Murray answered 100 billion.

"It was actually estimated at 106.5 billion but they rounded it off," he quipped.

Ironically, one of Murray's friends had won $15,000 on a “Jeopardy” more than a decade ago, and Murray said he urges people interested in quiz shows to audition for them.

Murray is the son of Estil Murray, a municipal court judge in Chapmanville.

"I am very proud of Sam," Estill Murray said. "I always knew Sam was an intelligent person and that if he put his mind to it, he could d accomplish what he wanted. This proved that to me."

Scholarships were also discussed at length at the Jan. 27 Rotary Meeting as Jason McPeeks presented President Mike Winter of the Logan Rotary Club with an award from SWVCTC thanking the civic club for their scholarships which have assisted local students in furthering their education for over 20 years.

SWVCTC's Randy Skeens said those who are interested in founding scholarships can contact Ron Lemon at the college and urged other individuals, businesses and civic clubs to invest in education and the future of young people in our area as Sam Murray had.

"This was something Sam wanted to do on his own," Skeens said, explaining that the millionaire winner approached the college about funding a scholarship, not the other way around.

Murray won the $1 million in September of 2009, but was not allowed to tell anyone — not even family members nor his best friend — or until the show aired in November or he would have lost his winnings as per the rules of the gameshow.