Fort Smith Boys & Girls Club celebrate members and volunteers

FORT SMITH — Several hundred guests filled the gym at Evans Boys & Girls Club Wednesday (March 7) to recognize and reward five youths and five adults for their achievements at club locations around the area.

The Fort Smith Boys & Girls Club 2012 Awards Banquet began on a somber note with a slide show featuring contributors to the club who had died in 2011. The presentation then took a more upbeat tone and highlighted former club members who made national headlines in 2011.

The clubs included under the umbrella of the the Fort Smith Boys & Girls Club include the Evans Boys & Girls Club, the Goldtrap-Gardner Boys & Girls Club, the Jeffrey Boys & Girls Club and the Stephens Boys & Girls Club.

For the Jeffrey Boys & Girls Club, Keshia Grooms was named Youth of the Year and Ricky Releford was deemed Volunteer of the Year. From the Evans Boys & Girls Club, Kelly McElhaney was declared Youth of the Year, and Scott Visalli was named Volunteer of the Year.

Goldtrap-Gardner Boys & Girls Club winners were Dylan Reynolds as Youth of the Year and Dr. Herman Travis as Volunteer of the Year. Honorees from the Stephens Boys & Girls Club were Jasmene Abernathy as Youth of the Year and Petie Page as Volunteer of the Year.

The Champion of Youth Award goes to a person who has a lengthy and remarkable history of involvement with the club. George McGill received the award this year.

Tyler Wilson, Arkansas Razorbacks quarterback, was the featured speaker. He was a member of the Goldtrap-Gardner Boys & Girls Club during his elementary school years.

Wilson told a story about his first experience of playing football at age 6 at the club. He was asked what position he wanted to play and responded, "quarterback." It went well for about five minutes, he said, and then he was sent to the offensive line by his coach.

His substitute was apparently no better, and Tyler returned to quarterback. The rest is history, he said.

Check presentations followed with the customary proceeds from the Fort Smith Optimist Club's annual Christmas tree sale, which raised $6,000 for the club last year. A large atypical contribution from Juan and Janie Delgado came in the form of two checks for more than $27,600, one each for the Fort Smith and Van Buren clubs. Delgado is the owner of the recently remodeled Lighthouse Inn restaurant.

Sam T. Sicard, a Fort Smith Boys & Girls Club board member, took to the podium and spoke about Step Up, speak Out!, an upcoming rally to be held in April to educate community members about child abuse and prevent its occurrence.

“One in four girls and one in seven boys are abused before they turn the age of 18. The first thing I thought about — I was a coach out here at the boys and girls club for nine years — I thought about the hundreds of kids that I coached out here and how several of them statistically were likely abused as children and [I] was completely ignorant to it," Sicard said in regard to the statistics he saw while watching the news in the aftermath of the Penn State debacle.

Daren Bobb, anchor for KFSM-TV, Channel 5, read brief bios of the award recipients. Winners received  plaques; the youth received an additional $250 scholarship check from the Fort Smith Boys & Girls Club Alumni Association. The youth awards are open to students in grades 10-12, however, this year all the winners were seniors.

Winners are judged on academic performance, community involvement, morals, obstacles overcome, family, an essay and participation in the boys and girls club. The adult volunteers are nominated by their volunteer peers.

The highlight of a live and silent auction was an Arkansas Naturals “night at the ballpark,” which included a pre-game meet-and-greet, dinner and a behind-the-scenes stadium tour. The package sold for $450.