On Tuesday evening, March 5, 2019, the Osceola County Golden Eagle Dinner brought together Osceola County’s top corporate and community leaders to Osceola Heritage Park to honor an outstanding member of our community. Osceola County Commissioner, Fred Hawkins Jr. along with the Central Florida Council, Boy Scouts of America welcomed the guest of honor, JR Davis, CEO of JR Davis Construction.
“Scouting is an adventure! It’s nature, leadership, fun and so much more. Scouting is hands-on learning, which helps build the boys and girls lives so that they grow into their best future selves.”
– Fred Hawkins Jr., Osceola County Commissioner,
The Osceola County Golden Eagle Dinner is the annual fundraising event that helps make Scouting happen in Central Florida. It brings together the business, civic and political leaders of our community to share the story of Scouting’s impact on our youth. The Central Florida Council is one of the largest youth-serving agencies in Central Florida, instilling timeless values of character, citizenship, and leadership in each young man and woman who enters the Scouting program.
JR Davis grew up in Osceola County where he attended Highlands Elementary School, St. Cloud Middle School, and St. Cloud High. After graduating high school, JR went on to the University of Central Florida’s Civil Engineering school. While in school for Civil Engineering, JR worked for construction maintenance for Landstar Homes and helped develop Lake Buena Ventura Lakes. In August 1985, JR bought a frontend loader, a trailer, and a dump truck and started JR Davis Construction Company after being employed at Landstar Homes for six years. By 1997, started a Trucking and Road Base company called S&L Materials and then in 2008, JR and friend, Craig Harris formed JTD Land Company, a development company
JR Davis is very involved throughout the county, volunteering for McCormick Research Insitute Heavenly Hooves, Blessing in a backpack, providing nutritious meals on the weekends for tour community’s vulnerable students and families. He is a board member for Grace Landing/Fostering Our Future which engages churches to solve the local foster care problem and much more. He says that his success is because of the people that surround him, his faith, and his family that guide him.
Congratulations JR Davis, thank you for being an outstanding member of the county!
The fundraising from this event was able to raise $111, 705 which will help provide unparalleled experiences for more youth! Scouting serves more than 22,000 families throughout Central Florida, including 5,800 registered volunteers.
The Central Florida Council had a successful year in 2018, their membership grew by a total of 8.5%. Girls were invited to join the Cub Scout Program for the very first time. The Cub Scout Program also set the bar with 2, 567 new youth that registered to their roaster, which ranked them #2 in the nation with girl recruiting.
“I’ve always been surrounded by Scouting, my father is Scout Master and my brother is an Eagle Scout. It’s such a great experience being involved in the Scout program, I’ve been working for this my whole life. It’s an honor as a girl to now have the same opportunity as the boys.”
– Olivia Foster, Troop 864 Osceola District
When becoming a Scout, your goal is to move up the ranks… with that being said 406 Scouts earned their rank as Eagle Scout and completed over 69, hours of service to our community! The Central Florida Council ranked #1 in the country for their Cub Scout Resident Camping program attendance. For more information on the Boy Scouts of America, Central Florida Council please visit, https://www.cflscouting.org.
