Scouting, An Adventure You Will Never Forget
Congratulations to Eric Lukezich 94th Eagle Scout!!
Mr Scherff Fall Camporee 2010
Photo sent from Arizona Troop
Dave with the Arizona Scouts
We are going to miss Dave's outstanding leadership and dedication to Gladstone area youth. Dave truly made a difference in the lives of many young people in his more than 30 years of teaching in Gladstone Schools and his 50 years dedicated to helping Gladstone Boy Scouts.
The Boy Scouts and Scout leaders are going to miss Dave very much. For the past 50 years Dave has been a registered Boy Scout leader in Troop 466 Gladstone. He started helping Boy Scouts when he first came to Gladstone in 1960. All of those years he was a dedicated and talented Assistant Scout Master and twice he stepped up when called upon to be the Scoutmaster of Troop 466. One of Dave's last Boy Scout activities was this past Fall when for the benefit of 15 local Troops, he planned and organized the District Camporee as he did many times over the years.
Dave's support to the Boy Scout program has been truly tireless and unselfish, giving his time and more to over a thousand Troop 466 Boy Scouts during the past 50 years. When Dave began to winter in Arizona over the past 10 years he searched out a couple of Scout Troops there to share his talents with.
One of Dave's many specialties over the years was working closely with new Scouts in the Troop, helping them meet the requirements for their first rank of Scout and also introducing them to camping skills. Even if a Scout didn't stay long in the troop, Dave said he hoped to at least get them to understand the 12 parts of the Scout Law, and learn the Scout Oath so they could have a good foundation in life. Dave was also passionate in teaching young people an appreciation for the outdoors, whether it was going on an hour long walk in the woods to learn tree identification or going on the many weeklong 50 mile back packing trips he led over the years to Isle Royale.
One of the many passions Dave had was teaching compassing. And in recent years Dave taught himself the new technology of GPS (global positioning systems) and he purchased many GPS units to be used as teaching aids for the Scouts. Dave's teaching also extended to spending many weeks during summers at Camp Hiawatha near Munising.
Dave is a Silver Beaver Award recipient- the highest adult Boy Scout award, and also was given the Red Buck District Merit Award for his dedication to Scouting. Dave was also nominated this past spring to the National Boy Scout Hall of Leadership.
Though Dave won't be attending any more Troop activities, he won't soon be forgotten by Scouts, former Scouts and Scouters who he's given his time and talents to over the 50 years.
Boy Scout Troop 466
Gladstone, MI
Among the 67 Boy Scouts and leaders from the Upper Peninsula at the 17th National Jamboree in Washington, D.C., are the following local scouts. In front row, from left: Kyle Johnson and Ian MacFarlane. In center row: Cody Johnson, Sam Fournier, Erik Marenger, Eric Lukezich and Nathan Bellville. In top row: Tim DeClaire, Paul Flamino and Ben Fournier.