Award Ceremony, Reception and Dinner
June 5, 2023
Deerwood Country Club, Westampton, N.J.
Garden State Council, Boy Scouts of America, Presents...
and
Scouts BSA Troop 20
Brad Denn Padden Cooper Honoring Lee BealukMILLER FORD LINCOLN | MILLER SUBARU
MILLER AUTO LEASING | MILLER TRUCK LEASING
MILLER LOGISTICS SOLUTIONS
2023 DISTINGUISHED CITIZENS
Brad Denn
Lee Bealuk
Opening Ceremony: Pledge, Scout Oath and Law
Scouts BSA Troop 20, Chartered by Birchwood Lake Colony Club, Medford
Invocation
Father Andrew Hanyzewski
Scouting Story: “What Scouting Means to Me”
Luke Denn, Eagle Scout, Scouts BSA Troop 20
Remarks by Garden State Council President
Debra Rosen
Recognition of Committee and Sponsors
Chip Miller
Presentation: Good Scout Award to Brad Denn
Presentation: Good Scout Award to Lee Bealuk
Remarks by Garden State Council Scout Executive
Patrick Linfors
Closing
Chip Miller
Be safe going home
Thank you for your belief in the programs and values of the Boy Scouts of America
For more information about Scouting in South Jersey, visit the Garden State Council website: GardenStateScouting.org
The Good Scout Award statuette is patterned after the statue of a Scout that stands before both the Loren S. Riggins, Jr., Scout Resource Center in Millville and the Rowan Scout Resource Center in Westampton. Here is the story behind the sculpture and its significance in Scouting History.
The sculptor was Dr. R. Tait McKenzie. In 1914 at the request of Dr. Charles D. Hart, President of the then Philadelphia Council, Boy Scouts of America, McKenzie created a statuette of the “Ideal Boy Scout.” His model, selected in a competition of Scout parades, was 12 year-old Franklin Williamson Hoover. Ten bronze 18 inch-high statuettes were cast as part of the Boy Scout Friends of Scouting Program. The edition was closed and Dr. McKenzie presented the copyright to the Philadelphia Council.
Plaster, bronze and epoxy reproductions were sold, beginning in 1916. Later, smaller copies, suitable for desk ornaments, were made available and are highly popular. In 1930, when the Philadelphia Council moved from 916 Walnut Street to 22nd and Winter Streets, it was hoped Dr. McKenzie would create a life-size statue to stand before the new building. He obliged, not by reproducing the small figure, but with a restudied statue with many changes, incorporating the new Scouting insignia.
Scout Douglas Shannon was the “Model in Chief” with Scout Joseph Straub in reserve, but several other Scouts also served as models for head, body and various detailed studies. The statue was unveiled June 12, 1937, Dr. McKenzie making the presentation address. Many life-sized copies are exhibited throughout the United States and in other countries around the Scouting world.
Garden State Council presents “The Ideal Boy Scout Statue” to the Distinguished Citizen because it embodies the meaning of Scouting found in the Scout Oath and Law. These same principles are found in this year’s honorees.
The Distinguished Citizen “Good Scout” Award is presented to community leaders who exemplify in their daily lives the ideals of the Boy Scouts of America as expressed in the Scout Law and Scout Oath. The recipients are chosen for their outstanding service as evidenced by the interest and leadership they have provided to many worthwhile organizations, as well as the respect and esteem in which they are held by their colleagues.
A Scout is: Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean, and Reverent
On my honor, I will do my best, to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.
2023 burlington CountY Distinguished Citizen of the year Awards reception
Event Sponsors
Special Title Contributors
The Barclay Group - J.S.
Braddock Agency
Linda Berenberg
Dinner Underwriter
Gold Sponsors
Silver Sponsors
Bronze Sponsors
Fulton Bank
The Jirair S. & Elizabeth
Hovnanian Family Found.
Parker McCay P.A.
South Jersey Port Corp.
Surety Title Company LLC
Event Chair
Chip Miller President
Miller Transportation Group
Doris Alaimo
Richard A. Alaimo
Suzanne Applegate
Anne Caruso
Gary Gardner
Craig Greenwood
Council Leadership
Patrick Linfors
Scout Executive
Robert C. Halgas
Kristi Howell
Michael Houlihan
Richard W. Hunt Esq. A. J. Kreimer
Brian W. Jones
Joyce Skradzinski
Development Director
Preston Irving
Senrior District Executive
John A. Latimer
Jason W. Miller
Jill Peterson
Dr. June Sernak
Stephen T. Smith
Bridget Wiese
Maruice Bullock
District Executive
Garden State Council Business Partners Thank you for your continuing support.
Luke Denn is a graduate of St. Joseph’s Preparatory School in Philadelphia and a current student at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind. In 2020, he became the 93rd scout of Troop 20 to earn the coveted Eagle Scout rank. Luke is an accomplished swimmer, spending his winters playing Water Polo at Notre Dame and his summers working on the Ocean City Beach Patrol in N.J. He is studying Aerospace Engineering. Other notable accomplishments include matriculating from the Travis Manion Foundation leadership cohort and maintaining Distinguished Honors the entirety of his academic experience.
