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One of the awards presented to Gus Grissom.

It reads

Young Man of the Year
Junior Chamber of Commerce

Presented to
Virgil "Gus" Grissom
Bedford, Indiana
19 Jaycees 61

This plaque is dated 1961, two years after the Mercury 7 were announced and the same year as Grissom's Liberty Bell 7 flight. Grissom, born April 3, 1926, would have turned 35 in 1961, so "young man" would seem to be a relative term.

The Junior Chamber of Commerce officially changed their name to "Jaycees" in 1966, but clearly the new name had been used in some capacity for several years before this.