2016 Silver Beaver Class Announced

Silver Beaver Class of 2016 

Cheryl Phillips 

For this Scouter it all began innocently enough 25 years ago in the deep South. At this point in her life this young lady from Kentucky had already been a Girl Scout for 6 years, competed in the AAU National Championships in Discus, moved to      Alabama as a teenager, been a leader in ROTC, worked her way through 2 years of college, taken flying lessons and served her country for 4 years as an Electronics Technician in the US Navy. While in service, she met a Sailor from South Carolina that was struck by her contagious smile and positive attitude about life.  After she served in Puerto Rico and left the Navy they were married and later moved to Woodruff where their first son was born. After a year of mooing with the cows in the country she moved the family to her hometown in Huntsville, Alabama and worked 3rd shift in Electrical Maintenance to put her husband through college, while he also served as Mr. Mom. Due to the birth of a brand new little brother Josh missed Tiger Cubs but she quickly registered him at the local school the following year. When she also signed up as his Den Leader the 25 year ride began. She was a natural at it all. A lot of you know the drill; Fall Recruiting, Den Meetings, Pack Meetings, Rain Gutter Regatta, Fall Camporees, Rocket Launches, Fall Festival, Scouting for Food, Toys for Tots, Christmas Parade, Christmas Party, Pinewood Derby, Merit Badge College, Scout Sunday, Blue & Gold Banquet, Spring Camporees, Aquatics Camporee, Scout Shows, Summer Camp, Webelos Resident Camp, 3 Summertime Events just to name a few and then………RESET for the next year! She also volunteered for 9 years as a Counselor, Advocate and Fund Raiser for Hope Place, a domestic violence shelter in Huntsville. In 1995 they moved the family back to Woodruff, found a little Church named Emma Gray and joined Pack 21 of the Piedmont District of Palmetto Council. There she has served as Lion Leader, Tiger Coach, Den Leader, Assistant Cubmaster, Cubmaster, Committee Member, Committee Chair, Chartered Organization Representative and Assistant Scoutmaster. She simply filled in wherever she was needed. She has unofficially served as Head Supervisor, Chief Motivator, Craft Guru, Leader of all Scout Cheers and Master of the Corny Joke. At Emma Gray she has served as a Children’s Sunday School Teacher for 19 years, taught many years of Vacation Bible School, ran pickup routes in the Church Van and served as a Trustee. She has 20 years as a Team Mom in Soccer, was the first female Member of the American Legion Post in Woodruff and has served for 5 years as the United Way Chairperson at her present employer Kohler. Somehow in a parallel universe she managed to serve Scouting as Merit Badge Counselor, Pack Trainer, Summer Camp Director, District Committee Member, Unit Commissioner, Roundtable Commissioner and District Commissioner for 8 years. As a key member of the Trainer Development Staff for 19 years she has taken almost every course available including Wood Badge, Commissioner’s College and a Training trip to Philmont in 1996. She has taught countless Leader Courses at all levels including University of Scouting. She also taught Electricity, Electronics, Citizenship and others at MBC for 15 plus years. She has earned knots for Tiger Cub Den Leader, Webelos Den Leader, Den Leader Coach, Cub Scouter, Cubmaster, Scouters Key, the Religious Award and the District Award of Merit. A few years ago she went back to USC Upstate and completed her Bachelor’s degree in Engineering with near straight A’s while her sons were also attending. Of course she fit right in and was often the life of the Campus! She is employed at Kohler as the Maintenance Supervisor where she understandably keeps a large group of rough around the edges Maintenance Men in total check. She continues to hang out, bike, kayak and even take a Polar Plunge on New Year’s with her boys. She even found time this year to knock out a Bucket List item when she voluntarily parachuted from a perfectly good airplane. Her proudest accomplishment through it all is the many young men she has helped on the trail to Eagle. Please join me and 2 of those Eagle Scouts, sons Joshua and Jarod, in congratulating this recipient of the Silver Beaver Award. Please give a round of applause and a big Roll Tide!!! for Scouter Cheryl Phillips.

Barbara Jurs

Barbara Jurs has been associated with the Scouting movement since 2003, holding almost every position in the troop short of Scoutmaster.  Both she and her husband, Dennis of 40 years, are registered as Assistant Scoutmasters in Troop 79,  at Jesus, Our Risen Savior Catholic Church on Reidville Road.  Barbara first took on the role as a Merit Badge Counselor and is certified to teach 15 of the merit badges.  When their son, Jason, moved into Boy Scouts she took an even more active role, getting involved in training courses for the boys, but especially for the adult leaders.  After Woodbadge, which she and Dennis took together, she was particularly instrumental in establishing adult training programs for Merit Badge Counselor Orientation, Boy Scout Leader Fast Start, New Leader Essentials, Scoutmaster and Assistant Scout Master Specific Training, and Trainer’s EDGE.  For youth training, she was involved in establishing the Venturing Youth Protection Training, and the National Youth Leadership Training.  Along with her current position on the Troop Committee, where she introduced the Committee Challenge and eLearning, she has served on the Daniel Morgan District Eagle Advancement Committee for the past 10 years.  Among her honors and awards, she has received the Scouter’s Training Award, the District Award of Merit, but her most cherished and coveted are 4 Eagle Scout Mentor Pins given to her by former members of Troop 79.  Having stayed active in Scouting well after her son, Jason, received his Eagle shows her commitment to the movement.  Outside of Scouting, Barbara has taught and tutored students in Spanish and supervised student-teachers from USC-Upstate. Her activities do not end there, Barbara and Dennis are activemembers of Central United Methodist Church, Spartanburg, of which she is a member of the Board of Trustees.  She is also a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the New York Genealogical Society.  Finally, Barbara Jurs is one of the hardest working Scouters, who is not afraid to tackle new problems with tenacity.

