At the Iroquois Trail Council, Boy Scouts of America annual Volunteer Awards Dinner held Saturday, volunteers Lisa M. Brown of Batavia and Nathan D. Pace of Medina were honored with the council’s highest award: the Silver Beaver Award.
The Silver Beaver is a National BSA award that recognizes distinguished service to local youth.
Each recipient is a long-tenured volunteer who has also made significant contributions of service to their local community.
Brown’s decade-long scouting service includes a variety of roles including Cub Scout Den Leader, Webelos Leader, Training Committee Member and Fundraising Chair. Brown is employed in the administrative offices of the Batavia City Schools. Part of an active Scouting family, both her son and daughter have been active in Scouting, and husband Bill is currently a Scoutmaster in Batavia.
Eagle Scout Pace’s long Scouting history includes a former tenure as a Scoutmaster among numerous other direct leadership roles. An attorney in Orleans County, Pace also currently serves as president of the Buffalo Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, where he has been instrumental in helping to develop new leadership training and camping opportunities for youth and adults throughout Western New York.
The council was itself recognized by the Boy Scouts of America with the 2016 Journey to Excellence Gold Award for program excellence.
Local Cub Scout and Boy Scout leaders were recognized for program excellence in the areas of advancement, camping, membership recruitment and retention, and helping Scouts to meet their funding needs.
Several youth members were also recognized, including Explorer Ashley Chapman (Caledonia) and Boy Scout Tyler Mutka (Corfu).
A member of the Caledonia Fire Department’s Explorer Post, Chapman was recently named the Western New York Volunteer Firemen’s Association’s 2016 Explorer of the Year. Exploring is the coeducational young adult program of the Boy Scouts of America.
Mutka topped the list of 2016 popcorn sellers with Popcorn Sales of $5,125. The sale raises money for Scout programs, and also qualifies Mutka for a national college scholarship program. This is Mutka’s sixth year as top seller among Scouts in a five-county area. Several other Scouts will soon be inducted into the scholarship program.
The Iroquois Trail Council provides development, leadership, and life skills to more than 2,500 youth in Orleans, Niagara, Genesee, Wyoming and Livingston counties. To contact the council or enroll, visit www.itcbsa.org or call (585) 343-0307.
