SCOUT WHO SAVED BROTHER'S LIFE HONORED AT AREA RECOGNITION DINNER

A Marble Hill Scout who received a national recognition for saving his brother's life was among those honored Friday night at the Boy Scouts of America Cape Girardeau district annual volunteer recognition dinner.

The annual dinner honors volunteers who have done an outstanding job, and this year the special guest was Scout Andrew J. McGee, who received a Medal of Merit at a National Court of Honor in St. Louis last month. Such medals are given to only about 600 Scouts per year.

McGee, the 14-year-old son of B.J. and Mike Grindstaff of Marble Hill, saved his 3-year-old brother from choking last April by using the Heimlich maneuver, which he had learned as a Tenderfoot Scout.

"My brother had stuck a cube of ice in his mouth and started choking on it," McGee said in a phone interview. "When I realized what was happening, I didn't think, I just grabbed him and started doing the Heimlich."

It took three tries before the ice cube popped out of the younger child's throat.

McGee learned to do the Heimlich maneuver during a CPR and first aid course he took with others in his troop, Troop 24, led by Scoutmaster Lynn Barks.

"I didn't think I'd ever use it," he said of learning the remedy for choking. "But I'm glad I learned to do it."

It just so happened that earlier that day, McGee and his mother had been reading about two Scouts who had won Medals of Merit for saving the lives of friends.

"It hit me that Andrew had done just what those other boys did," said Grindstaff. So she contacted his Scoutmaster and got the process started for nominated McGee for the award.

McGee, an eight-grader at New Salem Baptist Academy, feels honored he was awarded a Medal of Merit, through he doesn't think he did any more than any Scout would do.

"He's not one to boast," Grindstaff said. "He wondered why everyone was making a big deal about it. But I think when he gets older he'll realize what a big deal his actions were."

Volunteers honored at Friday nights dinner were:

* Mark Lester of Cape Girardeau, Scoutmaster for Troop 16 sponsored by the Elks Lodge. Lester has been a Scout leader for 16 years, serving as a Scoutmaster, assistant Scoutmaster and Cubmaster. He is district popcorn chairman and on the Boy Scout training team. He is a member of St. Vincent De Paul Parish and is a youth soccer coach.

* Myra Underwood of Marble Hill, a unit commissioner. She was Cubmaster of Pack 24, sponsored by First United Methodist Church of Marble Hill for 11 years. She has been committee chairman for Troop 24 for three years and unit commissioner for two years. She has been a key player in building of the Scouting program in Marble Hill. She is a member of the Woodland school board, Marble Hill Chamber of Commerce and Marble Hill Baptist Church.

* Elaine Moll of Perryville, a unit commissioner and a committee member for Pack 55. Moll has been a Tiger Cub coordinator, den leader, den leader coach, popcorn chairman, Pow Wow staff member and Cub Day Camp director. She is on the district's Cub Scout training staff and helped coordinate the Scouting for Food Drive in Perryville. She has been the PTO chairman for Perryville Elementary School and is a substitute teacher.