By Alexandra Molnar, Contributing Writer
Photo/submitted
Westborough – Peter Gardner, president of Curry Printing in Westborough, has been selected as this year’s recipient of the Boy Scouts Knox Trail Council’s Good Scout Award.
Gardner has served as the president of Curry Printing, which he founded with his two brothers, for 31 years. The company is very involved with nonprofit organizations and serves many nonprofits as customers as well.
It is not a requirement to be a former Scout or be actively involved in Scouting to receive the Good Scout Award: rather it is bestowed, according to the Knox Trail website, upon individuals “who have demonstrated integrity and genuine concern for others in both their professional and personal lives.”
Honorees, the definition continues, must “carry the “Spirit of Scouting” into their adult lives.
“I am honored,” Gardner said about receiving the award.
Gardner serves on the boards of the Corridor Nine Area Chamber of Commerce and the Printing Industries of New England. As a member, he helps plan educational programs, such as seminars and training.
In addition, he is the former president of the Rotary Club of Westborough, a position he held from 2010 to 2011. As the president, he helped manage fundraisers and events.
To Gardner, the most enjoyable aspect of volunteering is “to help the board achieve its goals,” he noted. He also appreciates having the opportunity to meet new people, which is especially important for him since he did not grow up in Westborough; he is originally from Needham.
Gardner believes that volunteering contributes positively to business, and he said that “it feels good to help people.”
As a member of various organizations, Gardner volunteers about three hours per week. Throughout his life he said he has “always been involved in the community” and was a Boy Scout in his youth.
He did not always envision a career as a business owner. He attended school for law enforcement, but eventually decided that it was not the career he wanted. Instead, he founded the printing business with his brothers.
His business philosophy is simple, he said, but consistently works.
“I always try to put myself in the customer’s position. So I always treat our customers like I want to be treated,” Gardner said.
Though Gardner has never received an individual honor like the Good Scout Award before, Curry Printing has been recognized by various community awards such as the Corridor Nine Chamber of Commerce’s Eli Whitney Award which recognizes local business leaders.
Gardner described himself as quiet, loyal, and family-oriented. He has four children, two boys and two girls, who are in high school and college.
Past Westborough recipients of the Good Scout Award include John Hero, Henry Danis, Charlotte Bramley, James E. Tashjian, Robert A. Klugman, M.D., Lydia Goldblatt, James A. Harvey, Kristina Nilson Allen, Nelson P. Ball, Herbert S. Alexander, Jack M. Wilson, Ph.D., Rod Jané, Ryan Maloney and Lester Hensley.
Gardner will be presented the Good Scout Award at a banquet Monday, Nov. 10, at 6 p.m. at the DoubleTree Hotel in Westborough. For more information and to purchase dinner tickets, visit http://www.ktc-bsa.org/event/wgsd/.
