On Thursday, Jan. 4, the Leatherstocking Council of the Boy Scouts of America selected Ray Eschenbach to be their new Scout Executive.
Eschenbach was selected by a volunteer committee of the council executive board from a pool of three to six candidates provided by the National Council. The scout executive normally serves a minimum of four years, and at the continued satisfaction of the council executive board. In addition to management responsibilities, the Scout executive is the corporate secretary of the council, and the principal spokesperson to the local communities of the council.
“The Selection Committee undertook a detailed and extensive process to determine the qualities we wanted in the candidates for this position,” said President John Devlin. “We were fortunate enough to be able to choose from some of the best professional scouters in the United States. It was a tough choice because the candidates were so qualified that we wanted to choose all of them.
“We chose Ray because he is the candidate that we believe best understands the needs of the Leatherstocking Council and has a great vision for taking the scouting program here in Central New York to the next level. Ray is no stranger to scouting in this area. He served the Revolutionary Trails Council as its District Director before taking several promotions and working in several other Northeastern Councils. Ray gained much from his time away and we are pleased to be able to welcome him back home.”
Eschenbach began his Scouting career 22 years ago and is a highly trained and qualified Scouting professional who has served in various leadership positions in Cumberland, MD, Utica, Syracuse and Reading, Pa. He is a Vigil Honor member of the Order of the Arrow who enjoys hunting, fishing, and the outdoors. He and his wife, Kristy, have two boys Jacob and Noah. Both of their sons are very active in Scouting and working their way up the trail to Eagle.
The Leatherstocking Council is thrilled to have Eschenbach on board and is looking forward to his direction as he leads the organization to new heights in the coming years.