FLORENCE — Barry W. McDonald knows all about adversity because cancer snatched his right arm above the elbow when he was 15.
But that hasn’t stopped him from playing golf, working out and running three times a week.
And it hasn’t slowed him down as the Scout Executive/CEO of the Pee Dee Area Council Boy Scouts of America. He hit the ground running last fall and has yet to catch his breath because he has so many plans for the Pee Dee Area Council.
McDonald, 49, came to Florence from Richmond, Va., his hometown. He was the Boy Scout director of field services for that area. He’s been involved in scouting for 16 years.
“I came to Florence because I saw it as both an opportunity and a challenge,” he said. “My family is still in Richmond and moving has been a huge adjustment, but the people here have really been great to me.”
There are about 4,000 youth involved in scouting in the Pee Dee Area Council. One of McDonald’s goals is to double that number over the next four years by offering more scouting opportunities and by organizing additional packs, troops and crews.
McDonald specifically wants to see scouting grow in at-risk areas because of the values the organization promotes.
He said the Boy Scout Oath is a moral beacon for all to follow. It says, “On my honor, I will do my best To do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; To help other people at all times; To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.”
A Scout is also trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.
And, unlike some campers who pollute America’s outdoors today, a Scout follows an outdoor code. That code says, “As an American, I will do my best to be clean in my outdoor manners, be careful with fire, be considerate in the outdoors and be conservation-minded.”
McDonald said it scares some people that scouting is so moral.
“I want scouting to be visible in the communities across the country again because it’s one of the few moral companies we have left in our society,” he said. “This year is the 100th anniversary of scouting, and we need to build on that solid tradition. I plan to do all I can to see that we build on the foundation that has been established in the Pee Dee.”
Tim Norwood is president of the Pee Dee Area Council. Norwood, who received his Eagle Scout award in 1970, is vice president of sales at ADP Tax Credit Services.
“We went through a very extensive search across the southeast looking for a scout executive for the Pee Dee Area Council,” Norwood said. “We were looking for someone with success in growing traditional as well as non-traditional scouting units.
“We are confident we have found that person in Barry McDonald because our numbers are growing, our units are up and our Friends of Scouting campaign was a success. Barry’s skills and ability fit what we need to happen now and in the future.”
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