The Great Salt Lake Council of the Boy Scouts of America has a new president for the first time in a decade. John R. Reese of Sandy was named the new council president Wednesday night, replacing R. Lawry Hunsaker of Salt Lake City.
The council also made more than a dozen changes in its leadership at the June 18 annual business meeting. The council, one of America's largest, serves more than 64,000 scouts and is supported by 27,000 volunteer leaders.
Reese, born in Glendale, Calif., moved to Sandy in 1993. He is a Brigham Young University graduate and completed a graduate course at UCLA in hospital administration. He is co-owner of the Tower Enterprises, which owns apartments in Utah, California and Nevada.
Reese served as an assistant scoutmaster in 1968 and has held more than a dozen different leadership positions in scouting during the past 35 years. He received the Silver Beaver honor in 1993 and previously served as the council president and vice president of finance in the Verdugo Hills Council of the Boy Scouts in California.
Hunsaker, a registered member of the BSA for more than 60 years, had served as council president since 1993.
Other new scout officers include:
Council Commissioner James G. Davidson of Sandy and Treasurer Roland A. Radack of Sandy.
Seven new vice presidents are: Harold Alston of Salt Lake City, properties; Dane Bradshaw of Salt Lake City, endowment; Charles W. Dahlquist of Sandy, capital campaign; Larry A. Houston of Salt Lake City, relations; John S. Kirkham of Sandy, legal; Lawrence R. Scott of Sandy, finance and Jeff Simpson of Salt Lake City, marketing/public relations.
The four new program chairmen are: Garth Briggs of Salt Lake City, Cub Scouting; U. Stanley Child of Taylorsville, Boy Scouting; Richard Aird of Salt Lake City, varsity scouting and Dick Woolums of Sandy, venturing.
Besides Hunsaker, the council also offered special thanks to Sue J. Weierman of Taylorsville for work in Cub Scouting and to David E. Halliday of Bountiful for work in legal relations.