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WHEELING -- A new leader will oversee scouting in the Northern Panhandle and East Ohio, and he believes allowing boys and girls to participate together will bring new opportunities to the program.
The Ohio River Valley Council has announced that Dan Bettison will take over as scout executive at the council effective Jan. 1.
Bettison is a native of Archbold, Ohio, in Northwest Ohio, and is presently field director for the Three Fires Council in St. Charles, Ill.
"In other countries, scouting is co-ed already," he said. "The reason the Boys Scouts are opening up to girls is that as families are changing, they are doing things more as a family unit. The brothers are coming, and their sisters are coming with them.
"That's who we're trying to serve -- the family," Bettison said. "While the boys are here racing a car, why not a program for girls at the same time?"
Wheeling has a strong history with scouting, Bettison acknowledged.
"Yes, we're going to grow scouting," he said.
Bettison began his scouting career as district executive at the Dan Beard Council in Cincinnati. He then moved on to become the senior district executive and later field director with the Chicago Area Council in Chicago.
Bettison also served as field director of the Northwest Suburban Council in Mt. Prospect, Ill., until his promotion to executive of Chief Okemos Council in Lansing, Mich. From there, Dan moved on to his present position.
Bettison and his wife, Bonnie, visited the Ohio Valley earlier this month to search for a home in preparation for their move here. The couple has two grown children: daughter Jordan and son Josh.
Bettison is himself a former Eagle Scout who channeled his passion for scouting into a life-long career.
He said he joined the Scouts in much of the same way many young people do. Flyers are placed in school, and those first joining convince others to come have fun as scouts.
"A lot of our recruitment is peer-to-peer," he said. "A friend invited me to a scout meeting. I had a great time, and the rest is history. I joined the Scouts, and became an Eagle Scout."
While he initially interviewed with the Scouts while a student at Bowling Green University, Bettison first accepted a job selling Remington typewriters.
He joined the Scouts four years later, and has been with the organization since then.
Scouting helps build character, citizenship and a sense caring about the community, Bettison said. It also helps youth to discover their leadership skills.
It's a mainstay of society that is especially needed today, he said.
"Our culture has changed," Bettison said. "There are more opportunities for young kids today than there were when I was a young man. There are so many things for kids to do today.
"And the family structure has changed somewhat," he said. "My mother stayed at home. Now both parents have a job, and sometimes two or more jobs."
Scouting gives youths the opportunities to get outside and experience nature, Bettison said.
"Scouting is the best youth program we can offer kids," he said. "It offers the skills and values of working together that have lasted for over 100 years, and we can keep moving on for another 100 years or more."