Scott Arnone lands Boys and Girls Club award
Apr. 24—The winner of this year's Boys and Girls Club Don Poe Community Spirit Award said he has modeled his own public service after the man for whom this annual award is named.
Scott Arnone, a financial adviser with the Edward Jones company in Clarkston, will receive the annual award Thursday at a breakfast at All Saints Catholic Church at 3330 14th St. in Lewiston. Doors open at 7 a.m. followed by breakfast at 7:30 a.m., and the program begins at 8 a.m. Rocky Bleier, retired running back and four-time Super Bowl champion with the Pittsburgh Steelers, is the keynote speaker.
Joe Hall, president of Joe Hall Ford, Lincoln and McClure Honda in Lewiston, was named National Board Member of the Year by the Boys and Girls Club.
Arnone, 62, grew up across the street from Don Poe and watched the older man's commitment to community service.
"I have a lot of admiration for Don Poe," Arnone said. "His life and what he's given back to this community and I wanted to pattern my life after what Don does. He's given his time, talent and treasures back to this community ... and it's been kind of a mirror for me to try to emulate Don Poe. He's a great guy."
Arnone said he was "one of those kids that was saved at an early age with the Boys and Girls Club. ... It was a place where we could go to hang out with friends and be mentored by others."
When Arnone joined the club he was 8 years old and the club was located near the Bert Lipps swimming pool near Vollmer Bowl. Both of his parents worked and the club was a place, Arnone said, where his parents could leave him and know he would be safe.
"Those people all took us in and mentored us and we played sports," he said. "That was one way to keep us focused.
"For me, as far as helping out, it's been kind of one of those things I'm giving back for what they gave me," he said. "They saved me early on in life; I could have gone a lot of bad places early on and I didn't, that's because of the Boys and Girls Club."
Besides working as a financial adviser, Arnone has served on the TriState Health board for 28 years and overseen the expansion of the hospital, the Evergreen Estates, the medical building and the new in-patient wing.
He also has helped develop the Field of Dreams baseball complex at Clarkston and supported the Jackson Baldwin Foundation auction, the All Saints Catholic School and Church, 4-H livestock auction, Young Life and Family Promise and other community organizations.
Arnone and his wife, Lori, have two sons and a daughter, who also were members of the Boys and Girls Club. Arnone said the family has been involved in several club activities and Lori has even made grilled cheese sandwiches for some of the events.
Arnone stays in shape by participating in Ironman events but was recently sidelined by open heart surgery. He said he is "on the road to recovery" and is gradually becoming more physically active.
"We've stayed in touch," Arnone said of his family's connection to the Boys and Girls Club. "We've just giving back what they gave us."
Hedberg may be contacted at khedberg@lmtribune.com.
