Posted on 12/15/2004 5:39:33 AM PST by Arrowhead1952
By Laura Heinauer
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Wednesday, December 15, 2004
A former Boy Scout from Burnet has donated $2 million toward a new Boy Scouts of America regional headquarters, the organization announced Tuesday.
Frank Fickett, an 83-year-old real estate developer who sits on the Scouts' Capitol Area Council executive board, made the lead donation for the planned $3.9 million, 25,000-square-foot facility, which will be named in his honor.
"It serves so many children throughout the entire area, and, after all, they are our future," Fickett said Tuesday.
A former Burnet City Council member, Fickett has lived in the Hill Country town for 12 years and has donated land to several projects, including the Austin steam train station in Burnet as well as the town's civic center and future City Hall.
The Capitol Area Council is searching for 2 to 5 acres in the Austin area for the headquarters and service center, council officials said Tuesday. It is expected to be three times as large as the current office at 7540 Ed Bluestein Blvd.
"Scouting in Central Texas has practically doubled since the early 1990s," said Tom Varnell, the council's chief executive officer and Scout executive. "Being that the region as a whole is projected to double in 20 years, we have to start preparing for that."
Unlike the current space, which is crowded and hard to find, the new administration building will need to be more convenient for current and future members, Varnell said. Plans for the center include a retail Scout Shop and meeting space for volunteer training and program planning.
"We literally outgrew our current location nearly a decade ago," Varnell said, adding that the organization is looking at properties along the North MoPac Boulevard (Loop 1), North Interstate 35 and North U.S. 183 corridors.
"We want to be somewhere that's easy to access with high visibility," Varnell said.
The 15-county Central Texas region, which has more than 7,000 volunteer leaders and serves more than 25,000 youths, continues to grow at a rate higher than the national average, Varnell said.
In recent months, however, the organization has had to deal with a revenue shift as a result of its policies that exclude homosexuals. The local chapter of the United Way decided last year that it would no longer allocate money to the Scouts because all partner agencies must serve people without regard to race, color, gender or sexual orientation.
Consequently, the Scouts have had to rely more on private and direct donations, Varnell said.
"We believe that others who believe in our oath and our law, like Frank, will come forward," he said. "They know what Scouting can do and will do for the youth of our community."
The local chapter of the United Way decided last year that it would no longer allocate money to the Scouts because all partner agencies must serve people without regard to race, color, gender or sexual orientation.
United Way just wrote off all future donations from me.
A big Scouting thank you from an Asst. Scoutmaster in the Bluegrass Council in Ky! We could sure use men like him here to help with Camp McKee improvements. Oh, does your screen name denote The Order of The Arrow 1952?
Not at all. I was born in 1952 and am an avid Indian artifact hunter.
Texas Boy Scout ping.
Thanks for the ping Arrowhead!
Well done from an Asst. Pack Leader from the Simon Kenton Council (OH).
I live on Lake Travis in Central TX, which is made by a dam on the Colorado River. The Apache Indians used the river as a trail from the coast to the TX panhandle. There are many artifacts here.
When I was a kid all one had to do was walk through a freshly plowed field and you could pick up arrow heads by the hand fulls. You can still pick up plenty but most are broken shards. A great hobby. Being part Native American I have a problem with people digging up burial grounds. It's just not right and I would not do it to anyone else's ancestors.
There are several Indian Burial Grounds near our home. Most are posted "Off Limits" and fines are stiff. There are also several near Lake Georgetwon. Those had to be fenced because of digging.
There are two on my dad's farm, and the area they are in, will eventually belong to me. I told my younger sister I wanted to preserve the burial grounds and that is why I wanted that part. She didn't know they existed.
Boy Scout ping.
Good for you! I feel that all good deeds get rewarded in the end as all bad ones.
Boy Scout Ping!
That is the same reason I decided to donate my $$$$s to certain charities. I will never again donate to CAUW.
The United Way doesn't get any of my money, but I'll help the Boy Scouts any way I can.
Thank you, God, for people like Mr. Fickett!
Yikes! This guy looks so much like my deceased grandfather it is positively eerie!
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