Distinguished: Scouting award honors a standout volunteer

There was a lot of fun poked at Goldsboro accountant Harold Brashear Monday at the Torhunta District of the Tuscarora Council’s Distinguished Citizen Award Banquet.

His friends noted his love for fitness and his need to be “well-groomed” and “perfectly mannered.”

They even noted that his idea of roughing it might be a little more genteel than most — camping, for example, with candles and a silk pillowcase.

But what was not lost on those who sat in the audience and laughed through his roast was just how much Brashear has given to Scouting in Wayne County.

And that is just one of his many achievements. Brashear is a regular supporter of many civic organizations and more than willing always to lend a hand with any community project that comes along, those in attendance said.

And that is why he truly deserves the title bestowed on him.

A Distinguished Citizen is someone who gives of himself — even when he is busy with business and family obligations. He is someone who sees beyond the immediate needs of his own world to the future that is possible for his neighbors and his community. A Distinguished Citizen knows that sometimes by taking someone else’s hand and showing them the way, he can make a difference in his future.

Harold Brashear has proven he thinks just that way — both through his work in his community and with the Scouting program.

There are few people who are not aware of Brashear’s service to Wayne County. There are several civic organizations that count him among their volunteers.

And that work is what sets him apart, his friends and admirers pointed out Monday.

In keeping with his modest style, Brashear took the time to acknowledge his family — children, Lee and Christine, and his wife, Jody, to whom he has been married for 31 years.

Without them, he said, he could not have accomplished what he has over the years.

And that is what makes him fit in so well with the Distinguished Citizen Award winners who have come before him.

Volunteers are what make programs like Boy Scouts strong. This award was a chance to say thank you to Brashear and others like him — and to raise a little money to continue the mission of the organization he has served so well.

Published in Editorials on April 25, 2006 11:09 AM