Silver Beaver 2021

The Silver Beaver Award was introduced in 1931 and is a Council level Distinguished Service Award recognizing significant service to Scouting by a volunteer. 

Jennifer Combee

Jennifer began her Scouting journey in 1992 with Troop 106 in the Thunderbird District; during this time, she has held several positions within the Troop and is currently serving as an Assistant Scoutmaster.  In 2006, Jennifer was introduced to Cub Scouts, as her two eldest sons worked their way through the ranks, she served on the Pack Committee. When her third son joined Cub Scouts she became a Den Leader and completed Tigers through Arrow of Light 2 with his den. Currently, she is serving as a Wolf den leader for her youngest son.

Jennifer attended Wood Badge Course S4-86-12 and discovered her passion for training, in 2013 she was appointed as the District Training Chair and served in the position for seven years. In 2019 she accepted the position of District Day Camp Program Director and the following year facilitated crafts for the Council’s Virtual Camp in a box.  At this time, she serves as the Assistant District Commissioner of Administration.

Jennifer is also a Brotherhood member of the Order of the Arrow and is National Camp School trained in Day Camp Administration. She has also attended Powder Horn and will be the course director for the Powder Horn course this fall. She also earned the District Award of Merit in 2013.

Jennifer is married to David Combee, Scoutmaster of Troop 106 and 2019 Silver Beaver recipient. She is the mother of six children Noah, Brian, Dakota, Amberlyn, Logan and Brielle, five of them whom have been active in the Scouting program.  Jennifer would like to thank Linda and Glenn Combee, Randall and Susan MacDonald, and her Scouting Family for their unwavering support.

Matthew Cordani

Matthew’s journey in scouting began in 1983 when he brought home a flyer from school about Cub Scouts. He joined Pack 546 in Appomattox, Virginia, and in 1992 he earned the rank of Eagle Scout with a Bronze Palm from Troop 546.

In 2008 Matthew’s oldest son, Morgan began his own scouting adventure in Pack 5 in Roanoke, Virginia and his younger son, Cameron, started as a Tiger scout in 2011. When Morgan’s journey began in 2008, Matthew signed up as an adult leader and served as a Den Leader for Wolves, Bears, and Webelos dens. In 2013 Morgan crossed over into Troop 5 and Matthew took on the position of Assistant Scoutmaster.

Life took a major turn in 2014 when Matthew and his family moved to the Tampa area. Even with a location change, the scouting experience continued for the Cordani family. Matthew immediately jumped in as a Den Leader for Pack 339, and as an Assistant Scoutmaster in Troop 339. As a part of the Greater Tampa Bay Area council for the last seven years, Matthew has served as the Scoutmaster for Troop 339, the Scouts BSA Roundtable Commissioner, a member of the Fort Brooke training team, and the Fort Brooke District Training Chair. Since Matthew completed Wood Badge training in 2016, he has served as a staff member on four Wood Badge courses. He is a Brotherhood member of the Order of the Arrow and a District Award of Merit recipient.

Among the best experiences for Matthew in Scouting has been watching his two sons reach the rank of Eagle Scout, Morgan in 2018 and Cameron in 2020. Matthew would also like to thank his wife of 21 years, Katie for being at his side for all of this scouting adventures.

Robert M. Miller

Rob Miller joined Cub Scouts as a Tiger Cub in Pack 515 in Winter Haven, earning the Arrow of Light award and then earning the rank of Eagle Scout with a Gold Palm in 1991 as a member of Troop 515.

Rob began his volunteer service in 2014 with Pack 366 in Land O’ Lakes. He has served as Den Leader, Asst. Cubmaster and is currently a member of the Pack Committee. Rob also serves as an Asst. Scoutmaster with Troop 33 in Land O’ Lakes. In addition to Unit service, Rob has served the Allohak and Suncoast Districts as a Commissioner, Advancement Chair and District Chairman, and is currently a Vice Chair.

Rob has a passion for training and has staffed University of Scouting the past 4 years, Winter 2018 NYLT and will be serving on Wood Badge staff for the third time in a couple of weeks. Rob hopes to attend Summit (or Philmont) Leadership Challenge and the Developing Youth Leadership Conference next. Rob has had the honor of earning his Wood Badge beads, Powderhorn award, Seabadge award, District Award of Merit, Order of the Arrow Ordeal and Brotherhood honors, and the Silver Beaver award with the same Council – Gulf Ridge and now Greater Tampa Bay Area.