Luke Denn, Eagle Scout
Scouts BSA Troop 20
Birchwood Colony Club, Medford
Robert Angelozzi
Marc Baldwin
Lynn & Orest Bezpalko
Stephen Carbone
Bill Cariss, Holman Growth Ventures
John Cirenza
Tim & Sandy Connery
Cramp’s Liquor Store
Kenneth Denn
Elks Lodge #848 Mount Holly
George Fernandez
Foley Mechanica, Inc.
Terry Fortino
Joel Gardner
Bill Gordan, Mount Holly Pro Day
Gary S. Henneberry
Fred & Peg Hettinger
Steven Holt
Kevin & Julie Kelleher
G. Joanne Kircher
Mark Madrack
Francis & Cynthia Martine
Sheila & Tim O’Connell
David & Jo Ellen Ogden
Josef Penner
Erik Rebstock
Heidi Sims
N.J. Senator Troy Singleton
Mary Sue Smith
Stephen Smith
Konrad Wagner
Jeff Weigel
Padden Cooper LLC
While growing up in Burlington County, little did Brad realize that swimming in the cedar lakes, searching out snapping turtles in the bogs and biking through the storied trails of the Pinelands, he was establishing a firm foundation of character, joy of community and leadership in all areas of his life. When Brad was 10 years old a neighborhood buddy asked him to attend a Webelos meeting. This led to years of being mentored and learning how to mentor through Scouting, culminating in the coveted rank of Eagle Scout. With this foundation, Brad launched a career as a CPA, set up shop in his hometown of Medford and began a family.
Brad is now the Managing Partner of Padden Cooper, CPA in Medford, NJ. Established in 1985, Brad and his firm have been serving Burlington County and beyond with expertise, vision and care. They are experts in tax, financial and estate planning with emphasis on small business challenges, farms and farmland preservation. They service literally generations of families, ensuring their treasure remains nearest to their treasured. By living and working in Burlington County, Brad can volunteer in the community he loves so much. He serves on the Board for the Medford Business Association, is a retired elected member of the Town Council and former Deputy Mayor, a 20-year Board member of the Medford Memorial Community Center, a 10-year veteran of coaching soccer through MYAA, and an active member of his church, school and neighborhood communities. Brad can be seen picking up trash with the Scouts along Jackson Road, serving beer at Oktoberfest or donned in a period top hat welcoming all to Dicken’s Festival. Some highlights of his accomplishments include installing and dedicating the war memorials in Freedom Park, establishing the new library in Medford, and guiding the economic revitalization of Main Street Medford.
The highpoint of Brad’s community service occurred when his son, Luke, joined Scouts. Alongside Luke, he spent 8 years reliving his Scout experience by hiking, biking and swimming in the same lakes and trails he traversed as a Boy Scout. Brad became a mentor for the boys in the troop teaching them, among other things, National and Community Civic responsibility. He also shared in mentoring not less than 16 Eagle Scouts during that time. He was paying it forward just as his mentors from Troop 26 had done for him three decades prior. With Lee Bealuk as the Scout Leader Emeritus, Brad watched his son earn and achieve Eagle Scout, becoming the 93rd Eagle Scout of Medford’s Troop 20. It had all come full circle – the love of his community, the hard work, yet edifying experiences through Scouting and the investment in future generations of forming young men of character. Brad believes Scouting creates an environment which encompasses all aspects needed to form a good citizen. Interaction and respect of nature, leadership and respect of peers, courage and the respect of taking on and overcoming challenges. Experiencing the support of a healthy Scouting Troop is a microcosm of a healthy community in all other aspects of life –work, faith, family and beyond. By building up, encouraging, engaging and challenging our youth to take on responsibility, we give them the tools to pay it forward when their opportunity comes full circle.
As a resident of Medford, New Jersey for over 55 years, Lee has spent that entire time in Scouting within Burlington County. Lee is honored to be here today to receive this award.
Having lost his father at the age of 10, Lee looked to the Boy Scouts for guidance, and he certainly found it. A few exceptional Scout Leaders served as father figures for him and then Lee spent the next 70 years paying it forward.
Lee Bealuk Scouts BSA Troop 20 Birchwood Colony Club, Medford
Lee joined the BSA in 1949 and has been continuously registered and remains heavily involved to this day. His original Troop (226), located in the Lawndale section of Philadelphia, where Lee grew up, just celebrated 100 years of being a Scout Troop. Along the Scouting trail, in 1953, Lee was elected to the Order of Arrow (OA). He is a rare member of the original OA Unami Lodge, which resides on Treasure Island. Treasure Island, which is located in the Delaware River, is the oldest Scout Camp in the Country. The OA was founded there in 1915. Lee is a lifetime member of Friends of Treasure Island and was part of the workforce that brought Treasure Island back to life after several floods nearly destroyed the Island in the mid 2000’s.
