Council Volunteer Recognition Banquet and District Receptions In Review

On Saturday, May 4, 2019, the New Birth of Freedom Council, BSA celebrated the many accomplishments of its members in 2018, culminating in the presentation of this year’s Silver Beaver Class.  

This year’s event, which was completely reimagined from prior years, was held at the Scottish Rite Cathedral and Masonic Temple in Harrisburg.  More than 200 people were present for the celebration.  

This year’s program began with District Receptions, where each district shared fellowship as well as recognized district awards including the District Award of Merit.  The District Award of Merit is annually given to outstanding volunteers and is the highest award that a district can give.  Meet our 2019 District Award of Merit Recipients.

After dinner, the event, emceed by Art Williams, recognized the many years of service performed by so many of our Scouters.  More than 3,700 years of Scouting service were represented.  Those who had more than half a century of service were acknowledged and thanked.  

An In Memoriam segment shared the memories and lives of Scouters that had “Gone Home” in 2018.

The evening’s program had two special recognitions.  The first was to Keystone Capital District for achieving Journey to Excellence Gold in 2018 and defending the JTE Cup for the third year in a row.  The second recognized, Alex and Ben LaVerdiere and the entire LaVerdiere family for selling $215,068 in popcorn and nuts during their Scouting career.

The evening concluded with this year’s Silver Beaver Class.  The Silver Beaver Award is the highest recognition that a council can bestow on a volunteer for their dedicated service to Scouting.  We are honored to present this year’s five recipients. Please follow any of the links below to find out more about each of this year’s Silver Beavers and to watch what being a part of Scouting means to them.  

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