Frank Harper, Council Commissioner of the Flint River Council, has been presented with Scouting’s national Distinguished Service Award for his years of service and commitment to the youth of the Scouting program.
Only 25 individuals from Georgia have ever received the Distinguished Service Award. Harper is just the second Scouter in the history of the Flint River Council to receive the honor, and is the first to be honored with the award in the last 49 years.
Over the last 15 years, Frank has served in a variety of leadership roles at numerous national scouting events, including the 2008 ArrowCorps and 2011 SummitCorps events in California and West Virginia, respectively, where Frank provided key logistical leadership to conservation projects in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest and the New River Gorge National Park. Harper has also served on staff for the last 7 national Conferences, serving as a lead adviser at the past two Conferences, and on the Conference Management team for the 2012 Conference.
Locally, Harper is one of the of the “Key 3” leaders of the Flint River Council, serving over 9,000 youth and adults as Council Commissioner in eight counties, including Spalding, Fayette and Coweta counties. Frank also serves on the executive board and executive committee of the Council, is a council representative on the National Council of the Boy Scouts, and serves on the Southern Region Order of the Arrow committee.
Frank lives in Newnan with his wife, Melissa, and their children Merideth and William Harper. Professionally, Harper is an attorney, and maintains a bankruptcy law practice in Fayetteville.
The Order of the Arrow’s Distinguished Service Award was created in 1940 to honor those who rendered service to the Order beyond the lodge level. The award is presented to those Arrowmen who have rendered distinguished and outstanding service to the Order on a sectional, regional, or national basis.
The award is presented every two to three years during the National Order of the Arrow Conference.
On May 30, the National Order of the Arrow Committee approved 69 persons to receive its Distinguished Service Award (DSA) for outstanding service to the Order on a Sectional, Regional, and/or National basis. Prior to 2012, only 839 Distinguished Service Awards have been presented. Frank was presented the DSA on July 30 during the 2012 National Order of the Arrow Conference (NOAC) at Michigan State University.
