Created in 1925, the Silver Buffalo Award for distinguished service to youth is awarded to those persons who give noteworthy and extraordinary service to youth. This award is Scouting's highest commendation of the invaluable contributions that outstanding Americans make to youth. The service must be national in scope and can be independent of, or directly through, the Boy Scouts of America.
It is also one of the most prestigious awards in the Boy Scouts of America. Since 1925, only 719 Silver Buffalos have been presented. In 2013, national Order of the Arrow chairman Ray Capp was chosen as one of these individuals. He was recognized at the national annual meeting in May, where all Scout councils were represented by delegates.
Capp has been an extremely active member of not only the Order of the Arrow but Scouting in general. He began the program at a very young age, thanks to the help of his cousin. Capp told his mother that he would only continue in Scouts if it proved to be interesting. Now, almost 50 years later, it is clear he had a calling to be a part of scouting. Over these many years, Capp has served as a Scoutmaster, Middle Tennessee Council vice president of district operations, vice chairman of special projects and technology for the Order of the Arrow, and currently holds the position of national chairman for our Order.
In an interview done earlier in the year, Capp credited our outstanding organization as a big reason behind his Scouting success.
"We adult Arrowmen volunteer in the most amazing organization on the planet!" Capp said. "We work alongside our people for decades who become our best buddies along the Scouting trail; we have the honor to work with them to deliver a program of leadership development to America's finest youth, which brings all the gratitude and rewards life could offer. And then, the BSA comes along and gives us meaningful awards on top of it. I love this country!"
"In my case, the citation on my Silver Buffalo certificate mentions in particular my service to our beloved Order. But I think they have it backwards. It is because of all the efforts of hundreds and hundreds of others during this time that I have sat in the seat of the chairman, and that I am really receiving it. All our Brothers, by delivering great program to the youth across America, have lifted up my chair and I recognize more than anyone that this Buffalo is being bestowed because of all the work of those others during a time when I wasn't paying attention and just stumbled to the front of the parade."
In a sign of true servant leadership, Capp expressed excitement at returning back to the troop level after finishing his term as chairman.
"I hope when I lay down the duties I have been asked to fulfill as chairman, I will find a troop that needs a guy to teach pioneering, or the Totin' Chip, and I will be the quiet old guy who knows his scoutcraft in the corner, always there, serving as a quiet resource for anyone who may want to bake turkeys in a garbage can, blackberry cobbler in a dutch oven, or make a 'ferris wheel' out of pioneering spars. That is my dream: to return to that simple life of service to others."
Patrick Yim Section Sentinel