Lowell Sun – Three local community leaders were honored by Scouting America’s Spirit of Adventure Council at the 20th Greater Lowell Good Scout Awards Breakfast Tuesday morning.

Pridestar Trinity EMS President and CEO David Daly, former Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone Jr. and Tuscan Brands President and CEO Joe Faro were the three honorees for this year’s Good Scout Awards, which are annually given to individuals who “demonstrated integrity and genuine concern for others in both their professional and personal lives.” The awards are not exclusive to current or former scouts, with none of the three honorees having been scouts.

Pridestar Trinity Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategy John Chemaly introduced Daly and Leone before giving each of them their awards. While talking about Daly, Chemaly noted some of Pridestar’s charitable efforts. He cited one instance in which a woman their EMTs brought to the hospital after she had been stuck living entirely on her recliner, unable to take care of herself or her home.

“Our EMTs and paramedics got together over the next few weekends … They cleaned this woman’s house, top to bottom, and when she came back she had a sparkling clean house and a brand new recliner,” said Chemaly. “David did that. He didn’t have to do it, but he did it.”

Daly said that while he was not a scout as a kid, he does try to live up to their ideals.

“The Boy Scouts of America, in many ways, should be the playbook for all young people. How can anyone go wrong by living their lives under these virtues and practices?” said Daly.

Daly cited the 2021 merger of his company, PRIDEStar EMS, with Chemaly’s Trinity EMS to form Pridestar Trinity, and his own time working as an EMT and paramedic earlier in his career.

“I have witnessed man at his worst, but I have also been able to share in some of the best moments of people’s lives. I was able to assist in the delivery of seven babies in my life as a paramedic, with a set of twins included in that number,” said Daly.

While speaking about Leone, Chemaly said the honoree “spoke for people with no voice in protecting, serving and helping them.”

“He always treated people the way he would want to be treated,” said Chemaly.

Leone’s record most notably includes the prosecution of the infamous shoe bomber, Richard Reid, the first member of the al-Qaida terrorist group to be convicted in the U.S., and was involved in anti-terrorism prosecutions post-9/11.

“Prosecuting terrorists was one thing, but it was also getting into the communities in and around Massachusetts and doing something about what happened on September 11th, because we all know we wanted to do something, I was just given an opportunity to do that,” said Leone.

Leone currently serves as special counsel for Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP, and before that served as general counsel for the University of Massachusetts.

“It was all of these opportunities I just outlined that afforded me an adult life that I think underscores the Scout way,” said Leone. “It’s others. It is not about me, it is about others,” said Leone.

Faro was introduced by his best friend Sal Lupoli, and is best known for developing his Joseph’s Gourmet Pasta and Sauces from a college business plan into a $75 million company. Most recently, Faro’s Tuscan Brands has been undertaking the large mixed-use Tuscan Village development next to the Rockingham Mall in Salem, New Hampshire, at the long-vacant site of the former racetrack.

Lupoli spoke highly of Faro in his introduction, mainly through anecdotes he gathered from each of Faro’s three children.

“That is really what this is all about, when you talk about being a good cub scout or a good leader, you talk about being a good leader. You talk about someone who puts other people in front of themselves, and that is what my very dear friend has done his whole life,” said Lupoli.

Faro said every young person “has incredible potential to be great.”

“They just don’t know it yet. It’s up to us to empower them and inspire them, and maybe pay attention a little bit to what it is their dreams, and hopes and objectives are. You will find that next level of leadership will be even better than we are,” said Faro.

Local leaders honored at Greater Lowell Good Scout Awards Breakfast