DP People

Barry Wagner, past master (P.M.) of the George M. Dallas Lodge No. 531, was recently presented with the Daniel Carter Beard Masonic Scouter Award.

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Barry Wagner, center, past master of the George M. Dallas Lodge No. 531, was recently presented with the Daniel Carter Bear Masonic Scouter Award. Shown with Wagner are his father, Frank Wagner Jr., P.M., left, and Lynn Sheehan Sr., worship Master of George M. Dallas Lodge 531.

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The award was presented to Wagner by Lynn Sheehan Sr., Worshipful Master of George M. Dallas Lodge No. 531 and Frank Wagner Jr., P.M., father of the recipient, for his outstanding service to youth and Freemasonry by serving as a dedicated member of George M. Dallas Lodge No. 531. Wagner is also a Scout Leader of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Council No. 501 and Dallas Troop 281 of the Boy Scouts of America. The Daniel Carter Beard Masonic Scouter Award is an honor due to the countless Freemasons who practice the ideals of Freemasonry and act as role models.

The Daniel Carter Beard Masonic Award not only supports the Masonic relationship through the man who brought Scouting to America, but proclaims the integrity of the Freemason who is honored by receiving the award.

Freemasonry’s relationship with the Boy Scouts started with a Freemason named Daniel Carter Beard.

Beard was made a Mason in Mariner’s Lodge No. 67, New York City, NY, and later affiliated with Cornucopia Lodge 563, Flushing, NY. In the late 1800s, he founded a male youth program called the “Society of the Sons of Daniel Boone.” By 1905, the program had become “The Boy Pioneers.”

The man who would create the first “Boy Scouts” and be known as its founder was Lord Robert Baden-Powell of Great Britain. Lord Baden-Powell, who was not a Mason, read of Beard’s program and, based on his own military experience, developed what is known as the “Boy Scouts.”

In 1910, the Boy Scout program came to America when Beard merged his organization into the “Boy Scouts of America” and became its first National Commissioner.

Know affectionately as “Uncle Dan” by millions of Boy Scouts, Beard worked tirelessly to create the Scouting program that we know today. He developed the elements of the Scout badge and the Scout uniform and wrote and illustrated various early publications of the Boy Scouts of America.

The Daniel Carter Beard Masonic Scouter Award consists of a certificate endorsed by the Right Worshipful Grand Master Stephen Gardner, a Masonic neck medallion and a Boy Scouts of America-approved knot patch to be worn with a Scout uniform. The neck medallion is a silver metallic medal of the square and compasses resting upon a sunburst and supported by a blue and silver ribbon. The knot patch is a gold colored square knot supported by a purple background with a gold border.

Wagner is a past master of George M. Dallas Lodge No. 531 serving as master in 2005 and will again serve as master for 2009. He has been a scouting leader, serving as a Den Leader for Cub Scout Pack 281 from 2002 to 2006 and as Assistant Scout Master for Troop 281 since 2006.