By DON STINE
Scouting has been in Ocean Township resident Don Brockel’s blood for 50 years and he was recently recognized by township officials for his involvement in the Boy Scouts of America.
“Scouting is one of many things he has been involved with during the 50 years I have known him. His volunteerism knows no boundaries,” Mayor Christopher Siciliano said at last week’s Township Council meeting, where Brockel was presented with a special proclamation.
“It’s been a beautiful trail and I have lived scouting,” said Brockel, who was a former Scout Master of Oakhurst Troop 71 for eight years and currently the troop committee chairperson.
Brockel, 57, joined the Wanamassa Cub Scouts Pack 143 in 1965 when he was seven years old. He then went on to join Oakhurst Troop 71, where he came an Eagle Scout. He is a member of the Order of the Arrow, is in the CampMaster Corps at the Forestburg Scout Reservation in New York state, and was a commissioner with the Thunderbird District. He also received the Good Scout Award from the Thunderbird District in 2013.
“Scouting is just in my genes and my father was very involved,” he said.
His father, Herb Brockel, was recognized as the longest-serving Boy Scout in New Jersey when he died at age 85.
“His first troop was in Irvington and then he became involved in Troop 71. His scouting probably goes back to the 1920s,” Brockel said.
Brockel’s son, Erik, is also an Eagle Scout and an Asbury Park lifeguard.
Brockel was born and raised in Ocean Township and has a degree in civil engineering from Drexel University.
