The Iroquois Trail Council Boy Scouts of America will recognize six distinguished citizens at the 37th Annual Boypower Dinner scheduled for May 23 at Genesee Community College.
The keynote speaker will be Vice Admiral Dirk J. Debbink, chief of U.S. Navy Reserve and a Distinguished Eagle Scout.
The Boypower Distinguished Citizen’s Award recognizes positive countywide impact through community and professional service, and a long tenure of service both through business and personal involvement in community causes.
Event Chairman Roger Triftshauser, D.D.S., and Scout Executive James McMullen are pleased to announce the 2012 Honor Roll of Distinguished Citizens:
Betty Lapp (Genesee County) serves as Board Chair of the United Memorial Medical Center and the Genesee Valley Educational Partnership.
Mitchell McLaughlin (Wyoming County), executive vice president of Five Star Bank, serves as chairman of the board of the Wyoming County United Way.
David Bellavia (Orleans County), a decorated veteran of the Iraq War, is active in efforts to support war veterans.
James Culbertson (Livingston County), Livingston County clerk, has served on numerous community boards and has chaired past Livingston County United Way campaigns.
Husband and wife team Ken Kaufman and Michelle Farina (Niagara County) have used their musical talents to raise relief funds for a variety of local and international causes. Ken is also well known as the organist for Buffalo Sabres home games.
The annual Boypower Dinner is the premier event to raise monies to support scouting programs for nearly 4,000 boys from 7-20 years of age and girls ages 14-21 in Genesee, Wyoming, Orleans, Eastern Niagara, and Livingston counties.
“We couldn’t ask for a better group of role models for our Scouts,” Triftshauser said.
The Boy Scouts of America is the nation’s foremost youth program of character development and values-based leadership training. The scouting organization is composed of 2.7 million youth members between the ages of 7 and 20, 1.1 million volunteers and nearly 300 local councils throughout the United States and its territories.