Professionally, Rob is the Director of Business Development for FARO Technologies and received his Bachelor of Science in Surveying & Mapping from the University of Florida. He is credited as an inventor on 7 US patents.

Rob would like to thank his wife, Leslie, and sons Andrew (Star Scout), and Dexter (a Bear), for their support and making Scouting a family affair. Rob would also like to thank all of the Scouters and staff who he has had the pleasure of getting to know and have coached & mentored him over the last 7 years. Additionally, Rob would also like to extend a special thank you to his dad, David, who is here tonight, for supporting him throughout his time in Scouts as a youth – without his support in the beginning, he would not be here tonight.

Jay Sheridan

Marc Holtzberg

Marc started his Scouting life in Cub Scouts and crossed over into Boy Scouts in North New Jersey where he earned his Second Class and then decided to move onto other things. After college and a move to Florida, he got married to his wonderful wife Luiza in 1997, moved into a house in Westchase, and started a family. When his son Daniel was old enough, they joined Pack 46 and the entire family enjoyed camping with Cub Scouts. Daniel crossed over to Boy Scouts and Marc attended ITOLS and Wood Badge and became a Fox in the S4-86-11-1 class. Marc became Unit Commissioner (UC) in the Tocobaga District and then became an Assistant District Commissioner (ADC) when it merged and became the Fort Brooke District. Marc was also voted into the Order of the Arrow where he assisted the Health and Safety Officer during all Lodge events and is now a Brotherhood member of Uh-To-Yeh-Hut-Tee Lodge. Marc became the Advisor of Venture Crew 46 where they hiked the Grand Canyon Rim to Rim while his wife and daughter hiked the canyon Rim to River to Rim. They shifted from Crew 46 to 221. Then Daniel and Adina were interested in Sea Scouts and they joined Ship 185 in Apollo Beach at Tampa Sailing Squadron where they still belong today. Marc has attended every S-4 Section Conference since 2013 and attended NOAC in 2018. The entire family went to the 2019 World Jamboree either working, volunteering, or participating. His son Daniel has earned his Eagle, Quartermaster, Vigil, and served as Lodge Chief. His daughter Adina is currently working on her Quartermaster and has served as Council Boatswain. Marc is currently Skipper’s Mate in Ship 185 and Council Commodore. Marc currently works as a Senior Engineering Technical Writer at Catalent Pharma Solutions in St. Petersburg. Marc still sits on the Schaarai Zedek Brotherhood Board planning Temple Brotherhood social events. Marc likes to sail and race and has sailed to Key West, Dry Tortugas, and Cuba. Marc enjoys anything mechanical, wood working, home and boat repair. Marc has received tremendous love and support from his wife Luiza over their 23 years of marriage. There has been countless Scouting mentors who have helped him through all of these stages of Scouting and still enjoys a crisp flag raising in the morning, sleeping in a tent, and outdoors, and taps at night.

Mark Mayo

Dr. Mark Mayo has been a Scouter for many years. Mark’s father was a Boy Scout in the1930’s. When he was little, he joined Scouting as a Wolf Cub and later went on to earn his Scout Arrow of Light. He then went on to become a Boy Scout, joining Troop 204 in Minoa, New York. Mark obtained the rank of Star before he left Scouts in 1970.

Mark returned to Scouting when his son attended a back to school night orientation and wanted to join! Marc enjoyed all of the scouting activities with his son for many years. His son crossed over to Troop 110 and Mark became a committee member.

After serving as a Committee Member, Mark took on the role of Assistant Scoutmaster. Later he was selected to the Order of the Arrow and obtained the Arrow Vigil Honor; one of his highest achievements and personal awards.

Mark served as Advisor for the Timucua Order of the Arrow for several years. He was then asked to serve on the Timucua District Committee as the District Camping Chairman. In this position, he chaired the District Camporee in 2011. Later he served as the Committee Chairman of Troop 111. He then joined the Timucua District Committee as a Member at Large. His primary position is a Unit Commissioner.

Mark is a large animal Veterinarian and has his own practice which keeps him very busy. For years he has served as a Hornaday Counselor and Merit Badge Counselor for Veterinary Medicine along with other merit badges.

