Keilor Chaves named ‘Scout of Year’
By Mary Ellen Day, Special Writer
Manville Scouts of Troop 193 and Pack 193 were honored Sunday at the annual Blue & Gold Dinner at sponsoring VFW Post 2290. About 135 people attended.
The awards dinner honored both Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts for their ranks and achievements.
Keilor Chaves was honored as “Scout of the Year.”
Scoutmaster Jim Kelly said Keilor “has done everything that I have asked of him. He has done extra, he has come to pack events, and he has helped me with a lot of different things. I don’t think he even knows that he is going to come up here.”
Mr. Kelly said, “A Scout of the year should at least have Scout spirit, should usually be at all the meetings, shows up in uniform, and does what he is asked. But a scout needs to go over and above.”
Keilor was presented with a certificate and a watch with a compass.
Council President Mark Gregor, who is also involved in Scouting with Troop 193, addressed the gathering after the meal.
”It is so nice to see so many young parents involved with their children by encouraging them to be members of such a great organization like the Boy Scouts of America,” said Mr. Gregor. “I look forward to working with your children as they demonstrate their skills and knowledge as they advance ranks as Boy Scouts.”
”I would like to thank all of the Scouts here today for their hard work obtaining their beads, pins, merit badges and rank advancements,” he said. “I know that each Scout in our pack and troop put in a lot of hard work this year and are very deserving of these awards. The skills and knowledge you obtain will certainly help you later in life as you become young men and adults.”
Mr. Gregor thanked the leaders for their hard work and dedication — especially those whose sons have graduated from Scouting.
Mr. Kelly, with the assistance of Cubmaster Bruce Hixson, presented the Cub Scouts with their awards. Pinewood Derby winners Wyatt Hamilton, Austin Chaya and Todd Peterson received trophies for their winning cars.
All of the cars received recognition. They included Raymond Azar (most original), Anthony Barras (scariest), Rocco Barras (most pack spirit), Jack Burrell (best decal), Christian Byra (most valuable), Austin Chaya (best use of weights), Frank Docwra (best time machine); Wyatt Hamilton (best dragster), Ethan Mullins (most “out of the box”), Matthew Mullins (best lightening), Todd Peterson (most original paint), Justin Petti (best themed car), Lucas Rich (best grill work), Diego Salazar (most decals), Noah Slack (best integration of color) and Kevin Villegas (most innovative design).
Rain gutter regatta sailboat winners Rocco Barras, Justin Petti and Austin Chaya (first to third, respectively) were recognized.
Certificates went to Sean Allen (Judges’ Choice), Raymond Azar (best drawn sword), Anthony Barras (best camouflage), Rocco Barras (most innovative sail), Jack Burrell (best eyes), Christian Byra (simplicity award), Austin Chaya (best tiger), Frank Docwra (most interesting), Jonathan Gomez (most unique), Wyatt Hamilton (most nautical), Ethan Mullins (best use of color), Matthew Mullins (most valuable), Todd Peterson (best killer whale), Justin Petti (best superhero), Jacob Reilly(most original sticker), Lucas Rich (best pirate), Diego Salazar (best drawn SpongeBob), Noah Slack (best hull design) and Kevin Villegas (most patriotic).
Cub Scout awards were presented to these Tigers: Rocco Barras, Jack Burrell, Christian Byra, Kevin Villegas and Jacob Wilbur.
Wolf Scouts gaining awards were Raymond Azar, Austin Chaya, Frank Docwra, Matthew Mullins, Justin Petti and Noah Slack.
Bear Scouts cited were Sean Allen, Anthony Barras, Jonathan Gomez and Ethan Mullins.
Activity badges for Webelos went to Wyatt Hamilton (Citizen, Engineer, Fitness, Naturalist, Outdoorsman, Scientist), Todd Peterson (artist, citizen, fitness, handyman, naturalist, outdoorsman, showman, compass emblem), Jacob Reilly (citizen, fitness, readyman, scholar, scientist), Lucas Rich (artist, naturalist, outdoorsman, readyman, scientist, compass emblem); Diego Salazar (bobcat); Bryan Spiers (citizen, fitness, scholar, scientist).
Boy Scouts who received merit badges included Nick Barras (wood carving), Connor Budd (art, fishing), Kyle Budd (art, fishing, wood carving), Cole Chapkowski (Indian Lore), Keilor Chaves (basketry, wood carving), Luke Drobny (Citizenship In Nation, Citizenship In World), Matthew Drobny (Citizenship In Nation, Citizenship In World), Mathew Fiduk (Citizenship in World, cooking, first aid and kayaking).
Also Matt Henrys (Indian lore), Hunter Kornacivich (Indian lore), Justin Lazar (fingerprinting, Indian lore); Nicky Lazos (art, cooking, basketry, leatherwork, weather, wood carving), Nicholas Mattei (Indian Lore), Jalen Petersen (scholarship), Danny Shubiak (leatherwork, weather), Jonathan Spiers (fingerprinting, Indian lore), Patrick Urbanowicz (Indian lore) and Michael Zangara (Citizenship in Community, Citizenship In Nation, Citizenship In World, and communication).
Boy Scouts who received recognition for achieving ranks included Cole Chapkowski (tenderfoot, 2nd Class), Keilor Chaves (1st Class), Patryk Czyz (Scout) and Mathew Fiduk (tenderfoot, 2nd Class, 1st Class), Timothy Franks (tenderfoot, 2nd Class), Matt Henrys (tenderfoot, 2nd Class), Hunter Kornacivich (tenderfoot, 2nd Class), Justin Lazar (2nd Class), Nicky Lazos (2nd Class, 1st Class), Nicholas Mattei (tenderfoot, 2nd Class), Scott McGinn (tenderfoot, 2nd Class), Jonathan Spiers (2nd Class), Patrick Urbanowicz (tenderfoot, 2nd Class) and Michael Zangara (Star, Life).
Two leaders, Bruce Hixson and Mary Ellen Day, were recognized for their long work with the Scouting program by receiving 20-year pins.
Attending the evening were VFW Post Commander Charles Goodyear and his wife, Barbara; Ladies Auxiliary Post 2290 representative Gloria Kubiak, and Borough Council members Susan Asher, Richard Onderko, Ron Skirkanish and Steve Szabo.