When Ernie Stauffenecker received the Silver Antelope Award from the Boy Scouts of America, he said he felt humble. "I associate this award with others who have done so much more," he said.
But a list of accomplishments, two pages long, speaks to Stauffenecker's participation with the Scouts, and its National Council thought the award was well earned.
The Silver Antelope is given to those in the Boy Scouts who have shown distinguished service to youth. Stauffenecker's distinguished service started when he was a young man, working his way through the Scout program.
"I never learned to swim well enough to be an Eagle Scout," Stauffenecker said. But his two sons went on to be Eagles, and he has grandchildren already involved in the early stages of the scouting program.
This legacy within his family has strengthened the family ties, said Stauffenecker's wife Jeanette. "It has bonded him with his sons. There is a closeness in their relationships that continues today," she said.
ADVERTISEMENT
Stauffenecker has worked his way through the organization, from Boy Scout himself to regional administrator. Stauffenecker now serves on the regional board of the Boy Scouts, which includes states from West Virginia to Montana and from Minnesota to Missouri. {IMG2}
He is also a member of the Scouts' membership standards committee, which reviews and regulates the actions of its members. "Let's put it this way, if Michael Jackson were in the Boy Scouts, he'd be out," Stauffenecker said of some of the situations the standards committee deals with.
Locally, Stauffenecker has been the council commissioner and president as well as district chairman for the Northland area. Before getting into the administrative side, he was a scoutmaster for Troop 28 in Duluth for eight years and for another troop in Roseau before that.
Stauffenecker's involvement on the administrative end found him in the center of the Boy Scouts' controversy on homosexuality. During this time, he said he is proud to have helped lead the board through an educational process in addressing local issues of gay membership.
Through the years, Stauffenecker has seen the program change, but the values stay the same. "The merit badges now involve more technology, and I think it's great that women can now be Scoutmasters," he said.
Stauffenecker said he has many fond memories of young, tender-footed scouts trying to build a fire for the first time. But one of his proudest moments was on a camping expedition in Canada with Eagle Scouts he had helped to bring up.
"They were so self-confident and self-reliant; I was just along for the ride," he said.
In addition to the Silver Antelope Award, Stauffenecker is the recipient of the Silver Beaver Award, as is his wife. He has also received the District Award of Merit and the St. George Emblem from the Catholic Diocese of Duluth.
ADVERTISEMENT
Believe it or not, Stauffenecker's work with the Scouts has actually been a side project; he is a retired St. Louis County social service administrator, as well.
