Gates Gets Award From Scouts Council

Orange County Sheriff Brad Gates on Thursday became the first recipient of the William H. Spurgeon III award presented by the Orange County Council Boy Scouts of America.

Before Spurgeon died in 1970, the area resident was credited with altering the Boy Scout’s Exploring program so that boys and girls could focus their activities on future careers such as firefighting, police or engineering, director of field service Lou Salute said.

Previously, the Exploring program focused on adventure activities such as mountain climbing, and was for boys only, said Salute.

Gates, a former Boy Scout, was chosen to receive the award at the Westin South Coast Plaza hotel in Costa Mesa because of his long-standing involvement in local Boy Scout activities and other youth programs.