Boy Scouts to Honor Rancho Community Pastor

The founder of will get a distinguished citizen award from the Boy Scouts.

The pastor, Steve Struikmans, will receive the "Good Scout of the Year Award" during a meeting scheduled at 6 p.m. Thursday at the .

The award is presented to people whose personal ethics and family values are representative of the Scout Oath and Law, according to Melody Brunsting, a spokesperson for the event.

Past recipients of the award include President Gerald Ford, Governor George Deukmejian, Bob Hope, Jimmy Stewart and John Wayne.

The Tahquitz District, which is giving the pastor the award, has honored Dan Stephenson, the founder of Rancon, Jerry Wilson, Bill Green, 3rd District County Supervisor Jeff Stone, Christine and John McCusker, Dan Atwood, Terry Gilmore and Joan Sparkman in the past.

The pastor was chosen for being a founding member of the Rancho Rotary Club and Temecula Volunteer Fire Department. He also helped start the summer programs for kids at Rancho Community Church in 1971, the Mayor's Prayer Breakfast in 1989, he served on the Linfield School Board for eight years and currently serves as a board member of the Temecula Public Cemetery District, Brunsting said.

As the founding pastor of Rancho Community, Struikmans oversaw the construction of the multi-purpose building, the addition of 3,000 square feet for a nursery, youth and adult classrooms at the church's original location. He then led the way with the Partners in Progress Building Campaign that saw the completion of Rancho Community Church's new campus on Temecula Parkway, according to Brunsting.

Tickets for the event cost $125 per person and available by calling Tina Roy, the Boy Scouts District Director, at 951-972-2201.