By Mark Langlois
THE NEWS-TIMES

 

The News-Times/Carol Kaliff   Donna Ramey was honored by the Connecticut Yankee Council of the Boy Scouts of America for her work with the Regional Hospice of Western Connecticut and the United Way.

DANBURY — When the Connecticut Yankee Council of the Boy Scouts of America gives its Good Scout awards, officials talk about character, leadership and values.

This year, the awards went to two banking professionals who have shown those traits — Donna M. Ramey and John J. Martocci.

At Wednesday’s Good Scout luncheon, Ramey, a Danbury native, said she grew up in a small community with big expectations.

"Get involved and make a difference in someone’s life,” Ramey urged the audience of 200 people. Ramey is a volunteer and leader at Regional Hospice of Western Connecticut, and chairman of the board of United Way of Northern Fairfield County. "It is the most rewarding experience you will know.”

The News-Times/Michael Duffy   John Martocci, president and chief executive officer of the Newtown Savings Bank, received the 2003 Good Scout Award for his work with community organizations.

The Connecticut Yankee Council serves 26,232 children in Fairfield, New Haven and Hartford counties. Its scouts gave 135,000 hours of community service last year. To help fight hunger, they collected 156,762 cans of food for local food pantries.

Ramey, of Newtown, is executive vice president and chief lending officer of the Savings Bank of Danbury. She has worked in banking for 35 years, and thanked people at the bank for freeing her up to do volunteer work.

Martocci, president and chief executive officer of the Newtown Savings Bank, was also given the 2003 Good Scout Award for his work in community organizations. Martocci remembered back to when he was a Boy Scout with Troop 2 in Hartford.

"I don’t think any of us realized the influence our two leaders would have on us,” Martocci said. "We learned patience. We learned to work together with all kinds of kids to get the common thing done.

"We learned how to work hard and be active,” Martocci said, also thanking his co-workers at the bank for freeing up his time to work on a number of volunteer projects. Martocci has worked with United Way, the Danbury Hospital finance committee, Ashlar of Newtown and many other organizations.

The guest speaker for the luncheon was Jeffrey Plate, a third-grader from New Fairfield who is a Scout in Pack 142.

"My dad was glad I wanted to be a Cub Scout, because now he gets to be a Scout again,” said Jeffrey, who talked about the many activities he’s done since he joined. "We went ice fishing, and I caught a fish. My dad didn’t.”

Jeffrey said he hopes to join the U.S. Air Force or the U.S. Army or to become a policeman when he grows up.

"My dad said it’s a uniform thing,” the young Scout said.

Contact Mark Langlois at mlanglois@newstimes.com