Starting back when he was a den leader for his son’s Tiger Cub Scout troop, Nelson Shaffer thought about how cool it would be to work for the Boys Scouts of America full time.
That idea swam around in his head for more than 20 years while serving on committees and boards for the Scouts, but he never felt he could “pull the trigger” on retiring from banking, which is a business he had been in for 32 years.
“I always had a vantage point for Scouts,” Mr. Shaffer said. “I was always involved and, frankly, I always just thought it’d be very cool to work full time in a Scouting role.”
Mr. Shaffer finally got that dream realized after recently being appointed director of development for Scouting America Erie Shores Council, which provides scouting programs for counties in northwest Ohio including Lucas, Ottawa, Wood, Sandusky, and Fulton.
The name of the organization will change nationally from Boy Scouts of America to Scouting America on Feb. 8 in an effort to emphasize inclusion.
Mr. Shaffer was able to take the job because he found himself in a position “where I could retire from the for-profit world and spend time to focus on my passion, which is Scouting,” he said.