The Rio Grande Council of Boy Scouts of America held its Distinguished Citizens Award Dinner on Thursday and honored state District Judge Rose Guerra Reyna and former Vice President of IBC Bank-Brownsville Bertha Garza for their commitment and hard work in improving the community.
Hosted by Chairman Commissioner Marcus Barrera and McAllen ISD school board trustee Tony Forina, who served as the event’s master of ceremonies, the 34th annual dinner was the first in its history in Hidalgo County to be held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Thank you to the dinner organizing committee who have spent countless hours and hours of planning and organizing this event,” Judge Reyna said. “Which started as an in-person event and just as the Boy Scouts have learned to be adaptable in the COVID world, they adapted to then switch to be in-part live and in-part virtual, and then once again for the safety all concerned, made the decision to go entirely virtual.”
President Manuel Guerra and Sergio Gonzalez, board member of the Rio Grande Council and chairman of Tip-O-Tex BSA, lead the introductions for both honorees respectively.
“It’s not about me though, it’s about the Boy Scouts, but thank you so much for those kind words,” Garza, the former marketing director, said. “I’m honored and I’m humbled to join all the recipients of the Distinguished Citizen Award.”
The entertainment for the dinner consisted of musical performances by Roy Torres and Buck N Crazy and the Tri City High School orchestra as well as videos of Boy Scout Troops 1065 and 777.
Pledges were also being raised throughout the duration of the event in order to continue supporting the Boy Scouts in the Rio Grande Valley.
If you would like to help support the Rio Grande Council BSA, you can text DCAD to 41444 in order to donate. You can also call (956) 432-0250 or visit their office in person at 6912 W. Expressway 83 in Harlingen.
