Donald S. Freeto, Jim Nye and Penny Wigglesworth to be honored by Boy Scouts on October 8 as "Champions of Character"

Marblehead, Mass. — The Spirit of Adventure Council of The Boy Scouts of America will honor Donald S. Freeto, Jim Nye and Penny Wigglesworth as “Champions of Character” in recognition of their service to Marblehead and their exemplification of the ideals of The Scout Oath and The Scout Law at a recognition breakfast on Thursday, October 8.

The breakfast will be held from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. at The Masonic Building, 62 Pleasant Street in Marblehead.

Freeto, in 64 years of service to the Boy Scouts of America, earned the rank of Eagle Scout, two Eagle Palms, the Sea Scout Quartermaster Badge and is a Vigil Honor member of The Order of the Arrow. He has served as a Cubmaster, Scoutmaster, Unit Commissioner, Assistant District Commissioner, and as a member of the District Committee. For many years, he also served as a Unit Commissioner and Assistant District Commissioner in Florida during the winter. He has been honored with the District Award of Merit and The Silver Beaver Award, the highest recognitions that can be bestowed upon a volunteer at the District and Council levels. The Masonic Lodge honored him with the Daniel Carter Beard Award in recognition of his service to Scouting. Freeto has also been active in Troop 11 with his sons and grandson, making three generations of Eagle Scouts.

Nye is the President of National Grand Bank in Marblehead and has been a member of Marblehead’s Board of Selectmen since 2005. A member of The Clifton Lutheran Church, he has served as the church’s Council Property & Stewardship Committee Chairman, Financial Secretary, Treasurer, Vice President and President as well as being the church’s Charter Representative to The Boy Scouts of America. He is currently Secretary of the Marblehead Gridiron Club, a member of the Rotary Club of Marblehead Harbor, Advisor to the Marblehead High School Interact Club, Treasurer of Camp Calumet in Freedom, NH, and a past coach for Marblehead Girls Softball and Marblehead Youth Soccer. In his youth, Nye was a member of Cub Scout Pack 79 chartered to The Clifton Lutheran Church.

Wigglesworth is founder and president of the all-volunteer, non-profit Penny BearTM Company. Since its founding in 1995, the company has provided messages of love, hope, healing and comfort with heart-warming, sweater-wearing, cuddly Penny Bears symbolizing those messages to thousands of individuals. The Penny Bear Company has also benefited and supported organizations including Circle of Friends, Friends Forever, Hospice, The Parkinson’s Support Group, Rotary Club of Marblehead Harbor, Threshold Singers and many more. In 20 years, Wigglesworth and her friends have generously bestowed thousands of Penny Bears across the United States and abroad in countries that include Afghanistan, Guatemala and Haiti. Penny was a Girl Scout, her children were active in Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts and she was a Girl Scout leader. She also notes that many Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts helped out as volunteers at the Penny Bear Workshop.

The breakfast is complimentary. Guests will be invited to make a contribution in celebration of the honorees to help support the programs of The Boy Scouts of America.

The Spirit of Adventure Council serves more than 12,000 youth in 77 communities in the North Shore and Greater Boston Area. Scout units in Marblehead include Cub Scout Pack 11 and Boy Scout Troop 11 chartered to St. Stephen’s Methodist Church and Cub Scout Pack 79 and Boy Scout Troop 79 chartered to The Clifton Lutheran Church and Venture Crew 1776 chartered to the Marblehead Recreation and Park Department.

The public is warmly invited to attend. Reservations should be made by October 6. For more information or for reservations, please contact Jessica Barnett at 781-639-0624 or at jdharbar@comcast.net, or Laura Moriarty, Spirit of America Council, at 617.272.3532 or at Laura.Moriarty@scouting.org.