The Crazy Days of Summer are here

The crazy days of summer are here and before you know it they will be gone. I have been gone for the past week as I was on Staff for a Boy Scouts Timberline Course. For those of you who are not familiar with Timberline, it is a leadership training camp where 13 - 15 year old Boy Scouts learn leadership skills for a week. The role of the adults is to help implement and oversee the program while the youth leaders teach skills to the participants. Its purpose is to teach young men communication and leadership skills that will enable them to return their respective troops and help the program run better.

We had 25 participants, 13 youth staff and 6 adult leaders. The camp was held by Brainhead at a formal scout camp called Thunder Ridge. Whe chose a lion theme, and tied in the Biblical story of Daniel and the Lion's den. We had and award called "Dare to be a Daniel" and it was awarded to scouts who were nominated by those at camp for acts of service. Once a scout earned the award, additional awards were beads which were then added to the original award. It was a lot of fun and the camp was a success.

In a larger sense I had to take a minute and think about what we are trying to accomplish. I hear so mauch about the bad things that happen in the world, and the problems without youth, and yet, the young men that participated were generally good young men who are trying to figure out who they are and how they can be better. They wanted to learn and grow. We had a flag ceremony each day and they got progressivley better through the week. We retired a flag during the week on the top of a knoll and spoke about our duty to God, Family and Country. After the ceremony was over they walk down an Honor trail where they were instructed on the points of the Scout Law. It was was a great night. If we all lived the scout law our country would not have anything to fear.

Let's all remember A Scout is:

Trustworthy
Loyal
Helpful
Friendly
Courteous
Kind
Obedient
Cheerful
Thrifty
Brave
Clean and Reverent

What a great set of values/virtues for all of us.

The summer will come and go as we each make a few memories. I hope to make an difference, in my away from the office time, by working side by side with my wife, Marta, and kids. Hopefully, the we can influence the scouts I work with, or whomever I come in contact.

Let's make the most of this summer and make a great memory.

Brad