From left to right are Harry Warner, Scott Lancey, Michael Ohleger, Jack Gleason and Bobby Ross.

Local Boy Scouts Conduct Friends of Scouting Breakfast And Celebrate Accomplishments   Local Boy Scouts and their leaders of the Southern District of the Stonewall Jackson Council of the Boy Scouts of America are celebrating two important accomplishments – the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Boy Scouts in America, and the very successful accomplishments of the Southern District in 2009. On Wednesday March 3rd a Friends of Scouting fund raising breakfast was held at the Sheridan Livery Inn. The featured speaker was Bobby Ross, retired NCAA and NFL football coach. He regaled the audience with humorous stories from his career, and spoke of the need to instill character in young men. Local Eagle Scout Gunnar Hough also made an impressive talk. The Boy Scouts of America was established by Mr. William D. Boyce, a Chicago publisher and traveler, in February, 1910 after having experienced an impressive act of service by a Scout in London. Its fundamental principles of instilling skills, commitment and good character traits in boys have remained constant ever since. The Southern District is comprised of Alleghany, Bath and Rockbridge Counties, and the Council’s other districts are the Massanutten (Rockingham County), the Monticello (Albemarle County) and the Valley (Augusta County). Although the Southern District is the smallest of the four in terms of population, it has had excellent success in recent years under the leadership of District Chairman, Michael Ohleger, of Buena Vista and District Executive, Scott Lancey, of Lexington. Greg Lemmer of Lexington, who is employed at the Boys Home in Covington, has provided valuable leadership, particularly in fund raising, in Alleghany and Bath Counties. There are hundreds of unsung volunteers in the district working directly with the Scouts and/or in fund raising to support their activities. The Southern District was recently recognized with a “National Centennial Quality Award” for 2009 as it increased Scout membership for the second straight year with approximately 700 registered boys participating in scouting. More than 55% of Cub Scouts, Webelos and Boy Scouts participated in a summer camp experience in 2009. The District awarded scouting’s highest rank, The Eagle Badge, to 20 scouts, and the District’s Eagle Scout Leadership Service Projects provided 3,400 community service hours. All told, scouts and leaders contributed over 38,200 hours of service to the District’s communities, including collecting over 5,000 pounds of food for families in need. The Council and its districts receive funding from activity and summer- camp fees from the boys and the scouts’ fund raising activities such as pop corn sales. Approximately 2% of its budget comes from the United Way. The most important element supporting the Scouts is the annual Friends of Scouting Campaign, which is broken down into the categories of Major Gifts Division ($250 or more), Community Division ($25 to 249) and Family Division (gifts from families and individuals active in scouting). Anyone interested in supporting the local boy scouts and assuring the continued success of the Southern District is invited to contact Scott Lancey at 540/461-2171. In addition to operations, funds also go to scholarships, camperships and direct assistance to support in-need youths and families.

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