The Scouts of the North Valley District of the Minsi Trails Council held a recognition dinner last week, with a theme of "Recognizing Our Superheroes," at the Lehigh Township Volunteer Fire Company banquet hall in Cherryville.

The group included not only Boy Scouts of America but also Cub Scouts and Adventure Scouts, which includes both boys and girls who enjoy high adventure.In addition, the spouses of older Scouters and their children, some of whom are Girl Scouts, were also in attendance."Scouting is a family, and we encourage our families to all come together to be a part of it," said North Valley District Director Diane Lariar.The North Valley District, one of six districts within Minsi Trails Council, covers a large territory that includes the nine school districts of Catasauqua, Jim Thorpe, Lehighton, Northampton, Northern Lehigh, Northwestern, Palmerton, Parkland and Whitehall.Afterward, the awards ceremony included a "Court of Honor," a formalized ceremony within the scouting program.One of the night's most prestigious awards, the North Valley Owl Award, is presented only within the district to Scouters who have gone "above and beyond" in service to the district. This year's recipients included Susan Arner of Palmerton, Irwin Lebo of Allentown, Kenneth Morrow of Bath, and Stephen Piller of Catasauqua.Another of the night's highlighted awards was the Award of Merit, which is similar to the Owl Award but presented on a national level and includes having gone "above and beyond" in service to one's community as well. Its 2014 North Valley District recipients included Gregory Glovas of Danielsville, Vincent Muller of Orefield and Leonard Oncheck of Allentown.Some of the night's other awards, which have been bestowed for decades, included training awards, district leadership awards and patriot awards, for both individuals and packs, troops and crews.In addition, a doctorate of commissioner science, which requires "many years of dedication and effort," including a number of preliminary training courses, a bachelor's degree, master's degree, and a thesis and thesis project, was awarded to Assistant Council Commissioner Linda Roth of Walnutport.Presenter Chuck Weber said the Minsi Trails Council has only ever awarded one other such doctorate, making Roth the second Scouter in the council to have achieved that honor.It was also announced that an award will be presented this summer in Harrisburg to Troop 43 Scoutmaster Brian Radcliffe of Bath who will receive the 2014 Legionnaire's "Scouter of the Year" for Pennsylvania.Only one such Scouter is selected each year within the state, and his or her name is then forwarded to the national headquarters for national recognition.Later, Arner, one of the night's Owl Award recipients who also organized the recognition dinner, says she stays involved in scouting, even though her son is now grown, because of what it does for the youth.She said she still enjoys "getting to see these kids and what they can accomplish."District Chair Michelle Morrow agreed, adding that participants need not have a child who is an active Scout to become involved with the program.Scouting becomes a lifelong endeavor.Indeed, when asked during the ceremony to stand if one had been involved in the Boy Scouts of America for 50 or more years, at least five attendees stood up.One of them, Sonny Laudenslager of Orefield, when asked, said he had a total of 72 years within the mostly all-volunteer program, which began in 1910.