How to resolve AdBlock issue? SARATOGA SPRINGS — Last week, on Thursday, Oct. 3, the Twin Rivers Council of the Boy Scouts of America presented Saratoga County Sheriff Michael Zurlo with the 2019 Good Scouting Award at the latest Good Scouting Award dinner, held in the Saratoga Springs City Center.
The award is named after an unknown scout who helped a Chicago businessman find his way through London during foggy weather. The assistance inspired the businessman to start the BSA in 1910.
The award recognizes those who have made outstanding contributions to their community, thus demonstrating the scouting values of character, leadership and service.
During the event, Judge James A. Murphy III, a Saratoga County Judge and Acting State Supreme County Justice, introduced Zurlo.
Other recipients of the Good Scouting Award include Mary Lou Whitney, Dr. Linda Baker, James Ryman and Lawrence Gordon among other notable community leadership with a wide range of roles.
Gordon died in 2018, and so a new award was made in his honor, and was presented at the same event as the Good Scouting Award for the first time.
The Larry Gordon Community Leadership Award honors those who, like Gordon himself, have made a remarkable, positive difference in the world around them.
The exact criteria are that nominees should be community leaders who have turned an exceptional vision into reality, given awe-inspiring service, have put others before themselves in a momentous way or who have shown courage or tenacity in following through on truly noteworthy commitments.
Additionally, nominees should be present or former scouts or scouters; however, there is no requirement for BSA registration.
The first Larry Gordon award went to Keith Koster. Koster completed his self- proclaimed American Legion centennial challenge in March of this year by climbing the 46th Adirondack mountain and displaying the American Legion and American flags.
Koster was also featured on the cover of American Legion magazine, chosen as the honorary Grand Marshall of the 2019 Saratoga Flag Day parade, inducted into the New York Senate Veteran Hall of Fame and is a volunteer with BSA Troop 70 in Saratoga Springs.
For more information, contact John Koch, co-chair of the event, at saratogascouter@ kochny.com.
