By Louis Rickman

The seventh annual Archdiocesan Scout Banquet was held at St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Smyrna and was highlighted by the presentation of awards by Archbishop Donnellan.

Thirty-eight Ad Altare Dei emblems were presented. Recipients included, from Immaculate Heart of Mary parish, Christopher Wright and James Young; from St. John the Evangelist parish, Marc Jernigan and Ricky Ellington; from St. Mary’s parish, Mike Barcik, Michael Wacker, Thomas Raboin, Richard Wacker, Stephen Wacker, and John Ammerman; from Our Lady of the Assumption parish, John Miller and Mike Roach; from Our Lady of Lourdes parish, Anthony Lewis; from St. Patrick’s parish, Robert Lind, Jay McGill, Billy Akins and Chris Lyons; from St. Pius X parish, Kent Schaetzly, Kenny Bouland, Chris Schaetzly, Mike Sullivan, Kurt Hertwig, Chris Bieger and Tim Purdy; from St. Philip Benizi parish, Jeff Hicks, Francis Hernandez, Steven Heeter, Robert Callahan, Jesse Hicks, Louis Pesce, Chris Cook, Anthony Pesce, Jerry Sidler and Donnie Sidler; from St. Thomas the Apostle, Chris Corhan; from St. Augustine Episcopal Church, Pat Murphy and Shawn Murphy, and from St. Jude’s parish, John Frenzel.

The Ad Altare Dei emblem promotes spiritual advancement in scouting and deepens a scout’s appreciation of the sacraments.

There were four recipients of the Pope Pius XII emblem, Margaret McClain, Mary McClain, Mike McClain and Carl Watry, all from Our Lady of Assumption parish. These high school youth were led through this penetrating discussion program by Elvira McClain, secretary for the Archdiocesan Committee.

Pelican awards were given to 14 adults for outstanding leadership in scouting on a parish level. Honored were Michael Jones of Christ the King, Jim Roach of Our Lady of Assumption, Robert Callahan and Joe Anzalone of St. Philip Benizi, Trudie Pabst and Janet Manson of St. John the Evangelist, Arnold Alberton and Charles Spellman of Holy Cross, Albert Woelfle and John Lewis of Corpus Christi, Joe Eisler of Immaculate Heart of Mary, William Lyday of St. Thomas the Apostle, Darlene Ingram of Our Lady of Lourdes and Louis Rickman of the Archdiocesan Scout Committee.

Three leaders were given the St. George emblem by the National Catholic Committee on Scouting for outstanding service to youth in the archdiocese. Recipients were Sumner Cahoon of Christ the King, Elvira McClain of Our Lady of Assumption and Doyle Ellington of St. John the Evangelist.

Two troops qualified for the Pope Paul VI National Unit Recognition award. Troop 909 of St. Philip Benizi and Troop 21 of Our Lady of Assumption. Each scout received a colorful patch to display on his uniform.

The outstanding event of the evening was the presentation of the Bishop’s Trophy by Archbishop Donnellan. This trophy is awarded to a Catholic unit for outstanding church work and scouting achievement. This year the Bishop’s Trophy was won by Troop 909 in Jonesboro under the leadership of Bob Woodall, and returns to the parish which won in 1973, the first year of presentation.

Archbishop Donnellan enthusiastically congratulated all honorees and encouraged the assembled leaders to minister within scouting. The service and character formation, he said, which is so much a part of scouting, is also the keystone of the Gospel.