Boy Scouts recognize community members

The Whispering Pines District of the Greater Western Reserve Council, Boy Scouts of America hosted their 2013 district recognition and awards dinner recently in the Rotary Building at Camp Stambaugh in Canfield. This year’s dinner honored 34 Scouts who in 2012, earned the highest rank in scouting, the Eagle Scout Award and one Venturing Scout who earned the Silver Award, the highest award in the Venturing Scout program. Several adult volunteers completed training awards as well as the 2012 Scouting Family of the Year, Cubmaster of the Year, Scoutmaster of the Year and the highest award a district can present to an adult Scouter, the District Award of Merit was named.

Scouts of the Whispering Pines District which serves Mahoning County and Hubbard, Ohio, earning their Eagle Scout Award in 2012 are: Austintown Troop 84 – Joshua Reid; Boardman Troop 46 – Ryan Musgrove, Ian Phillips and Cory Winebold; Boardman Troop 60 – Matthew Carubia, Quinton Currier, Karl Harnishfeger, Connor Hetzel, Christopher Leymarie and Michael Schobel; Canfield Troop 115 – Collin Bartley, Dylan DuPonty, Jonathan Kurish, Salvatore Minardi, Jr. and Hayden Smith; Ellsworth Troop 71 – David Corll, Micah Marra, William O’Neill and Jason Smith; Hubbard Troop 100 – Ryan Bosela and David Ross, Jr.; New Middletown Troop 49 – John Danks IV and Dennis Mansfield, Jr.; New Springfield Troop 119 – Anthony Meassick; North Jackson Troop 105 – Joshua Moore; North Lima Troop 80 – Sebastian Calvin, Kent Hilderbrand and Parker Winkel; Poland Troop 2 – Gregory Haylett; Poland Troop 44 – Paul Alberty, Alek Ball and Gary Haddle; Struthers Troop 101 – Arthur Gioglio and Youngstown Troop 22 – Patrick O’Brien.

The Silver Award, the highest award in the Venturing Scout Program of the B.S.A. was earned in 2013 in Struthers Venturing Crew 101 by Kelsey Wormley. Wormley is the first Venturing Scout in the Whispering Pines District as well as the Greater Western Reserve Council to earn this award. Venturing is a youth development program of the Boy Scouts of America for young men and women who are 13 and have completed the eighth grade, or age 14-20 years of age. Venturing’s purpose is to provide positive experiences to help young people mature and to prepare them to become responsible and caring adults.

Several adult training awards were presented that included: Cubmaster Training Award to Fred Deluca and Ted Kegley; Tiger Cub Den Leader Training Award to Andrew Yoder; Den Leader Training Award to Dan Bucci, Pat Cassidy, Heather Ciazzo, Patton Gilland, Chuck James, Mona Jones, Dan Markasky, Jim Stafford, Stacey Stafford, Robert Stoneburner, Jr. and Courtney Tupa; Webelos Den Leader Training Award to Jim Johns and Steve Kacir and the Boy Scout Leader Training Award to Tim Kneen.

The 2012 Scouting Family of the Year Award was presented to the Wormley Family of Struthers. Family members Jeff, Cheryl, Christian, Kelsey and Keagan are truly an all around scouting family. Jeff has been involved in scouting as a leader for many years with Cub Scouting, Boy Scouting and Venturing Scouts. He currently serves as Webelos den leader of pack 101, Scoutmaster of Troop 101 and Crew Advisor for Crew 101. Cheryl has also been a leader in all three programs including the Order of the Arrow. Currently she is serving as committee chairman for Troop and Crew 101. Christian is an Eagle Scout of Troop 101 and was involved with the Order of the Arrow. He is a Merit Badge Counselor and member of Crew 101. Kelsey has received the Silver Award and serves as President of Crew 101. Keagan is a Webelos Scout in Pack 101. They are all very active in many activities in the Struthers community.

The 2012 Cubmaster of the Year is Fred Deluca of Boardman Cub Scout Pack 114 at St. Charles Church and the 2012 Scoutmaster of the Year is Byron Harnishfeger of Boardman Boy Scout Troop 60 at Westminster Presbyterian Church.

The District Award of Merit, the highest honor a district can present to a Scouter, was presented to two individuals. They are Kurt Hilderbrand of North Lima Boy Scout Troop 80 and Robert Zedaker of Poland Boy Scout Troop 44. Kurt is Scoutmaster of Troop 80 and serves the Whispering Pines District as District Chairman. He has served in many leadership positions and most recently served on the 2013 National Jamboree Staff. Robert has served Troop 44 as Scoutmaster for 23 years and has earned numerous awards and recognitions. He is president of the Poland Forest Board, an elder, usher and on the administrative committee of the Poland Presbyterian Church and serves on the executive board of the Greater Western Reserve Council.

This year’s dinner was chaired by district chairman Kurt Hilderbrand and assisted by the district executive Preston Cockrell and the district commissioner Richard Gent.

For more information about all scouting programs, check out the website www.beascout.org or the Greater Western Reserve Boy Scout Council website at www.bsa-gwrc.org and for all of the programs of the Boy Scouts of America in Mahoning County and Hubbard, OH contact Whispering Pines District Executive Preston Cockrell at 330-898-8474, ext. 15 or email prestoncockrell@scouting.org.