The Kansas City-area Jewish Scouting community celebrated the 100th anniversary of the National Jewish Committee on Scouting with a kosher barbecue at Gezer Park in Leawood on Sunday, Oct. 11.
The event was hosted by the Heart of America Council Jewish Committee on Scouting (HOAC JCS) and Congregation Beth Shalom’s Scouts BSA Troop 61, which is in its 101st year. The Heart of America Council of Scouting America serves 19 counties in eastern Kansas and western Missouri.
Attendees included former Jewish Committee on Scouting chairs Al Beitchman, Ted Goldstein, and Norman Kahn, along with current chair Richard Simon. Also attending were retiring Troop 61 Scoutmaster Brian Bell and Rebecca Friedman, Cubmaster of Pack 3153, which is sponsored by Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy and meets at the Jewish Community Center in Overland Park.
Representatives of other religious Scouting committees joined the celebration, including Joe Rozell, chair of the council’s Catholic Committee on Scouting; Ron Schroer, chair of the Protestant Committee on Scouting; and Don Shapley, chair of the Religious Relationships Committee.
Catholic Chaplain John Swartz and Protestant Chaplains Patrick Liang and Jon Voss also attended, along with National Jewish Committee on Scouting members Kahn and Seth Distler, and alumni, parents, and Scouts from Troop 61.
The celebration included greetings from Phil Sternberg, president of the National Jewish Committee on Scouting, which was established in November 1926. Historical information about Jewish Scouting in America was provided by the committee’s historian, David Malatzky. Shapley also offered congratulations.
During the event, Shapley and Simon presented Kahn with the Heart of America Council’s 2026 Duty to God Award in recognition of his longtime service to interfaith Scouting.
Kahn’s contributions include coordinating the council’s Ten Commandments/Interfaith Treks, organizing interfaith worship as part of Scouting Chaplain and Chaplain’s Aide training, and arranging for Jewish chaplains to serve each summer at the H. Roe Bartle Scout Reservation.
Kahn has also served as Scoutmaster, Venture Crew Advisor, and High Adventure Coordinator for Troop 61.
He is a member of the National Jewish Committee on Scouting and the National Religious Relationships Committee, where he serves on the faculty for the annual Religious Relationships Week. The program is held virtually and occasionally in person at the Philmont Training Center at Philmont Scout Ranch.
Families interested in Cub Scouting, for children in kindergarten through fifth grade, may contact Pack 3153 Cubmaster Rebecca Friedman at . Those interested in Scouts BSA, for ages 11 to 17, may contact Troop 61 Committee Chair Richard Simon at .
