Scouts’ honor: service, leadership in community

HARRINGTON — Some years ago, Robert Nakagawa was island-hopping in the Pacific, sharing the values of the Boy Scouts of America.

The areas are thousands of miles apart and many thousand miles from Delaware, where he now leads the Scouts’ Del-Mar-Va Council.

“I had about 9,000 Scouts in this area, and it took me more than six months of the year traveling out of a suitcase, going island to island, delivering programs to these kids,” he said at a Boy Scouts benefit Tuesday in Harrington.

Those stops included the Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, the Marshall Islands and other such atolls.

The camp days would start with the Scout Oath and Scout Law, both of which were recited by three local Scouts from Camden-Wyoming Rotary Troop 109 at the dinner this week.

“We would focus on the Tenderfoot to First Class requirements,” he said.

Those include basic first aid, knot-tying, swimming, fitness — “things of that nature — just the basics of Scouting, that last a lifetime,” he said.

Among his proudest moments was learning that a Scout from Micronesia used the Heimlich maneuver to save the life of a baby.

Mr. Nakagawa said the Scouts he met on the remote islands sometimes shared a skewed perspective on reality — for example, asking what island the dinosaurs were on. “Hollywood magic, in their opinion, was very real to them,” he said.

The children do not have the same opportunities that our children enjoy. So, it was a big deal for some of them to get financial support to go to Oahu, Hawaii, for a summer camp.

“They were amazing, and everywhere they went, they were marching, they were singing, and everybody in camp just loved these Micronesians,” Mr. Nakagawa recalled.

The group won 13 of 14 patrol competitions — all but the tug-of-war, he said, adding, “The camp just went wild at the closing campfire when they were recognized for this because they just exuded that Scout spirit.”

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Mr. Nakagawa said he shared the story of the Micronesians to set up a “thank-you” at Tuesday’s dinner in the Harrington Raceway & Casino’s Gold Room.

“I share that because, without your support here, we wouldn’t be able to deliver these programs,” he said. “That program in Micronesia no longer exists because there is no funding for it.”

His remarks preceded the presentation of the Kent County Distinguished Citizens of the Year honor to Daily State News associate publisher Tonda Parks and her husband, Joe Parks. The Dover couple is well known in the area for leading efforts to support nonprofits, including the CenDel Foundation and the American Heart Association.

The award program’s chair, Jen Cohan, said Tuesday’s event raised more than $60,000. The funds are earmarked for 500 kids in free and reduced Scouting initiatives.

Mr. Nakagawa said he greatly appreciates what Tonda and Joe Parks do for the community.

“We believe that leadership is a cultivated skill, but we believe service is, as well,” he noted.

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Mr. Nakagawa, who said his time in the Pacific made him realize his career choice was a calling, joined the Del-Mar-Va Council in 2020.
His Boy Scouts career began in Honolulu with the Aloha Council. It included a stop in Denver, before arriving in Delaware.

Del-Mar-Va Scouts report 39,000 service hours annually. Mr. Nakagawa said it has an economic value of $953,000.

“So, your participation here supporting Scouting is also reinvestment into the community,” he added. “Your participation this evening helps us to continue delivering lifesaving and valuable programs.”

According to the Del-Mar-Va Council’s annual report, there were 4,280 Scouts in 196 units in 2023. More than 6,700 merit badges were earned.