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2017 SESSION


HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 850
Commending the Virginia Councils of the Boy Scouts of America.

 

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, February 3, 2017
Agreed to by the Senate, February 16, 2017

 

WHEREAS, the international youth movement of Boy Scouts, today known as the World Organization of the Scout Movement, was established in England in 1907 by Lord Robert Baden-Powell and currently serves 28 million Scouts and their leaders in 155 countries around the globe; and

WHEREAS, the Boy Scouts of America was founded by a group of prominent Americans led by William D. Boyce on February 8, 1910, in Washington, D.C., and was chartered by the United States Congress on June 15, 1918; and

WHEREAS, the Boy Scouts of America prepares young people to make ethical choices throughout their lifetime by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Scout Law, including a commitment to do their best to do their duty to God and their country and to keep themselves physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight; and

WHEREAS, in 1911, Scouting began a century of service to the youth of the Commonwealth, when Richmond Troop #1 was chartered by Tabernacle Church; and

WHEREAS, in 1913, the Richmond Virginia Council, Inc., was chartered by John Stewart Bryan, D. W. Durrett, and 60 civic-minded community leaders, with headquarters in the old Richmond News Leader building; the council served 495 boys in 28 troops in its first year, was later renamed the Robert E. Lee Council, and now, as the Heart of Virginia Council, will celebrate its 104th birthday on July 12, 2017; and

WHEREAS, the 10 Boy Scout councils serving all or part of the Commonwealth, including the Blue Ridge Mountains Council, Colonial Virginia Council, Del-Mar-Va Council, Heart of Virginia Council, National Capital Area Council, Sequoyah Council, Shenandoah Area Council, Stonewall Jackson Area Council, Buckskin Council, and Tidewater Council, serve over 70,000 young Virginians between the ages of seven and 20; and

WHEREAS, Virginia’s Boy Scout councils deliver America’s premier youth development program by emphasizing character and service and affording young people unique and increasing opportunities to exercise leadership and responsibility and through the direct examples and mentoring provided by more than 32,170 volunteer adult leaders; and

WHEREAS, in 2016, Virginia Boy Scouts contributed more than 400,000 hours of community service through projects such as Scouting for Food, Good Turn for America, Habitat for Humanity, and other unit and individual service projects; and

WHEREAS, for the past 106 years, the Boy Scouts of America has been committed to producing exceptional young men by building character and values in youth; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend the Virginia Councils of the Boy Scouts of America for more than 100 years of service to the youth of the Commonwealth and the nation; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the Council Scout Executives in Virginia as an expression of the General Assembly’s gratitude for the organization’s commitment to building character and values in Virginia’s youth.