FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 12, 2025
For more information:
Alison Harrison, Marketing and Communications Director
James Parnell, Scout Executive
Virginia Beach, Va. – Three local Scouting America leaders have received the 2024 Silver Beaver Award, the highest honor bestowed by the Tidewater Council. First introduced in 1931, the prestigious award recognizes volunteer leaders who have provided distinguished service to youth.
These three exemplary leaders have given untold amounts of their time and talents to serve the needs of local youth Scouts in the area. One of them – Kate Sklat – lives in Chesapeake.
Kate Sklat has been passionate about environmental protection and hazardous waste compliance for years. After 20 years in containerized shipping hazardous materials regulation compliance, she changed careers in November 2023. She now works in the Public Works department at Naval Station Norfolk, where she can make a difference in environmental protection.
Kate’s love for Scouting began growing up in Colonial Heights, Virginia. She was a Girl Scout from Brownies to Seniors, attending summer resident camp for 10 years and serving on staff for one year. Her family had a strong Scouting tradition, with her mom as troop leader and her grandfathers serving as assistant Scoutmasters. Her dad, his brother, and her brother-in-law are Eagle Scouts. They pledged to Alpha Phi Omega National Service Fraternity, as did Kate, her sister, cousin, and husband.
Sklat became a Girl Scout leader for her daughter Rebecca’s troop from 2012 to 2020. Rebecca joined Venturing Crew 824 in 2016 and remained active until earning her Pathfinder rank. She also served on the Pipsico staff for several years, including as Area Director for Handicrafts. Kate’s son, RJ, joined Pack 862 as a Bear in 2014 and earned the Eagle Scout rank with Troop 234 in 2024.
Kate has served in leadership roles in Pack 862, Troop 234, Troop 824, Troop 5824, Crew 824, Ship 596 (all in the Three Rivers District), Crew 179 (Princess Anne District), and Crew 1151 (Colonial Virginia Council). In the Three Rivers District, she is the Cub Scout roundtable commissioner and a unit commissioner. Kate has served as training chair and on the district committee.
Kate is an assistant council commissioner, council training committee member, Blue Heron Lodge Elangomat Adviser, and 2025 Wood Badge Course Director. She has staffed National Youth Leadership Training, Wood Badge, Pow Wow, and University of Scouting.
She is a National Commissioner Service Team member for Roundtable and has served on the National Scout Jamboree staff. Kate joined the faculty for Commissioner’s Week at Philmont Training Center in New Mexico.
One of Kate’s happiest Cub Scout memories was coordinating a Religious Emblems class for her son’s Bear den. The boys attended church together and thought receiving their medals in front of the congregation on Sunday and getting their knots at the pack meeting the following Thursday was cool.
Kate has received the Outdoor Ethics Awareness Award, Outdoor Ethics Action Award, Scouter’s Training Award, Council Certified Trainer, Council Distinguished Trainer, Three Rivers Commissioner of the Year, Three Rivers District Award of Merit, Commissioner’s Key, Arrowhead Honors for Roundtable Commissioners and Unit Commissioners, and Distinguished Commissioner Service Award.
In 2023, she received the Order of the Arrow’s Vigil Honor from Blue Heron Lodge. Her Vigil name translates to “Trusted Leader of Guides.”
Sklat and two other local volunteer Scout leaders, James T. Carroll and Roland D. “Ron” Misfeldt, were honored with the 2024 Silver Beaver Award at the annual Scouting America Tidewater Council recognition dinner on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, at the Khedive Shrine Center in Chesapeake.
(from left): Tidewater Council President John Scheib, Silver Beaver Chair Byron McPherson, 2024 Silver Beaver Award Recipient James Carroll, 2024 Silver Beaver Award Recipient Ron Misfeldt, 2024 Silver Beaver Award Recipient Kate Sklat, Tidewater Council Commissioner Tim Briggs, and Scout Executive James Parnell
About the Silver Beaver Award
As a movement with leadership overwhelmingly comprised of volunteers, Scouting America recognizes the need to acknowledge the invaluable service Scout leaders render to youth.
The Silver Beaver is the highest honor that a local council can bestow upon a volunteer and is among the most prestigious awards in Scouting. Since 1931, the award has been a means for council-level recognition of Scouters who have provided distinguished service to youth.
A recipient of the award may be a Scouter who has given exceptional service to Scouting or their community over a long period, or it may go to a Scouter who has done a single remarkable act of noteworthy service. Length of service is not a prerequisite, nor does someone’s tenure make this recognition automatic or warranted.
The Silver Beaver is not an “earned” award. A Tidewater Council peer-level volunteer committee selects the honorees after thoroughly reviewing nominations. The Scouting America National Council, upon the recommendation of the local council, makes the award.
About Scouting America Tidewater Council
Established in 1911, Tidewater Council is the fifth oldest Scouting America council in the United States. Today, the council serves approximately 4,000 youth and 1,700 adult volunteers in the Virginia cities of Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Virginia Beach and the North Carolina counties of Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Dare, Gates, Pasquotank, and Perquimans. To learn more about Tidewater Council or to sign your child up for Scouting, visit TidewaterBSA.com, email james.parnell@scouting.org, or call 757-497-2688.
About Scouting America
Scouting America provides the nation’s foremost youth program of character development and values-based leadership training, which helps young people be “Prepared. For Life.®”
Scouting America welcomes all of America’s youth into its programs. Scouting aims to give them fantastic experiences in the outdoors, and elsewhere, where they can grow in a safe environment. More than 130 million Americans have participated in Scouting’s programs since its founding. Today, more than one million youth are served by 477,000 dedicated adult volunteers in local councils nationwide.
To learn more about Scouting America’s mission, visit Scouting.org.
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