By Bonnie Adams, Government Editor
Westborough – For nearly two decades, Rod Jané has volunteered his time and expertise to help his hometown of Westborough. He has served as a parent volunteer in the schools and youth sports, as a member of the School Committee and Board of Selectmen, and as a founder of the town's Economic Development Committee. On Wednesday, Nov. 2, he will be honored for his many contributions to the town by the Boy Scouts of America, Knox Trail Council, with the 2011 Westborough Good Scout Award.
According to Robert Wyman, the district director for the Knox Trail Council, each year the council recognizes a community leader who has “personified the Scout Oath and Law in their daily lives and who has excelled in their chosen career or personal interests.”
Previous recipients have included Jack Wilson, the president of the University of Massachusetts, and Herb Alexander, chair of the board of Alexander, Aronson, Finning & Co., P.C.
When told that he was the council's choice this year, Jané admitted to feeling “surprised, humbled, and quite frankly, a bit uncomfortable.”
“I want to share the award with all of the other deserving Westborough volunteers who roll up their sleeves and serve the town,” he said. “This is just as much their award as it is mine. Hopefully, in some small way it can inspire others to volunteer and serve our community.”
Jané also cited the influence of his wife, Sandra, and their children – Allison, Jackie, Taryn and Matthew – who were always supportive, he said, of the time he spent volunteering in the community.
And although Jané has long admired the work of the Boy Scouts, he said of his one year as a Scout growing up in Northbridge, he was “not a particularly good one – I recall struggling with the most basic of slip knots.”
“But that was a different era,” he noted. “The boys were largely on their own with very few leaders and volunteers. Today, there is much greater parental involvement in Boy Scouts both in the number of parents that volunteer and in the time they commit to it. You can see it in Westborough. It has helped the Scouts become a vibrant organization and the Scouts are making a real difference in the community. ”
“I am always impressed by their maturity, humility, conscientiousness and self-reliant nature,” he said of the Scouts themselves. “They don’t seek credit for the service they provide to the community. They do it because they believe it is their responsibility and the right thing to do.”
Jané is currently the president and founder of New England Expansion Strategies, which provides project management services for companies that are expanding, relocating or building a new facility.
“My business and the projects I work on are very rewarding as they typically result in new jobs and investment for our region,” he said. “Economic development is not only my livelihood but a real passion for me as well.”
The 2011 Westborough Good Scout Award Dinner will be held Nov. 2 at 6 p.m. at the DoubleTree Hotel, 5400 Computer Dr., Westborough. For more information, call Robert Wyman at 508-872-6551 or go to www.ktc-bsa.org.