Fred R. Norton, Jr. Joins the Ranks of US Presidents, Ross Perot, Bill Gates and more as Recipient of Boy Scouts Highest Honor
Texarkana Community Leader and Caddo Council Executive member Fred R. Norton, Jr. was recently honored by the Boy Scouts of America with its highest honor, as one of the 2024 recipients of the Silver Buffalo Award for distinguished service to youth. In a release from TISD reporting on the award given Norton: Scouting magazine named past recipients since the awards inception in 1925 have included fifteen Presidents of the United States of America, The Unknown Soldier, Norman Rockwell, Walt Disney, John Glenn, Vince Lombardi, Neil Armstrong, Hank Aaron, JW Marriott, Jr., H. Ross Perot, and Bill Gates.
A tax attorney with the Norton + Wood law firm and an assistant professor of accounting at Texas A&M University-Texarkana, Norton currently serves as the Boy Scouts of America Chair of the National Membership and Relationship Committee. In addition to serving as Den Leader, Cubmaster, Assistant Scoutmaster, Wood Badge Course Director and two terms as Caddo Council President, Norton served on the national committees for Membership Support and National Program Support and the Wood Badge Update Task Force. He volunteered as Scoutmaster at the World Scout Jamboree in 2015, Assistant Scoutmaster in 2011, Scoutmaster at two National Jamborees, Subcamp Chief in 2017 and Base Camp Chief at the 2023 Jamboree. Norton was previously honored for his commitment to Scouting with the District Award of Merit, Silver Beaver, Unit Leader Award of Merit and Silver Antelope.
A Scout himself, Fred achieved the rank of Eagle, an accomplishment he also shares with his three sons. Reflecting on these shared experiences, Norton told Scouting Magazine, “There has been no greater joy in my life than re-experiencing the scouting of my youth with my three sons.”
A native of Texarkana, Fred has actively served the Texarkana community and beyond over decades in innumerable leadership roles, in organizations from medical to cultural, governmental, educational and more.
Fred is a proud 1976 graduate of Texas High School, and has served on the TISD Board of Trustees from 1997 to 2003 and again from 2013 to the present. He currently serves as President of the Board of Leadership Texarkana, capping decades of service as chair of Leadership Texarkana’s community-wide LIfT Initiative. He also currently serves on the board of the Texarkana Chamber of Commerce.