Channing Moore “Chan” Zucker
Eagle Scout 1954
Distinguished Eagle Scout 2006
Chan Zucker’s contributions to youth and Scouting are best reflected in decades of dedicated service and support. He has accumulated myriad notable accomplishments during his nearly 80 years of unwavering support for Scouts and the Scouting movement.
An Eagle Scout in 1954, he has been active in Scouting through and beyond his youth and two full adult careers – first as a U.S. Navy Surface Warfare Officer and Geophysics Specialist (retired Captain), then as Executive Director of the Historic Naval Ships Association. Throughout both careers, he was an energetic role model, representative, and advocate for Scouting, and he also served as an adult Scouter in a wide range of leadership roles.
Wherever he worked throughout both careers, he remained grounded in his Scouting roots, actively serving as an ambassador for Scouting and encouraging adult peers and youth to engage within his spheres of influence. Wherever he served, he was an outstanding role model and received many accolades. The U.S. Navy recognized him for superior leadership via numerous high-level awards, including the Joint Service Commendation Medal, the Legion of Merit, and three Defense Superior Service Medals.
After he retired from his second career, Zucker maintained his support for Scouting, as well as through his ties to various non-Scouting volunteer organizations that directly serve/support youth. He has maintained an unflagging commitment to volunteer service through his membership in the Rotary Club of Hampton Roads in Virginia Beach, Virginia. This club and its parent organization, Rotary International, are well known for their service orientation.
He has held nearly every club officer position, including Sergeant-at-Arms, Director of International Service, Foundation Chair, Treasurer, Secretary, Charity Fundraising Coordinator, Vice President, and President. He has actively participated in nearly every club service project and has routinely supported fundraisers for local youth charities. For 20 years, he has participated as a tutor and mentor at a local elementary school’s remedial reading program. Every year, he has unselfishly donated personal funds to The Rotary Foundation, where he was recognized as a major donor and a Paul Harris Fellow.
Chan’s current club is youth service-oriented, providing volunteer services and ongoing financial support for Scouting America, Girl Scouts, homes, clinics, hospice services for disabled or terminally ill children, and many others. For 35 years, Channing Zucker has not only served youth in a variety of ways but has exemplified Rotary’s motto of “Service above Self.” He has been the driving force and part of a team of Rotary club members who have routinely volunteered their time doing “grunt work” at the Tidewater Council’s Pipsico Scout Reservation in Spring Grove, Virginia, including the refurbishment of an accessible cabin at the camp.
In 2025, he conceived and raised the funds to construct a shelter at Camp Rotary in Pipsico. Lacking permanent program structures, Camp Rotary has operated as a primitive or wilderness subcamp. It has been used primarily for weekend camping, by troops coming on their own, and for camporees. The new Chester G.A. Zucker Family Pavilion was named for Channing’s father (a former Scout Executive). Chan and his family, who were the primary underwriters, hope that, with their gift of the pavilion, Camp Rotary will now be another option for long-term camping and other multi-unit events at Pipsico Scout Reservation.
He is also a strong supporter of Tidewater Council’s annual Friends of Scouting campaign; each year for the last 25, he has served as a table host for the Council’s Annual Leadership Breakfast fundraising event, to which he has brought on board dozens of donors who otherwise might not have contributed as Friends of Scouting.
Tidewater Council has recognized Zucker as a James E. West Fellow for his financial support. He received the Silver Beaver Award in 2005 and was honored as a Tidewater Council Living Legend in 2019. He is a recipient of the Cliff Dochterman Award for service to Rotary and Scouting.
