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Boy Scouts of America to honor local volunteer Harold Cook

AFP

harold cookThe Boy Scouts of America will present Harold Cook, past plant manager of Hershey Chocolate of Virginia, the second annual Distinguished Citizen Award on December 1 at the Best Western Plus Inn & Suites in recognition of his tireless service to his community.

The Distinguished Citizen Award was established by the Boy Scouts of America to recognize noteworthy and extraordinary leadership of citizens in communities across the United States. Honoring distinguished citizenship delivers a message to our youth that character counts. The lives of distinguished citizens put into place guideposts that serve to inspire our youth to lead, to accept responsibility, and to care about principles and causes beyond self-interest.

For 105 years, the Boy Scouts of America has led the nation in providing citizenship training for American youth. Through the years, Scouting has provided young people with character-development programs based on values found in the Scout Oath: duty to God, duty to country, duty to others, and duty to self.

Today’s often heard call for a return to ethical behavior, self-reliance, and caring and concern for others refers precisely to the values expressed in the Scout Law, the bedrock of the movement since 1910.

Cook will receive an award which is a small replica of the famous original called the “the Boy Scout” sculpted by Dr. R. Tait McKenzie.  The sculptor a longtime Scouter, portrayed in his statue the grand traits of character he knew the movement to instill in a boy.  The uncovered head represented reverence and obedience; the ax on which the hand rests was a symbol of George Washington’s truthfulness.

 

 

About the Stonewall Jackson Area Council, Boy Scouts of America

Nearly 200 locally chartered Scout units bring a safe, quality program to area Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, co-ed Venturers and Explorers. The Stonewall Jackson Area Council serves twelve counties in Virginia and one in West Virginia with approximately 5,000 registered youth. Seven professional Scouters, an office staff and full-time camp Ranger work for the council, headquartered in Waynesboro. The council operates Camp Shenandoah, located in Swoope, Virginia. More information at:  www.bsa-sjac.org.

The Boy Scouts of America is the nation’s foremost youth program of character development and values-based leadership training. The Scouting organization is composed of 2.7 million youth members between the ages of 7 and 20, 1.1 million volunteers and nearly 300 local councils throughout the United States and its territories.

 
 




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