Boy Scouts will honor Bob and Eric Brown

File photo by Tom Rivers – Eric Brown, right, and his son Harrison served as starters at the Pinewood Derby in Albion in March 2014.

BATAVIA Two brothers in Carlton, who have worked together for years at a fruit farm and running an agri-tourism retail store, will be honored next week by the Iroquois Trail Council of the Boy Scouts of America.

Bob and Eric Brown run Orchard Dale Fruit Farm. For more than three decades, the Brown family also ran Brown’s Berry Patch before deciding to close that retail operation this year.

Eric has been an active Scout leader. His two sons, Harrison and Jeffrey, are Boy Scouts.

The family has hosted many Scouts over the years at events at Brown’s Berry Patch, giving them wagon rides and letting them get a taste of farm life.

Bob and Eric will both be presented with “Distinguished Citizen” awards from Orleans County as part of the 40th annual Boypower dinner on May 28 at Genesee Community College.

“Bob and Eric are both being recognized for their years of community service,” said Jim McMullen, the Scout executive for the five-county Council. “They’ve done a tremendous amount to support the local economy with their businesses and they’ve boosted the quality of life in Orleans County.”

That Boypower dinner is a fundraiser for the Iroquois Trail Council. For more information, click here.

Distinguished citizens will also be honored from Genesee, Livingston, Wyoming and Niagara counties. The featured speaker will be Gale A. Buchanan, a leader in the field of scientific agricultural research and former chief scientist for the United States Department of Agriculture.