A Cub Scout who realized his cousin was drowning and pulled him to safety received a Heroism Award during a National Court of Honor Ceremony on Wednesday, January 14th, 2009. Zach Heatley, a member of Cub Scout Pack 531, chartered to the Kratz Elementary School PTO in the Ritenour School District, was recognized at the conclusion of the Greater St. Louis Area Council’s Friends of Scouting Kickoff Dinner.

Last summer, 10-year-old Zach was swimming with his twin cousins in an above-ground swimming pool in his back yard. Family members were sitting at a picnic table a few yards away, but the surface of the water was out of their line of sight.

One of Zach’s cousins, Jordan Brickey, didn’t know the depth of the water as he entered the pool. He began to panic and struggled to keep his head above the water. Jordan’s twin brother, Scott, thought he was joking as Jordan thrashed in the water. Zach noticed his cousin was in distress and planned a rescue.

“What was going through my mind was, ‘Oh my gosh, he’s drowning. I got to do this,’” Zach said.

As he approached his struggling cousin, Zach was able to grab him and pulled his cousin safely to the side of the pool.

Jordan’s mother, Dana Buckner, witnessed the last few seconds of the rescue and realized what happened. In the affidavit submitted for the award, she stated her son escaped drowning or serious injury because of Zach’s awareness of the situation, his ability to act quickly and his level of physical fitness.

“When I questioned him Zach said, ‘Mom it was no big deal,’” said Shannyn Eldon, Zach’s mother. “Of course I’m proud of him. He’s a pretty amazing boy.”

The Heroism Award is the third-highest heroism award presented by the Boy Scouts of America. Of the more than 2.8 million youth members in the B.S.A., less than 100 Scouts received an Honor Medal each year.

The annual Friends of Scouting campaign provides 29 percent of the council’s operating revenue. This year’s goal is $2.4 million.

The National Order of the Arrow (OA) Planning meeting is currently taking place down in Dallas, Texas (TX). Part of the meeting is the election of the 2009 National Officers. These young men will represent the Order of the Arrow across the country for the next year, and will have an integral part of running the 2009 National Order of the Arrow Conference (NOAC) and planning the OA’s presence at the 2010 National Scout Jamboree.

Here are the 2009 election results coming out of Dallas:

2009 National Chief: Jack O’Neill
Jack O’Neill is an Eagle Scout and Vigil Honor member from Columbia, Missouri.

Jack is a member of the Shawnee Lodge #51, Greater St Louis Area Council and has recently served as Section C-5C Chief.

According to the Central Region Order of the Arrow website, Jack enjoys playing tennis, listening to music, camping, hanging out with friends, flag football, working on camp staff, working out, and playing basketball.

2009 National Vice Chief: Dan Higham
Dan Higham is an Eagle Scout and Vigil Honor member from Vestal, New York in the Northeast Region.

Dan is a member of the Otahnagon Lodge, Baden Powell Council and has recently served as Section NE-3A Chief.

According to the Northeast Region Order of the Arrow website, Dan is attending Oswego State University majoring in Human Resource Management. Dan served on the national program committee to develop the program for Arrowcorps5 as well as being the Youth program director at the Shasta-Trinity site. Dan enjoys basketball, working out, golf, relaxing, and fishing.

2009 Central Region Chief: Michael Beckman
Michael Beckman has been elected the 2009 Central Region Chief. Michael is an Eagle Scout and Vigil Honor member of Kuh-Ni-Eh Lodge, Dan Beard Council. You can learn more about Michael on the Central Region Order of the Arrow website.

2009 Northeast Region Chief: Ryan Hay
Ryan Hay has been elected the 2009 Northeast Region Chief. Ryan is an Eagle Scout and Vigil Honor member of Witauchsoman Lodge #44, Minsi Trails Council. You can learn more about Ryan on the Northeast Region Order of the Arrow Website.

2009 Southern Region Chief: Mark Norris
Mark Norris has been elected the 2009 Southern Region Chief. Mark is an Eagle Scout and Vigil Honor member of Woa Cholena Lodge, Mobile Area Council. You can learn more about Mark on the Southern Region Order of the Arrow website.

2009 Western Region Chief: David Harrell
David Harrell has been elected the 2009 Western Region Chief. David is a a member of Kola Lodge, Longs Peak Council. You can learn more about David on the Western Region Order of the Arrow website.

Congratulations to the 2009 National Order of the Arrow Officers!

More than 30,000 Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts and Venturers helped feed the hungry on Saturday, November 22nd, as they collected 2.2 million cans of food during the 2008 Scouting for Food drive. The collection was 6 percent larger than last year’s drive. The collection was only 20,000 cans less than the all-time high set in 2004. The Greater St. Louis Area Council, Boy Scouts of America, collected more than 37 million cans of food during the 24-year history of the drive.

After distributing nearly one million bags last weekend, on Saturday the Scouts returned to those same areas to collect canned goods and other non-perishables. Scouts in the St. Louis area took the donations to area fire stations where Scout leaders sorted and boxed the food.

Sunset Transportation, Inc. of Sunset Hills provided vehicles, equipment, volunteer drivers and solicited the assistance of additional volunteers from trucking companies. Sunset Transportation coordinated all logistics for the food collection, which involved transporting boxed food from more than 40 area fire stations to the St. Louis Area Food Bank. The Food Bank will distribute the canned goods to more than 400 area food pantries throughout eastern Missouri and southwest Illinois.

“Our Scouts and leaders today were overwhelmed by the community’s generous response to Scouting for Food,” said John M. Primrose, Scout Executive and Chief Executive Officer of the Greater St. Louis Area Council.

“Pantries experienced an increased demand for food assistance during the last few months. Families needing nutritional assistance during the coming winter months will have adequate food because of the generosity of our communities and the hard work of our Scouts and leaders.”