Chase Nominee

Mon., April 24, 2000

In an effort to support the mission of the Chase Youth Awards, which is to recognize all deserving young people for their accomplishments, Our Generation is highlighting some of the teens nominated for this year’s awards. Even though these nominees were not selected as winners, in many cases their accomplishments are just as worthy of recognition.

For information about the 2000-2001 Chase Youth Awards, call Wendy Acosta at 625-6440.

Wesley O’Dell Category: Personal Achievement

“Wesley has physically struggled for the past four years due to…Osgood-Schlatters disease. …When he dropped out of football, he was really down about it. Friends made fun of him. He felt he had failed. He channeled his energies in another direction, that of becoming an Eagle Scout. …We went on a long canoe trip in the wilderness of British Columbia. During this time I became heat exhausted. He had to paddle us nearly two miles and then get the canoe out of the water and get help for me. …He did what he had to do to get us through. …He is not a quitter. He has to work hard at whatever he gets as nothing comes easy for him,” wrote his nominator Danny O’Dell, his father.

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