Mark is happily married to Cheryl Dennard-Mayo, a Girl Scout Leader. They have 4 children Robert, Mark Jr., Eagle Scout and Vigil Honor, Lauren, Girl Scout Gold award recipient, and Pamela, Girl Scout Silver Award Recipient. They also have one grandchild, Terrence. Mark serves as a Lone Scout Advisor for his grandson in the Timucua District.

Danelle McCracken

Danelle has a long family history of scouting stemming back to her great grandfather who was an avid scouter. Her grandfather (a fox) and her father (an owl) were Scoutmasters for troops in Nebraska and Colorado. This is where the love for scouting began for Danelle as she joined them on many scouting activities. Danelle was also a Girl Scout as a youth.

Danelle currently serves as the Committee Chair for Troop 677G out of Seffner. She is the former Committee Chair for Troop 678 where she now serves as the Eagle BOR Chair. Danelle has also been actively involved with Cub Scout Pack 776 committee for several years. Danelle and her husband Billy founded the pack. Danelle was also the former
Committee Chair for Troop 797.

Danelle is actively involved in both NYLT and WoodBadge. Danelle has served on 4 NYLT courses as adult staff since 2016 and was the Course Director for NYLT 8 in the summer of 2019. Most recently, she was the advisor for the 1st of its kind NYLT Pack & Paddle course in the Spring of 2020. Danelle will share her love for servant leadership for the upcoming NYLT course 12 as the advisor & kitchen staff. Danelle is a proud Owl from WoodBadge course S4-86-14-2. Danelle has staffed 3 other courses to include Troop Guide in summer 2015, scribe in summer 2018 and Senior Patrol Leader in spring 2020.

Danelle is a member of the Timucua training team as well as a Timucua committee member at large. She is actively involved as a member of the Timucua Eagle advancement team. Danelle is also a newly elected member of the Order of the Arrow having completed her ordeal on February 6, 2021.

In her professional life, Danelle has worked for USAA Insurance for the last 21 years. She is currently employed as a Auto Claims Facilitator teaching courses such as non-injury claims and injury claims courses. Personally, Danelle is married to Billy McCracken, also a Silver Beaver recipient. They have 2 boys. Gavyn, 17 is a Life scout working on his Eagle project and Braylon, 11 is a Tenderfoot scout. Danelle wants to thank everyone whom has supported her scouting journey including her husband, father and grandfather whom have been wonderful role models for her.

Susan Sandstrom

As a child Susan’s family vacations always involved camping. She was a Brownie and a Girl Scout, her brother was in Cub Scouts, and her father was a Webelos leader.

Soon after her son entered first grade in 2007, he received a flyer inviting him to attend a Cub Scout meeting and he was
immediately hooked. Susan became a Den Leader shortly after her son joined and has been registered as a volunteer ever since. Her son, who is now 20 years old, is an Eagle Scout.

Over the years, Susan has served as a Den Leader, a Pack Committee Chair, an Assistant Scoutmaster, a District Committee Member, and a Unit Commissioner. Susan is also a member of the Order of the Arrow.

While a member of the Anclote District, Susan served on staff of Scoutmaster Specifics and Introduction to Outdoor Leader Skills at least five times. She was a member of the Anclote Advancement Committee and served on Eagle Boards of Review for three years. She has also attended Wood Badge and is proud to be a Fox.

Susan’s favorite volunteer position has been as a Campmaster at Sand Hill Scout Reservation. She has served the camp for about six years as a Campmaster. Since October 2018, she has run the Trading Post at Sand Hill during large events or whenever possible.

In April of 2017, Susan, Ranger Dan Wilson, and Assistant Ranger Dave Sweeney started mapping out a system of trails at Sand Hill. With lots of help from other volunteers, there are now about 10 miles of trails that cover the camp and scouts of all ages are starting to use them frequently to fulfill rank requirements, practice for upcoming backpacking trips, or just for the fun of it.

Susan is currently registered as an Assistant Scoutmaster with Troop 9 in Tarpon Springs, but her current passion for now is
organizing volunteers to maintain the trails at Sand Hill.

Recipients of this award are registered Scouters who have made an impact on the lives of youth through service provided to the Council.

Past Recipients

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