The occasion was the annual awards ceremony of Lay Witnesses for Christ International, which specialises in sports ministry to high school students, college athletes and Olympians. Carl Lewis is a 'Lay Witnesses for Christ International' foundation board member and has supported this ministry untiringly.
"Dr Sam Mings, the founder and president, has ministered at every Summer Olympics since Los Angeles 1984," M V Tronson explained. "Delma and I were honoured to receive this international award to recognise our then 27 years of Sports and Olympic ministry which was presented by Carl Lewis."
After the Awards function, held at the Dallas-Fort Worth Marriott ballroom (where 700 people attended) official guests were invited to a private function in 'Room 1915', and it was here that Carl Lewis and Mark Tronson found a quiet corner for 40 minutes.
"It was a very humbling experience to speak with Carl Lewis. Not only did he make himself available after the Awards to have his photograph taken with those requesting it, but also in his formal speech at the Awards he challenged the audience to think of the economic situation as a realignment to Christian values," M V Tronson noted.
In Room 1915, Carl Lewis willingly complied with the wishes of those around him, he filed along to the after-dinner delicacy choices with the other guests, he sat where he was assigned and generously gave of himself in conversation and in sharing anecdotes with others.
Carl Lewis and M V Tronson have another link through the Olympic movement. Mark Tronson is a consultant to Olympic host cities on 'Religious Services' and, just prior to the awards in Texas, had been meeting with personnel from the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Committee 'Villages' about their forthcoming protocols, twelve months out from the recent Winter Olympics.
"It was fairly late in the evening by the time we got together," M V Tronson reminisced. "Nonetheless, when we initiated our conversation, which touched on the philosophical, and it became obvious that Carl Lewis has found himself in a situation not of his own choosing, but of the celebrity status enforced upon many in the US culture.
"This places a significant burden upon all celebrity type figures in that country, more so than say in Australia, where there are only 20 million and everybody knows someone you now, or you went to school with someone in the public eye. It is a totally different situation in the US.
"Carl Lewis handles this with considerable care as he is thoughtful as to what he lends his name to, he is cautious when making public appearances and has found the tedious nature of being polite 'twenty four, seven' not as tiresome as some have."