General Sessions Court Judge David Bales, who has long been active with the Boy Scouts of America, was honored at a dinner.
The Boy Scouts presented him with the Presidential Award for Excellence and Leadership.
A second award was the coveted Silver Beaver Award.
Judge Bales has been active in Scouting his entire life. When he was 10, he was a member of Troop 30 sponsored by Brainerd Methodist Church. He was a counselor at the Orange Grove Summer Camp.
Judge Bales served in the Army Reserve for six years.
He graduated from the University of Tennessee Law School in 1973.
While serving as assistant district attorney in Shelby County, he was inducted into the Order of the Arrow Chickasaw Lodge.
Back in Chattanooga, he was a volunteer with Boy Scout Troop 223.
He traveled with the troop on a trip to Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico on a 10-day backpacking trip in 1983 and again in 1988.
Judge Bales served on the executive board of the Cherokee Area Council. He has been a member of the ScoutReach Committee since 2005.
Judge Bales served as president of the Cherokee Area Council from 2014 to 2016.
Judge Bales has been married to his wife, Jan, since 1986, and has a son, Chris Bales, and daughter, Kristin Allen.
He and his wife enjoy spending time with their three grandsons and are active members of Red Bank Baptist Church.