Scott Patterson

OMAHA (KPTM) - Local Boy Scouts gathered to thank community supporters.  It's a luncheon that was scheduled well before the tragedy at the Little Sioux Scout Ranch, but that tragedy wasn't far from anyone's mind.

The Boy Scouts' Mid-America Council holds the luncheon every year to honor and thank people and businesses that make scouting possible.  Leaders didn't focus on Little Sioux until the end, when the emotion of the last few weeks showed through.

"Today I proudly wear the uniform of the Boy Scouts of America, in honor and in memory of those four young men who perished at Little Sioux Scout Ranch," said Mid-American Council President Lloyd Roitstein to the crowd at the Holiday Inn Central on Tuesday.  "Words cannot express the profound grief we feel for the families of Josh, Sam, Ben and Aaron.  We will never forget them."

The council honored Creighton Basketball Head Coach Dana Altman as a Distinguished Eagle Scout and Nebraska Athletic Director Tom Osborne as Citizen of the Year.

"I thought the world through tragedy got to see a part of scouting that's very important today as it always has been," says Altman.

"That whole event really impacted me as I heard about it," says Osborne.  "I'm sure it impacted a lot of people."

Osborne is a former Scout as well.

"Scouting prepares you to handle crisis, and these guys were 12, 13, 14 years old," says Osborne.  "Obviously there was an awful lot of courage and a lot of self possession where they didn't panic."

"Those young men were put in a very tough position and their training enabled them to get through it and do a remarkable job," says Altman.  "All the interviews since then make you even prouder to be a scout and what they stand for."

Something people associated with scouting have said all along.  Now through tragedy, many others seem to be getting that message.

"It's getting those young men to be good community leaders and be good citizens and make good ethical decision in their lifetimes," says Roitstein.

The scouts say they'll never forget the boys killed and they continue to support the scouts who were injured.  But leaders say they're also starting to move on, as evidenced by Tuesday's luncheon not dwelling on the tragedy.