Tony Smee

A Bernie native, Tony Smee, is a 2008 recipient of the Silver Beaver Award from the Greater St. Louis Area Council, Boy Scouts of America. Smee will receive the award at the Council's Annual Meeting on May 29th at the St. Charles Convention Center. The Silver Beaver Award is the highest recognition a Boy Scout council can bestow on an adult volunteer leader, and recipients were nominated and selected from over 15,000 registered adult leaders in the Greater St. Louis Area Council, which serves over 67,000 youth members.

In a career that spans two councils and all areas of the program, Smee has witnessed Scouting from many perspectives and is credited by the Scout Council as continually serving as an effective and exemplary leader to Scouting youths.

Smee began his adult Scouting career as a district executive in the former Southeast Missouri Council and continued as a volunteer in several key Shawnee District positions in the Greater St. Louis Area Council including Camping Chairman and District Commissioner. He is now serving as Cubmaster of Cub Scout Pack 20, has served as a troop committee member, chartered organization representative, a Venturing assistant advisor and member of the council's property committee.

Smee is himself an Eagle Scout from Troop 78 in Bernie, a Vigil Honor member of the Order of the Arrow and served as adviser to the treasurer of the Anpetu-We Lodge. He has received the District Award of Merit and several training awards, and has served on seven Wood Badge advanced leadership training staffs in the past 10 years.

Smee's commitment to his community is evident from his involvement with many civic and professional organizations, according to officials within the Boy Scout Council, including the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce and St. Marks Lodge No. 93, AF&AM. He and his wife, Tamara, were both honored with the God & Service Award from Grace United Methodist Church in Cape Girardeau for their Scouting efforts within the church's youth ministries program, where Smee is currently the chair of the stewardship committee. Tony is a Juliette Gordon Lowe Society member of the Otahki Girl Scout Council.

Smee was recently elected as a member of the board of directors of the Cape Girardeau Public Schools, and is a graduate of Bernie High School and Southeast Missouri State University. He and his wife have two children; Winnie Elizabeth, a fifth grade student at Cape Girardeau Middle School and Hayden Christopher, a first grade student at Alma Schrader Elementary. When not working, volunteering or participating in sporting events, Tony and his family can be found camping, canoeing and kayaking or playing bluegrass and other traditional American acoustic music.

When asked about the award, Smee stated, "It was a surprise and obviously a huge honor. I started scouting as a cub scout, and can't really remember a time when I wasn't actively involved," Smee continued, "My uncle, Rondell Smiley, was really instrumental in my continued participation in scouting by serving our troop in Bernie as scoutmaster for so many years. He did it without much help, and provided a safe and constructive outlet for a lot of boys over the years. Without him, we wouldn't have had boy scouting in Bernie, and I never would have attained the rank of Eagle Scout. Scouting has served me so well throughout my life, and has lead to so many of my professional successes. It is a watershed of opportunity for young men, which is so important in a small town. I hope scouting is alive in well in Bernie today, and if it isn't, I hope someone will take the initiative to get it going. We need opportunities for youth to experience leadership opportunities and learn what it means to be good citizens."