Bio: Esselman, Tom (Scholarship - 1978)

Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org 

Surnames: Esselman

----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI) 2/02/1978

Esselman, Tom (Scholarship - 1978)

College scholarships totaling $11,500 will be on the line here and in Washington, D.C., February 13 and 14, as a dozen young adults, including a Loyal youth, vie in the finals of the annual Reader’s Digest Association-Boy Scouts of America national public speaking contest.

The program is a highlight of the 68th anniversary celebration of the BSA. Top awards of $2,000 each will go to first place winners in both the Scout and the Explorer category.

Finalists include Tom Esselman, a junior at Loyal High School, who earned all-conference honors in football and also is a varsity letterman in track. For two years he was treasurer of his class; he is president of the Letterman’s Club; secretary-treasurer of the Photo Club; and active in forensics, drama and on the staff of the yearbook and newspaper. He also has been special events chairman and a board member of the Clark County Cancer Unit.

An Eagle Scout, he is a member of Troop 49, chartered to the Loyal Rotary Club and has served the unit in various leadership positions including that of junior assistant Scoutmaster. Tom, a member of the Order of the Arrow (Scouting’s service-oriented brotherhood of honor campers), attended the 1977 National Scout Jamboree. He holds the 50-Miler Award and is a member of the National Eagle Scout Association. He was a Cub Scout for two years.

The youth is also interested in railroading and outdoor activities. His career plans are indefinite.

His father, a cheesemaker with the North Star Dairy in Loyal, has been an assistant Scoutmaster and an older brother also is an Eagle Scout. Mrs. Esselman, a secretary with Equitable Life Insurance Co., Loyal, has been active as a den leader.