| Member's lifelong love of scouting earns AFL-CIO George Meany award | |
| By
MARY CAROLINE POWERS Scouting has been an important part of Jonah Triebwasser's life for more than 40 years, an involvement that's likely to continue well into the 21st Century. That devotion has resulted in Triebwasser receiving organized labor's highest honor for service to youth through scouting, the AFL-CIO's George Meany Award. He was nominated for the national honor by the Hudson Valley Boy Scout Council, PEF Division 169, and the Albany Labor Council. "I'm very pleased," said Triebwasser of the award being presented to him at PEF's December Executive Board meeting in Albany. "It is very nice that my union colleagues did this for me, but working with young men is its own reward." Triebwasser was a Cub and Boy Scout in the mid-'50s into the 1960s. Positive memories of his own scouting experience led him to encourage his son, Thomas, to join Tiger Scouts, the point at which Triebwasser became actively involved again. That was 10 years ago. "You start in Tigers working one-on-one with your son," Triebwasser said. "You do it for him, and then for his friends. You get to see these kids grow up and stay on the straight and narrow and have the opportunity to do things they wouldn't otherwise be able to do." Triebwasser serves as assistant scoutmaster and advancement chairman for his son's troop - Boy Scout Troop 128 in Rhinebeck. Triebwasser also chairs the Hudson Valley Council's Tri-Valley District Jewish Committee on Scouting. And he is committee advisor to the Order of the Arrow, scouting's honor society, to which Thomas has been admitted. Triebwasser's union activities are equally extensive. A senior attorney who prosecutes environmental criminals for the the state Department of Environmental Conservation in New Paltz, he is secretary and a steward of PEF Division 169. And he is a regular volunteer photographer for The Communicator. It is estimated that one of every four top unit leaders of Cub Scout packs, Boy Scout troops, Varsity Scout teams and Explorer posts in the United States is a union member. The George Meany award is named for AFL-CIO's first president, who was a strong supporter of scouting for many years. Triebwasser lives in Red Hook with his wife, Ellen (also a PEF member), 16-year-old Thomas, and their 13-year-old daughter, Alison, who belongs to Girl Scout Troop 196. Although Thomas soon will be leaving home to attend college, Triebwasser has no intention of getting out of scouting. "I'm looking forward to staying involved," he said. "Each year there's a new crop of kids who want to know how to tie a knot, or read a compass or build a campfire." |
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