Work with Boy Scouts earns
Breland national honor

By Staff
NATIONAL HONOR Jerry Williams of Madison, left, most worshipful grand master of the Grand Lodge of Mississippi, presents Kenneth Breland of Philadelphia the Daniel Carter Beard Masonic Scouting Award. The award was presented in recognition of Breland's volunteer service to youth through the Boy Scouts of America. SUBMITTED PHOTO
special to The Star
Feb. 1, 2004
Philadelphia businessman Kenneth Breland recently received the Daniel Carter Beard Masonic Scouter Award national recognition for his service to youth through the Boy Scouts of America.
Breland has been actively involved with Scouting for nearly 50 years.
Information provided with the award said, "Work accomplishment and dedication rather than a specific number of years in Scouting, should be the criteria for receiving this award."
The award is a national recognition approved by the Boy Scouts of America and promoted by the Grand Lodges of Masons in the United States. Men who are both registered Scouters and members of a Lodge of the Free and Accepted Masons are eligible to be nominated for the award.
Before retiring as Scout executive of the Choctaw Area Council, Noel Evans nominated Breland for the award.
Breland received the award in a surprise ceremony at the end of the 2004 installation of officers of Philadelphia's Masonic Lodge No. 93. It was presented by Jerry Williams of Madison, most worshipful grand master of the Grand Lodge of Mississippi.
After expressing his gratitude for the award, Breland said, "I didn't even know there is such an award."
In his nomination, Evans wrote that Breland "has been actively involved in the Scouting program since 1956." He added that "Kenneth is a dedicated Scouter who has given unselfishly of his time and talent in support of the Scouting program in the Choctaw Area Council.
Breland credits his father-in-law, the late T.C. Ward, with getting him involved in Scouting. Ward, who was Neshoba County superintendent of education at the time of his death, served as Scout master for the Philadelphia troop for many years.
During his years of Scouting service, Breland rose from an assistant Scout master with the Bobashela District Committee to president of the Choctaw Area Council, an office to which he was twice elected.
His volunteer Scouting work also has included jobs as vice president of the Choctaw Council's Membership Committee, Friends of Scouting enroller, Friends of Scouting captain, Friends of Scouting chairman, the Council Long-Range Planning Committee chairman, the Council Camping Committee chairman, the Council Properties Committee vice chairman and membership on the Council Executive Board.
The award is named for Daniel Carter Beard, a Mason and one of the founders of worldwide Boy Scout movement. In the late 1800s, Beard founded the "Society of the Sons of Daniel Boone" which had become "The Boy Pioneers" by 1905.
Based on his own military experience and information he had received about Beard's program, Lord Robert Baden-Powell of Great Britain developed what is now known as "Boy Scouts."
In 1910, the Boy Scouts of America came into being when Beard merged his organization with "Boy Scouts" and became the organization's first National Commissioner.
According to information provided with the award, in addition to being a Mason and a registered Scouter, recipients must have "displayed outstanding dedication to the Scouting program through developing Scouting units, assisting Masonic lodges in forming units, exemplifying the Scout Law and Masonic virtues, recruiting Scouting volunteers, and strengthening the relationship between Freemasonry and Scouting."