I. Beverly Lake Jr. received the Jesse Helms Award for Courage.

At the President's Day Dinner tonight, the former chief justice of the state Supreme Court was given the second award by the Wake County Republican Party. (The first went to Helms.)

Presenters noted Lake's decision to become a Republican, his unsuccessful run for governor and his work on the N.C. Actual Innocence Commission as examples of his courage. 

Lake, who was spotted earlier sporting a sticker for gubernatorial candidate and former colleague Bob Orr, said the awards "means more than I can possibly say."

He said that Helms was one of his three "greatest heroes" in politics, along with his father, I. Beverly Lake Sr. and Raleigh consultant Tom Ellis.

"Jesse and Tom and my dad held the banner for us and charted the way through the last half of the 20th century," he said. "Jesse's entire political career defined courage."

Lake also spoke briefly about his time in the state Senate in the late 1970s, fighting social studies textbooks that he said would "teach secular humanism as a religion to our children in the public schools."

"They're trying to make a run again in that direction, but we'll turn it back," he said.