The lumber company is one of Apopka’s first businesses
By Teresa Sargeant
Reporter
Ryan Brothers, an Apopka lumber yard company that has been in the Ryan family for five generations, was given the Golden Eagle Award for the company and family’s reflection of scouting values.
Ryan Brothers was honored at the Scouting America Central Florida Council Golden Eagle Dinner on Wednesday, March 12, at Highland Manor in Apopka.
The Central Florida Council selected Ryan Brothers as this year’s honoree because the family business has been a community partner for several years, Daniel Ickes, Central Florida Council chief development officer, said.
“We try to pick a community partner every year, and they’ve obviously been a partner that’s been in community for a long time,” Ickes said. “The committee kind of puts it together—they sift through the ideas and the people that we want to honor, and they vote on it. Every year we have either one or two honorees.”
By being given the award, Ryan Brothers reflects the spirit and the characteristics of scouting such as hard work and character development, Ickes said.
First founded in 1920 as Ryan and Company, the business flourished into one of the area’s biggest suppliers of construction materials. Mark V. Ryan III currently operates Ryan Brothers, located at 210 E. Fifth St., Apopka. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
“We work hand in hand with a lot of the builders,” Mark V. Ryan said. “We try to help them as much as possible, because their business helps us.”
The Ryan family values customer service and strong relationships with local builders.
“It’s like a concierge lumber company,” said Ashley Ryan-Caballero, Mark V. Ryan’s daughter and a fifth-generation family member who works for the company. “If you think of it or what you need, we’ll find it and we’ll get it for you.”
The owners were surprised and honored by the Central Florida Council’s recognition.
“We were definitely surprised that we were going to be honored,” Ryan-Caballero said. “We got a call from Mike (Michael Green, senior district executive for Central Florida Council), and they were looking for somebody that was the oldest business in Apopka, and that was us.”
The Central Florida Council is a youth-serving agency in Central Florida that offers educational-based skills and experiences. The organization owns and operates the Leonard & Marjorie Williams Family Scout Reservation, where youth and adults do outdoor activities, according to the Central Florida Council’s website.
The Apopka Chief is an award-winning weekly newspaper serving the greater Apopka area in Central Florida since 1923.
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