Champions of Scouting Celebration
Three community service leaders will be honored at the 2021 Champions of Scouting Celebration on the USS Midway Museum, with the centerpiece of the event being a tribute to Father Joe Carroll.
The annual San Diego-Imperial Council Boy Scouts of America celebration, this year featuring a headline performance by Brian Wilson, co-founder of the Beach Boys, with special guests Al Jardine and Blondie Chaplin, honors San Diego community leaders who recognize and support the positive impacts resulting from its youth leadership and community service programs. This year’s two additional honorees are Dianne L. Bashor and David Malcolm.
“Father Joe touched and improved the lives of thousands in San Diego. His life illustrates the power and joy that servant-leadership embodies,” says SDIC Director Sean Roy. “We are grateful for the decades Father Joe energized our scouting community. He mentored scouts, inspired leaders, and recommended service projects for Eagle Scouts. He saw scouting as a way for youth to develop leadership skills while creating positive impacts in San Diego.”
For the past decade, Father Joe avoided the spotlight when others sought to honor him. For SDIC and for scouting, he graciously agreed earlier this year to be recognized as a Champion of Scouting. Throughout his career, Father Joe was an ardent supporter of the Boy Scouts and its life-enhancing opportunities. He served as the National Scout Chaplain, originating and several times leading the All-Hands Mass at the National Jamboree with around 9,000 scouts in attendance. Locally, he served as the San Diego Scout Chaplain for more than 40 years, while serving as the contingent leader for numerous National Jamborees.
Dianne Bashor and her late husband, businessman Jim Bashor, are known for their significant gifts to many local institutions including the San Diego Zoo, San Diego State University, UCLA, USC, and the San Diego Imperial Council Boy Scouts of America. In September 2019, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors proclaimed Dianne Bashor Day for her generosity and dedication to the community. Mrs. Bashor made the lead gift of $1 million for Camp Bashor at Otay Lakes County Park, which will be available for Scouts and other local nonprofit organizations. It is the first scouting facility in the South Bay area.
David Malcolm is a San Diego-based entrepreneur, real estate expert, and community leader. Besides a successful career in real estate, he has been dedicated to community and public service. Malcolm was the first appointee to the California Judicial Performance Commission after its creation by a 1994, as well as a Chula Vista Redevelopment Commissioner and the longest-serving California Coastal Commissioner in history. He has served as a board member of numerous public and private entities, including San Diego Christian College, American Cancer Society, St. Vincent de Paul (for 31 years), and San Diego History Center.
“We were thrilled that Father Joe enthusiastically agreed to share the Champions of Scouting spotlight with Mrs. Bashor and Mr. Malcom to bring a positive focus on the programs he supported for decades,” says Roy. “During our planning, Father Joe fully expected to be at the event. We are humbled that, even as his health failed in the days before his passing, Father Joe insisted the event go on as planned.
The event will also celebrate the first-ever female Eagle Scouts in San Diego who completed their Eagle Scout rank in 2021. In addition to these trailblazing female Eagle Scouts, SDIC inducts more than 400 Eagle Scouts annually. All net proceeds from the evening will benefit scouting.
