[Las Vegas] Hank Greenspun Lifetime Achievement Award: Ed Cheltenham, Spring Mountain Youth Camp

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Las Vegas Sun on 5/25/2023 by Ray Brewer, Mike Grimala, Case Keefer, Danny Webster

During more than three decades at the Spring Mountain Youth Camp, Ed Cheltenham won 13 state championships in track and field and another two titles in basketball.

But his most notable contributions came as a probation officer at the facility. The Mount Charleston-based Spring Mountain Youth Camp is an alternative to prison for teenage boys requiring rehabilitation after committing delinquent acts.

A Clark Country juvenile court judge sends troubled youth to the camp, where probation officers like Cheltenham work 24-hour shifts, giving them a chance to develop a bond with the residents. Over the years, many of Cheltenham’s athletes were being coached for the first time in their lives by, if not having their first positive male influence.

“He is one of the best men I have ever met in my life,” said Mike Whelihan, who worked nearly two decades with Cheltenham at Spring Mountain. “He is probably the best probation officer I have met in my life, just a solid human being. I wish I could clone him.”

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