After finishing 12th under the lights at Darlington Saturday night, NASCAR driver Rusty Wallace made his annual trip Tuesday to Orangeburg, where he was first in the hearts of everyone in attendance. For the 10th consecutive year, Wallace made an appearance at the Tourville Lodge to help raise money for the Boy Scouts of America at the "Friends of Scouting" event sponsored by Jim Roquemore of Super Sod. Hank Jones of Elloree, a personal friend of Wallace's, helped in getting the event together and once again arranging for the NASCAR star to be in attendance.

"We love coming to this event," Jones said. "It's not about coming out and getting awards, it's about the kids that we're helping in the area."

"It's a wonderful event, and we have a lot of fun doing it," Wallace said. "This is my 10th year doing this, and I want to thank everyone who supported us."

Wallace talked about everything going on in his busy life, including his "Last Call" tour to commemorate his final year of racing on the Nextel Cup circuit.

"A lot of you know that this is my last year racing full time, but that doesn't mean that I'm going to give it up completely," Wallace said. "I just said that it's my last year of racing full time. It's going to be hard to keep me away from Bristol and Richmond come next year. I never want to shut the door completely."

Last year's event raised upwards of $100,000 and this year was no different, as the grand total came to more than $108,000 for the Boy Scouts of America. Over his 10 years of coming to Orangeburg, Wallace and company have raised more than $750,000.

Wallace opened the program with a question-and-answer session with the crowd, which included a story about his Monday run-in with talk show host Tony Danza.

"I've been on a whirlwind media tour and it took me to New York where I did Fox News and the Tony Danza Show," Wallace said. "I met with the producer of the show, thinking that I was just going to sit down and do an interview and they had set up a track for us to race go-carts. They said that he (Danza) was very competitive and not cut him any slack. He starts the race and jumps out in front, and I start bumping from behind, just messing with him, and he hits a tire and flips over. I saw him land on his head, and I'm looking back to see if he's moving, and all I'm thinking is it's my last year of racing and I killed Tony Danza. He gets up to do the interview with me and his knuckles are bleeding and there's a big knot on his head. The funny thing is that all the news shows and papers are picking up on the story, and I got more ink for that than my last race in Darlington."

Wallace said he enjoyed his last race at Darlington, which was run at night for the first time ever.

"Darlington under the lights was amazing," Wallace said. "I've had some good runs there and some bad runs there, but the track was cooler and more consistent under the lights. The people at Darlington did a good job in running that race at night."

After the questions and answers, Wallace got a surprise when Charles Williams and Jim Roquemore introduced Wallace's wife, Patti.

"Ya'll brought my wife here. I can't believe it," Wallace said. "I'm glad I said all the right things."

Then came a host of awards for the NASCAR star.

The first was a scholarship fund that has been set up with Wallace's name and sponsored by the Boy Scouts. It was presented by Randy Scott, Larry Brown and Orangeburg Sen. Brad Hutto, all of whom help out with the scouts locally. Lane Boone, a member of Troop 45, was presented the first-ever scholarship to help with his studies at Georgia Military Academy.

The second presentation came from Sheriff Larry Williams, who made Wallace a reserve deputy five years ago when Wallace attended the event. This year he was made an honorary deputy sheriff of Orangeburg County, receiving a plaque from Deputy Tammy Robinson, officer of the year.

"Rusty has done so much for the community of Orangeburg with the fund-raising he does for the scouts," Williams said.

Orangeburg Mayor Paul Miller followed with a presentation declaring Tuesday, May 10, Rusty Wallace Day in Orangeburg.

"Twenty-five years ago I helped put on the first fund-raising event for the 'Friends of Scouting' and we raised about $2,500, and we thought we had done something," Miller said. "Now I realize that we didn't do anything compared to what you have helped us do here."

The final presentation was made by the Southern Regional Director of the Boy Scouts of America, Parvin Bishop. Bishop presented the Silver Antelope to Wallace for his service to scouting.

The Silver Antelope Award, created in 1942, is granted for outstanding service to youth within the territory of a BSA region. A recipient must be a registered adult member of the Boy Scouts of America. The awards are presented in connection with regional meetings or at other public functions within the region. The National Court of Honor bestows Silver Antelope Awards on the basis of the number of registered volunteers in a region.

"We present this award on the regional level, and we don't give very many of these out," Bishop said. "Out of the 13 states in the region, we will give eight of these this year. This patriot (Wallace) does the work he does with so much class, that's what it's all about."

Wallace was visibly touched by the outpouring of accolades.

"I've been around Rusty for over 20 years now, and I have seen him in wrecks and after his Winston Cup Championship, and this is the first time he's gotten this emotional," Jones said. "All of this really touched him tonight."

Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer echoed the sentiments of everyone by stressing the need to continue to give even after the event is over.

"The scouts teach so many core values that help shape our young people," Bauer said. "Anything that you can give will be greatly appreciated."

Wallace said that even though this is his last go-round on the racetrack, he has no plans of stopping the work he does in Orangeburg every year.

"I may not be racing full time after this year, but I definitely want to continue to be a part of this wonderful program for years to come."

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