Local Boy Scouts Organization Hires New Leader as They Approach Centennial

COLUMBIA, SC – November 26, 2008 – Charles Potok, President of the Executive Board of the Indian Waters Council of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), and President of the Companion Property & Casualty Insurance Group, has announced the selection of Douglas W. Stone to serve as Scout Executive for the Indian Waters Council, headquartered in Columbia, South Carolina, effective December 1, 2008.

Mr. Stone replaces Larry A. Brown, former Scout Executive who left in November to accept the promotion to Area Director for the Boy Scouts of America serving the Councils of Arkansas and Oklahoma.

Mr. Stone has been a Scouting professional for nearly 18 years and his most recent service was Director of Field Service for the Heart of America Council, BSA, in Kansas City, Missouri.  There, he supervised 28 Scouting executives in support of more than 19,000 volunteers and 42,000 youth members. Under his leadership, the council has gained national attention in achieving exceptional growth in membership and fundraising, becoming the seventh largest of more than 300 Boy Scout councils in the United States.
 
Prior to Kansas City, Mr. Stone served as Director of Finance and Marketing as well as Field Director for the National Capital Area Council, BSA in Washington, D.C. He started his career in Hartford, Connecticut, where he served in a variety of roles from 1991 to 2000 with the Connecticut Rivers Council, BSA.
 
Mr. Stone is an Eagle Scout and a Vigil Honor Member of the Order of the Arrow, Scouting’s honor camping program, and has an extensive background in summer camp operations and fiscal management. He is a graduate of St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in History. Mr. Stone and his wife, Elizabeth, are the parents of four children and are relocating to the Columbia area.
 
Scouting in the Indian Waters Council is very strong and continues to grow in both quality and quantity, Stone said, Its volunteers as well as the facilities and program at Camp Barstow are second-to-none. I am thrilled to join those great volunteers and help bring the camp and the council into the 100th Anniversary year of the Boy Scouts of America and beyond.
 
The Boy Scouts of America will celebrate its 100th Anniversary in 2010 and are planning a variety of area-wide initiatives to celebrate its heritage and serve more young people.  The Indian Waters Council, BSA, currently serves more than 8,000 youth in South Carolina’s Midlands region with a comprehensive youth program that helps develop character, promote fitness, and train in participating citizenship. The council operates a premier year-round camping facility at Camp Barstow, located on Lake Murray.

The Indian Waters Council, founded in 1916, is the Boy Scouts of America council serving following central South Carolina counties: Bamberg, Calhoun, Fairfield, Kershaw, Lexington, Orangeburg, Richland, and Saluda.  The Boy Scouts of America is the nation’s foremost youth program of character development and values-based leadership training. 

For more information on the Boy Scouts or Camp Barstow, please go to www.indianwaters.org  or contact Dawn Darby at [email protected] or 803-750-9868.