My Scout News

Flag Day in Quincy will be highlighted by two special events. On Saturday, June 13, Michael Berry will be honored with the Richard J. Koch Memorial Youth Award by the Koch Club. The award honors an individual for outstanding service to youth and will be presented at Quincy’s 58th Annual Flag Day Parade. Berry is being honored for his decades of service to Scouting and youth in Quincy. The parade begins at 7:00 pm. On Sunday, June 14, the National 9/11 Flag begins its nation-wide tour in Quincy, and will be honored at a special ceremony at the Thomas Crane Library at 4:00 pm.

Michael Berry became a Boy Scout in 1961, rising to the rank of Eagle Scout. Over the last 40 years, he has been a Troop leader and worked at Boston Minuteman Council as a District advisor on camping programs. His service and dedication have been recognized through many awards including the George Meany Award in 2006, the Silver Beaver in 2003, and the District Award of Merit in 1999. These represent some of the highest awards given to a volunteer. Berry serves as Committee Member to Troop 6 in Quincy and is a Co-Chair of the annual IBEW Labor Luncheon honoring outstanding union members who further the aims of Scouting. This event has raised over $300,000 to fund Scouting programs in the Boston area. In addition to his work with Boy Scouts, Berry is a key volunteer at Quincy First Night Family Day, Presidents Day Celebration, Arts in the Park, Hough’s Neck HOPE Committee and the youth activities on Edgewater Drive in Hough’s Neck on July 3rd.

Another highlight on Flag Day will be the National 9/11 Flag which begins its nation-wide tour in Quincy. On September 12, 2001 at Ground Zero, construction supervisor Charlie Vitchers recovered the remnants of a 32 foot flag. This massive American flag was stitched back together over the 9/11 anniversary in 2008 by residents of Greensburg, Kansas, a town 95% destroyed by an EF-5 tornado in 2007. Boy Scouts of Troop 42 will have the honor of escorting this flag as part of the Quincy Flag Day Parade on Saturday. On Sunday, June 14, the Quincy Fire Department Honor Guard will host a ceremony at the Thomas Crane Public Library at 4:00pm with Boy Scouts from Troop 42 Quincy serving as an honor guard for this living piece of American history.

Richard Koch Sr., father of Thomas Koch, the Mayor of Quincy, founded the Koch Club in 1948. Over the next decades, the club expanded its outreach to youth sports, food and gift drives, Santa Claus visits, and donations to medical research foundations. In 1952, Koch began the tradition of the Quincy Flag Day Parade when he led the members of The Koch Club through Norfolk Downs to Cavanaugh Stadium where a flag-raising ceremony was conducted. By the mid-1960’s, the parade had grown to a city-wide event and was moved to Quincy Center. This year marks the 58th anniversary of this much-anticipated celebration.

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