Honoring those adults who volunteer their time to guide the young people of the county is the purpose behind the newly created Carl Colegrove Award.

At its Tuesday work session the Lawrence County Commission approved starting the annual award named for the longtime Scout leader in the county. Colegrove was honored posthumously earlier this year with the Silver Beaver award, the highest honor in Scouting.

The county award was started at the request of Bob Leith, Ohio University Southern history professor, who was a Scout under Colegrove’s leadership.

“There are a lot of people around the county who help kids and they don’t get paid for it,” Leith said. “4-H, coaches, teachers. This award would be for someone who goes the extra mile to turn kids in Lawrence County into good citizens. It would be a noble thing to recognize people who help kids. If we don’t help kids, they are not going to turn around to help other kids.”

Commission President Les Boggs said the commissioners would create a submission form for those wanting to nominate someone. The criteria for the award would be that nominees have worked with young people in a positive way.

Leith also asked the commission for support for an effort by the county’s Convention and Visitors Bureau to have large-scale events marking the 150th anniversary of the Civil War.

For many communities in the United States the celebration began in 2011, the anniversary of the war’s start, and will run through 2015.

“We are behind two years and we want to do something in the county,” Leith said.

On July 18, the CVB will host a luncheon at the Chamber of Commerce headquarters to form a steering committee to come up with ways the county can mark the Sesquicentennial.

“We are completely thinking out of the box for this,” Viviane Vallance, of the CVB, said.

Among possible events would be Civil War reenactments, a Civil War-era music contest, a 5-K race and a style show of period dress.

“We are trying to bring history back into the community,” Vallance said. “Southern Ohio and Lawrence County are in a unique position being on the border. It is a little different from the entire state and different from what Kentucky has.”

The commissioners also heard a request from Kevin Lewis of the Laborers-Employers Cooperation and Education Trust asking that the firm be added to a county’s bidding list to allow it to inform contractors about county construction projects.