Scouts give Albion den mother highest volunteer honor
Karen Williams receives ‘Silver Beaver’ Award
Photos by Tom Rivers – Karen Williams receives a snow globe from Colburn Spierdowis and other Webelos II Scouts tonight when the group moved up to Boy Scouts. Williams has been the group’s den mother. She was honored by the Iroquois Trail Council last month with the Silver Beaver Award, the highest honor for a volunteer in Boy Scouts.
ALBION – An Albion woman who has been a Cub Scout den mother for eight years and coordinated district events for hundreds of Scouts has been honored with the Silver Beaver Award, the highest recognition given to an adult volunteer in Boy Scouts of America.
Karen Williams received the award last month from the Iroquois Trail Council. Williams has three sons in the Scouting program, including Gary, 17; Steven, 15; and Samuel, 11.
“It’s an important program for boys,” Williams said tonight after the Blue and Gold banquet at the lyceum. “It teaches them respect and responsibility. It teaches them to be a part of the community.”
Williams has been a den mother for Pack 164 in Albion. Her son Samuel crossed over to Boy Scouts tonight with four others in Webelos II. Williams will also transition to being a volunteer with the older Scouts. Her son Steven is assistant patrol leader with Troop 164.
Samuel Williams is welcomed into the Boy Scouts by Freeman Lattin, right. Samuel’s mother Karen is standing beside him.
Williams, a dental assistant for Dr. Warren Waldo in Fairport, also received a snow globe from the Webelos at the banquet.
Besides her son Samuel, the other Scouts to cross over and join Boy Scouts include Aaliah Knickerbocker, Nathan Olmstead, Colburn Spierdowis, and Jacob Thom.
Jess Markel, a district executive, told the Scouting community at the Blue and Gold banquet about Williams receiving the Silver Beaver award. He praised her for being so active with the Albion scouts, and also stepping up as a volunteer, running a day camp for eight years and the Spook-A-Ree, programs attended by hundreds of scouts from several counties.
