1997 ROBERT 'BOB' CHARPENTIER

The 1997 Golden Lion Award was presented to Robert 'Bob' Charpentier.
Bob graduated from Auburn, ME high school in 1946, having been a basketball player. He was eventually inducted into the Auburn High School Hall of Fame. Following high school, Bob entered the military, where he was a member of commissions that established capitals for new countries in South America that had been created after World War II. A 1956 graduate of Northeastern University, he became an engineer. In the early '60's the Charpentiers moved to Chelmsford, and Bob soon began to show how committed he was going to be to the new community. The list of Bob's contributions includes coaching of Little League, an amateur softball association, and involvement in amateur basketball since 1977. The Chelmsford Youth Basketball League, which he helped to organize, has been serving 900 children a year. He was on the Recreation Commission for a total of 25 years. Bob has a much appreciated talent for recruiting helpers, and he successfully did it for many years. Outside of the sports arena, Bob helped to form Boy Scout Pack 77, with whom he worked for 39 years. He was committed to presenting good alternatives to idle time, and was instrumental in offering drug and alcohol programs long before DARE. Subsequently, he was involved in DARE, as well. Many young people became better citizens because of Bob, whose acceptance speech at the Golden Lion presentation mentioned that there were a few four-letter words connected with his approach: Team and Love were mentioned first, and the Gold of this award was greatly appreciated.