SIOUX FALLS SD, August 11, 2021
Reid Christopherson, of rural Garretson SD, will receive the Boy Scouts of America’s Silver Buffalo Award in a ceremony on Saturday, August 28th, 2:00 p.m., at St John American Lutheran Church, 1912 W. 13th St., Sioux Falls SD. The public is invited.
The Silver Buffalo Award, created by the Boy Scouts of America in 1926, recognizes volunteers for noteworthy and extraordinary service to youth on a national basis. It is the highest award presented by the Boy Scouts of America for volunteer service.
The Silver Buffalo has been awarded only twice previously in South Dakota:
1984 – Congressman Ben Reifel, Estelline SD, American Indian Leader, Public Servant, Devoted Scouter
2012 – Paul R. Christen, Huron SD, Distinguished Eagle Scout, Generous Philanthropist, Servant Leader
Since 1926 the Silver Buffalo has been presented 826 times including 13 recipients in 2021. Past recipients have included: Lord Baden-Powell founder of the Scouting Movement, the Unknown Scout, the World War One Soldier buried in the Tomb of the Unknowns, 15 U.S. Presidents, 3 Chief Justices of the Supreme Court, 6 Medal of Honor recipients, and 28 recipients of the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.
An Eagle Scout from Sioux Falls Christopherson has been involved in the programs of the Boy Scouts of America for 53 years in positions from the local to the national level. Lieutenant Colonel Christopherson is retired from the South Dakota Air National Guard following 39 years of service. He is currently employed as the executive director of the South Dakota Wheat Commission.
Reid Christopherson is an Eagle Scout with a Bronze Palm and a Life Member of the National Eagle Scout Association. He has served in many volunteer Scouting positions throughout his over 50 years of BSA membership. Prior to his current service as Chair Elect of National Service Territory 4 he served as Central Region Vice President and Commissioner. He has also served as Area President, Area Vice President, Sioux Council President and Council Commissioner, District Commissioner, Unit Commissioner, Boy Scout Roundtable Staff, Scoutmaster, Assistant Scoutmaster, Webelos Den Leader, Cubmaster, Venturing and Exploring Advisor, and summer camp Program Director.
Reid has attended seven national and three world jamborees, serving as Basecamp and Subcamp Chief, Subcamp Commissioner and Scoutmaster. He served as the Central Region Commissioner for the International Service Team at the 2019 World Jamboree and was the Logistics Chair for the now delayed 2021 National Jamboree. His many BSA awards include numerous training awards and the Lutheran Pro Deo et Patria Award (youth), Arrowhead Commissioner Honor, Distinguished Commissioner, Scoutmaster Award of Merit, two District Awards of Merit, James West Fellow, Community Organization Award, Lutheran Lamb Award, Silver Beaver, Silver Antelope, and Silver Buffalo. Reid is a Vigil Honor Member of the Order of the Arrow and a past Wood Badge Course Director.
Considered his most rewarding experience Reid for many years served as Scoutmaster, Assistant Scoutmaster and Committee Member for a troop of 35 men with physical and developmental disabilities. Several of these men earned the Eagle Award. Through these efforts Reid was recognized as one of 70 Scoutmasters from throughout the nation awarded the inaugural Charles Pigott-Norton Clapp Scholarship to attend the 1988 National Meeting of the BSA in San Diego. This first class was also recognized for their contributions to the 10th Edition of the Boy Scout Handbook that was released in 1990.
Lieutenant Colonel Reid Christopherson retired in 2014 following over 39 years of service in the United States Air Force and the South Dakota Air National Guard. His military service included 11 years of enlisted service and 28 years of commissioned service. His military travels took him throughout the world and the United States in response to global and domestic demands.
Reid currently is employed as the Executive Director of the South Dakota Wheat Commission. He is a Past National Chairman of the Board for the Wheat Foods Council, National Board of Trustees and Executive Committee for the Wheat Quality Council, and a National Committee Member for the U.S. Wheat Associates.
He is very active in his church and community and is a past member of the Churchwide Council and the Executive Committee for the 3.6 million members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). He also serves as the liaison for the ELCA to the National Lutheran Association on Scouting (NLAS). He has received numerous awards for his community service and was honored by South Dakota State University as a Distinguished Alumnus for his service to the State of South Dakota and the Boy Scouts of America.
Reid is a long time avid collector of Boy Scout memorabilia. A portion of his collection is on loan to Sioux Council where it comprises nearly all of the exhibits of the Scouters’ Attic Museum housed in the council’s Center for Scouting in Sioux Falls SD.
Reid and his wife Ruth live on a small farm near Garretson SD. They have two adult children and one granddaughter. Their son and son-in-law are also both Eagle Scouts.
