Scouts honor attorney, manufacturer
An attorney and a manufacturing company will be honored as the Distinguished Citizen and Distinguished Company of the Year by the Boy Scouts of America’s Moraine Trails Council.
The two awards for Thomas W. King III, a Butler-based attorney, and Oberg Industries, a company focused on precision manufacturing with its headquarters in Freeport, will be presented at a dinner June 2 at the Pittsburgh Marriott North.
King is an Eagle Scout and an advisory member of the Boy Scouts of America who supports various charities.
He said he was honored to be chosen, but thought the award could have gone to a number of others.
“There’s a lot of people more worthy than me,” he said. “(But) I’m honored to be chosen.”
In addition to his own experience as an Eagle Scout, King’s father was an Eagle Scout and coincidentally earned this same award. King’s grandfather was also involved in scouting as a scoutmaster.
King said his experience in scouting showed him the rules by which he should live his life, and he hopes current scouts gain the same knowledge.
“Our family has its tradition,” King said. “If you follow the Boy Scout Law, you will grow up to contribute to society.”
Oberg Industries also earned its award through making an impact on scouts in Butler County.
The company has supported the scout Technology Merit Badge Academy for five consecutive years, offering resources and volunteered instruction to scouts at the program, which takes place at Butler County Community College.
David Rugaber, the company’s executive vice-president of sales and marketing, said his company usually has a team of engineers who talk to scouts about engineering as a career and show them some of the basic skills required, such as drafting.
“It really helps them on their career path,” he said.
Rugaber said he is thankful to the council for recognizing the team that works with the scouts because the company employees do it on their personal time.
However, he said the team’s goals never involved themselves.
“It’s something you don’t expect, you don’t do it for the recognition,” he said.
