[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 2]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 2457]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO MR. VERDERY ROBERSON

                                 ______
                                 

                    HON. ROBERT E. (BUD) CRAMER, JR.

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, February 25, 2008

  Mr. CRAMER. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to an 
outstanding individual from my district, Mr. Verdery Roberson.
  Mr. Roberson is a World War II Navy veteran and a graduate of Paine 
College. In 1988, he retired to Huntsville, Alabama, after thirty-eight 
years as a civilian Electronics Fire Control Specialist with the U.S. 
Army at the Augusta Arsenal in Augusta, Georgia, and the Anniston Army 
Depot.
  Mr. Roberson is most well known for his life-long membership and 
continuing commitment to the Boy Scouts of America. In 1944, four years 
after joining the Boy Scouts, he became the first African-American in 
the Georgia-Carolina Council of Boy Scouts to receive a Scout's highest 
rank, Eagle Scout.
  Mr. Roberson has passed on his extensive scouting knowledge and 
beliefs to countless young men as an adult leader, mentor, and member 
of the Eagle Board of Review. He is the founder and former Cub Master 
for the Cub Scout Pack 314 at the Center Grove United Methodist Church, 
as well as a founding member of the Urban Emphasis Scout Leaders 
Council. The Council is an urban and rural Scout outreach, or Scout 
Reach, organization for the Huntsville-Madison County community.
  For his lifetime of inspirational service and outreach with the Boy 
Scouts, Mr. Roberson was one of the first recipients from North Alabama 
to receive the Whitney Young Service Award. This award is presented 
nationally to those nominated by their local councils who have provided 
Scouting opportunities for young men from rural and low-income urban 
backgrounds.
  On Friday, February 22, 2008, Mr. Roberson's family and friends 
celebrated his life, his contributions to the Boy Scouts, and his 
selfless devotion to the positive development of numerous young men. I 
rise to join them in their tribute and to thank Mr. Roberson for his 
many years of service to our community.

                          ____________________