A full house, including local dignitaries, celebrated the traits that made three notable Gainesville men upstanding Americans Thursday night.
The Northeast Georgia Council of the Boy Scouts of America hosted the American Values dinner to honor Tommy Aaron, Tony Herdener and Ben Lancaster with the Ralph Cleveland Distinguished Citizen awards. (Biographies of the winners are below.)
After the awards, keynote speaker University of Georgia Athletic Director Greg McGarity delivered a short but poignant message about what American Values really means, sharing three stories he said fit the standards of hard work and goodness of humanity in our area. Both sports lovers and casual fans could recall one story McGarity shared - Nick Chubb's "almost career-ending knee injury" and then choosing between the NFL draft and getting another season at UGA.
"Nick along with three other seniors - Sony Michel, Davin Bellamy, Lorenzo Carter - gave up all the riches perhaps from the NFL and came back to the University of Georgia to play a senior season," said McGarity. "For me, as athletic director, I was so proud of that moment, because what it did was validate everything that Kirby Smart was doing. How many times do you see young men want to fly away to the NFL as quick as they can and get off campus?"
McGarity also mentioned the Shepherd Center for spinal cord and brain injuries and the men and women who work in thankless, high stress jobs like first responding, law enforcement, military veterans, physicians and nurses. He ended his speech by thanking those who let their American values represent them every day.
Aaron is known around Gainesville not just for his golfing abilities but also for his engagement to Gainesville High School. The golf star played football for GHS before going pro in golfing in 1960, winning the Masters Golf Tournament in 1973 and being inducted into the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame in 1989. He spends his free time helping with charity golf tournaments, including with the scouts, the Kiwanis Club and supporting a scholarship fund named after his father, Charlie Aaron. He is married to Jimmie, they have two children and three grandchildren.
Master of Ceremonies Phillip Wilheit introduced Herdener, who said he was humbled to be recognized and . He retired in 2017 after joining the Northeast Georgia Health System in 1995 as the Chief Financial Officer, leading the hospital in growing assets to $1.8 billion and employees to 6,501, as well as growth in property, specifically the Lanier Park Hospital acquisition. Now, he spends his spare time in the Georgia CFO Networking Group, the Partner's Cooperative, DCI, Inc., Rotary Club and the Riverside Military Academy Board of Trustees. He also volunteers with numerous other nonprofits and is an instrument rated pilot. Herdener enjoys spending time with his wife, Cathy, and their adult children, Paul and Carrie.
Lancaster was introduced by his son, an Eagle Scout, who shared a little about his father before sharing a poem about what makes a father. Lancaster became involved in the scouting program when he moved to Gainesville in 1977. Lancaster came to the city to work with Crystal Farms, where he and several others leveraged a buyout from the owner, Loyd Strickland, in 1986 and was the largest egg producer in Georgia when it was sold in 2009; Lancaster now serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees. He is also involved in the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Gideons International, First Baptist Church of Gainesville and is a trustee for Agritrust of Georgia Workers Compensation Fund; he has also previously served in numerous other capacities in the North Georgia area. Lancaster was married to Ginger for 48 years until her death in 2014. Son, David, lives in Sugar Hill and daughter, Katie Gunning, lives in St. Louis, with her family, including children Ben and Sarah.
The dinner ended with a short fundraising effort and some special recognitions before closing remarks from Wilheit. A representative from the Northeast Georgia Council said a dollar amount from the fundraising portion of the dinner should be available Friday afternoon.