After turning 18, Lee joined the Army and, ultimately, attained the rank of Sergeant. Serving a total of six years, he spent two of those years in Alaska in the middle of the cold war. Lee was stationed in Alaska when it became our 49th State.
In 1962, after being Honorably Discharged from the Army, Lee became the Scoutmaster of his old Troop, Troop 226. Later that year, he married the love of his life, Kathleen. They moved to Andalusia, located in Bucks County, in 1965. Shortly thereafter, Lee helped start a new Troop, Troop 155 and he became its first Scoutmaster.
In 1968, Lee and Kathleen moved to Medford in Burlington County, NJ. With Lee’s reputation preceding him, he was recruited to become Assistant
Scoutmaster of Troop 20. In 1970, Lee became Scoutmaster, a position he held for the next 25 years.
During this 25-year period, Lee and Kathy also raised a family. Their son, Gregg, was born in 1970 and their daughter, Jennifer, was born in 1974. Lee now also enjoys four wonderful Grandchildren.
During the same timeframe, Lee was appointed to the Medford Township Zoning Board where he became Vice Chairman and later Chairman. Lee was also twice-appointed Grand Marshall of the Medford Memorial Day Parade.
In 1995, Lee “retired” from the Scoutmaster roll but, he certainly did not retire from Scouting. He was named Scoutmaster Emeritus. He became and remains Troop 20’s Committee Chairman to this day. He has also served as an Eagle Scout mentor for 96 Eagle Scouts and counting (he also managed to raise an Eagle Scout as well). When Lee was a Boy Scout, he attained the rank of Life Scout but much more significant is that Lee is a “Scout for Life”. As his son likes to say, “Dad; of the two of us, I may be the Eagle Scout, but you are the better Scout”. “You are everything that is good about Scouting”. The impact Lee has had on the lives of Burlington County’s young men is immeasurable.
If all of that isn’t enough, Lee is also a Silver Beaver Award recipient. Additionally, he was awarded the Religious Scouting Award - Life Family Church
Beyond Scouting, Lee has been a successful businessman, running two different businesses over a five-decade career. Then, like with Scouting, Lee attempted to “retire”. That didn’t last more than a few months and that was some 18 years ago. Lee is still working full time for the State of New Jersey, and he loves it. People are like oxygen to him and his true niche in life is to help others. Fortunately for the rest of us, he has been incredibly successful at helping others.
Your friend in Scouting, Lee Bealuk
Honoree Brad Denn.
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2022 Kristi Howell and Jill Peterson
2019 Hon. Barry Parker and Robert C. Silcox
2018 Hon. Mary Ann O’Brien and Hon. Jean E. Stanfield
2016 Calvin H. and Orsula V. Knowlton
2015 John A. Latimer
2014 Jim Brennan Jr.
2013 Charles S. Miller
2011 Frank Giordano
2010 Robert C. Halgas
2009 Brigadier General James J. Grant
2008 Mary Wells* and Hon. John A. Sweeney
2007 James K. Wujcik
2006 William S. Haines Jr.
2005 Jerald R. Cureton, Esq. and Richard J. Cureton
2004 Peter J. and Stephen J. Hovnanian
2003 Irvin E. Richter
2002 JoAnn Winzinger and Hon. Philip E. Haines Esq.
2001 Franco Harris
2000 Glenn R. Paulsen
1999 Hon. Martha Bark* and Dennis Flanagan
1998 Hon. Diane Allen and Craig W. Yates
1997 Renee L. Borstad* and Hon. Vincent R. Farias
1996 Dr. Robert C. Messina Jr.
1995 Hon. Martin L. Haines*
1994 Dr. Carmine DeSopo
1993 Hon. H. James Saxton
1992 James E. Palmer
1991 Robert C. Shinn Jr.
1990 Thomas P. Foy*
1989 Richard A. Alaimo
1988 J. Garfield DeMarco*
1987 Jirair S. Hovnanian*
The vision of the Garden State Council is to offer exciting, fun and values-based experiences of the highest caliber to the greatest number of youth possible.
The mission is to deliver the highest quality youth program of character development and leadership training, and to prepare young people to make ethical decisions, so they can reach their full potential and better serve their family, community and country. Scouting was put to the test over three years when Tufts University worked with youth to measure character attributes of both Scouts and non-Scouts. Funded by the John Templeton Foundation, nearly 1,800 Cub Scouts and nearly 400 non-Scouts under the age of 12 were measured through both interviews and survey data. The findings are represented in the bar graph, below, and show the positive impact of Scouting.
It costs the Garden State Council about $200 per member annually to deliver Scouting to the young people in the six-plus counties we serve. We invite you to consider an annual gift of support to keep Scouting the most cost-effective, comprehensive youth development program on the planet. This QR code will take you to
Source: Tufts University