Ken Reiter

Ken Reiter started Scouting as an eager parent for his son’s Cub pack.  Like many eager parents, he was quickly converted to den leader.  He later served as Assistant Scoutmaster in the troop, supporting the PLC for outings. Watching his skilled and cheerful coaching, the Troop Committee then   selected him to serve as Scoutmaster.  His tenure launched an era of significant growth in membership, advancement, and parental engagement.  Mostimportantly, the Scouts themselves set the vision and executed an outstanding troop.  Prior to his role as Scoutmaster, the Troop had recorded 34 Eagles in 19 years.  During his 3 years as Scoutmaster, 15 boys in the Troop earned their Eagle, and he was recognized as York’s Scoutmaster of the Year in 2010.  The leadership model and methods were also sustainable – the troop has since recognized an additional 52 Eagle Scouts.  While Ken would be quick tocredit the PLC, Troop Committee, and ASMs, his servant leadership was the enabling factor. Since retiring as Scoutmaster, he has served the district and council in a variety of roles. He loves adventure, and helped revive interest in climbing, providing expertise to units across the Council while serving as Council Climbing Chair.  In 2010, he was Scoutmaster for Troop 1906 at the National Jamboree. He has also made significant contributions to our youth and adult training programs at the District and Council levels.  Since 2011, he has served as Council Training Chair on the Executive Board.  He has worked hard to ensure that the districts had training chairs and active training programs.  He’s introduced some great youth leader training, and he’s done an exceptional job ensuring that Wood Badge course directors were in place with plenty of time to have them ready for their course.  He himself is highly sought after as a Wood Badge trainer:  he’s served as a staffer on 5 courses since completing the course himself in 2009.  He is also a great personal role model.  He is an entrepreneur in business - he loves change and sees it as an opportunity for improvement.  He’s brought that attitude and energy to all his roles in Scouting, while striving for a great family life, too.  Carrie and their four children (Cody, Jesse, Cassie, and Holly) always come first.  Jesse, by the way, earned his Eagle Scout with Troop 250.  Please join me in congratulating Ken Reiter for being a recipient of the Palmetto Council 2016 Silver Beaver Award. 

 

Scout of the Month program to begin in February - nominate your Scouts TODAY!

Starting in January 2017, we will honor a Scout of the month from the Palmetto Council.  We are blessed to have over 4,500 young people in our Scouting programs.  We want to highlight their success stories.  Please nominate a youth from your unit using the below form.  

NESA Banquet Postponed to February 25, 2017

Scouting Parents, Eagle Scouts, Sponsors, and Guests;

 

Many of you have inquired about predicted unsafe weather conditions in regards to the 2017 Eagle Scout Recognition Banquet scheduled for Saturday evening. Our NESA committee has worked to evaluate options that maintain the excitement of the event as well as keeping everyone safe during their travels. Our team has decided to postpone the Eagle Banquet until February 25th at Grace Lutheran Church in Rock Hill, SC. Thank you for being patient with us during this process.  Please plan to attend on the rescheduled date.  We will release additional updates when information is available. 

 

Yours in Scouting, 

Palmetto Council NESA Committee 

Joshua Bouldin Selected as Senior Development Director

TO:                  Palmetto Council Executive Board, Volunteers, Staff, and Members
FROM:             Greg W. Leitch, Scout Executive / CEO

We are proud to announce the addition of Joshua Bouldin to the Palmetto Council staff effective January 16, 2017. Joshua will serve Scouting as the Senior Development Director where he will support direct support initiatives such as annual giving, grant development, major gift cultivation, and special event fundraising. He will work closely with the Vice President of Finance and the district campaign chairs to provide the necessary financial resources to grow Scouting programs throughout the Upstate area.

Joshua is an Eagle Scout from the Palmetto Council and a graduate of Winthrop University. He has served on the York District Commissioner staff and Eagle Board of Review team. Joshua served on the staff of Wood Badge courses SR-992 and SR-1019. He is completing a successful assignment as Territory Manager with the BSA Supply Group where he supported sales budgets of over $8.5 million.

Please join me in congratulating Joshua and his family as they undertake this exciting new adventure.

NEW Palmetto Council Calendar Launched

The Palmetto Council is pleased to reveal a new calendar feature to palmettocouncil.org that will provide a better experience for our Scouts, Scouters and Staff.  We have combined our previous .pdf print calendar and our web based calendar under one umbrella.  The calendar has five sub-calendars that will allow volunteers to filter by district, council, oa or all events.  Volunteers can now sync the calendar that pertains to their needs/interest to their mobile device or email calendar.  The new calendar also allows users to print any time frame they would like.  As events are added to the calendar, they will automatically appear if you sync the calendar.  

This new feature was implemented as part of a S5-549-16 Beaver's Wood Badge Ticket! 

To view the calendar, click HERE! 
To learn how to sync the calendar, click HERE!