Pines of Carolina Girl Scout Council honored 11 women at the tenth annual Women of Today and Tomorrow Celebration on April 4 who have "demonstrated significant personal achievement and have made contributions that will promote the lives of women and girls in their communities."

Among those honored was Dr. Delilah Blanks of Bladen County, who was inducted into the Pines of Carolina Leadership Legacy.

The Legacy of Leadership honor is bestowed on women who have demonstrated through their lifetimes of achievements that they are true leaders in the community. They have also contributed a lifetime of service to the communities in which they live.

The holder of an AB degree in English and Social Studies from Shaw University and a doctorate in Public Health from UNC-CH, Dr. Blanks has centered her career on education. Upon her retirement in 1992 as a professor at UNC-Wilmington, the Delilah B. Blanks Social Work Education Award was established in her honor. The award is given to the most outstanding graduating senior majoring in Social Work at UNCW.

A devoted community advocate, Dr. Blanks has been an active Bladen County Commissioner since 1980 and she is immediate past president of the North Carolina County Commissioners Association. She serves as a director on the boards of numerous organizations including the Southeast Economic Development Commission, Bladen County Partnership for Children, and the NAACP.

She has received many honors and awards including Bladen County Citizen of the Year and Who's Who Among Black Americans.

The other Legacy of Leadership honorees included: Eloise Cofer, Betty Ann Knudson, Dorothy Allen Freeman, Georgia Lemmon, Dr. A. Helen Martikainen, Delores Parks Simpson, Pota Vallas, and Elsie Liles Perry.

The Girl Scout Council also honored its 2002 Woman of Today and its 2002 Woman of Tomorrow. Judge Ann Marie Calabria, a Wake County District Court Judge, was honored a Woman of Today, and Amy Elizabeth Meador, a student at the Duke Divinity School, was honored as Woman of Tomorrow.