Statue meant to inspire“The Dedicated Scout” monument provides a new place for scout assemblies at Worth County’s Camp Osborn.SUSAN MCCORD susan.mccord@.at.albanyherald.com
SYLVESTER — Gerald Lawhorn’s vision for a gift unveiled Monday was forged during his youth as a boy scout at Camp Osborn, scouting officials said.
The Eagle Scout from Sylvester’s Troop 33 watched intently as a monument called “The Dedicated Scout” was unveiled at the scout reservation in western Worth County Monday.

Lawhorn, 61, understands everything but communicates using a notepad, said his wife, JoAnn. The avid sportsman and long-time troop leader announced he had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, in 2005.

“I know this is a result of a vision young Gerald, scout Gerald, had many years ago,” said Joe Najar, president of the 17-county Chehaw Council, at the ceremony.

Boy Scouts on their second day of scout camp stood at attention and saluted the American flag at the monument, which becomes the new place for assemblies at the camp, Chehaw Scout Executive Ray Allen said.

The monument, a statue of a scout with his hat in one hand and an axe in the other, facing the flagpole atop a wide brick foundation, seeks “to inspire kids to be dedicated scouts,” Allen said.

It is the first to be erected at Camp Osborn since a nearby stone pillar was dedicated in 1960 to Chase Osborn, who donated land for the camp, Allen said.

Lawhorn’s vision also led to the Scoutparent Initiative, which helps new parents of scouts “get the most out of scouting for the kids.” The Georgia pilot program has become a model for scouting nationwide, Allen said.

Guest speaker Alf Tuggle was returning to Camp Osborn after serving as camp director 30 years ago. Now the Southern Regional Director for Boy Scouts of America, Tuggle oversees scouting in 13 states.

The 1960 monument detailed the gift of 810 acres given by former Michigan Gov. Chase Salmon Osborn and his wife, Stellanova, for a scout park. Osborn, Michigan’s governor from 1911-1913, kept a hunting lodge called Possum Poke in the Worth County city of Poulan, where he died in 1949.

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