Opportunity Knocks #56 - Robert J. Barbero

Opportunity Knocks #55

To all members of Troop 26, parents, alumni and leaders, past and present.

It is with great sadness that I inform you of the passing of Robert J. Barbero. Bob passed away last night. He was a dear friend, a compassionate Assistant Scoutmaster, a friend to hundreds and hundreds of boys, and, along with Bill Dalton, Ed Herhold, Joe McCann, Bert Shelby and Bud Kunze, a man who helped get the ball rolling for Troop 26.

Bob made a difference in the lives of so many people. He made the world a brighter place. He attended Philmont Scout Ranch, the 1973 National Jamboree, and was honored with the Silver Beaver award by the Indian Nations Council. Bob didn't care about awards. He cared about kids. He wanted Troop 26 to be the best it could be and he worked hard to make it so. He helped found the Explorer Post, Post 26, that still thrives today.

Please join with me in sending our condolences and our prayers for his son, Bill, and his family members. We pray for our God to give them strength at this sad time and we want to let them know how much we appreciate them sharing Bob with us. He truly made our journey down life's long and winding road, a joy. He will be missed by so many.

Rest in peace dear friend.

Services will be this coming Tuesday at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church.

Opportunity Knocks #55 - Gerald Ford: Honoray Troop 26 member

I'll bet that you didn't know that Troop 26 has three "Honorary" members of our troop. And all three are United States Presidents. How lucky is that? For members of our troop to have the opportunity to meet, shake hands with and visit with three Presidents of the United States. The value of that can't be measured. I am so proud to have been a small part of that process. A memory that will last in the minds of many scouts as one of their finest moments.

This is a sad day for Troop 26. The first of these honorary members, Gerald R. Ford, passed away yesterday at his home in California. Gerald R. Ford. Author, humanitarian, member of congress, 38^th President of the United States, and Eagle Scout, passed away at the age of 93. President Ford played a major part in the history of the United States of America. He said when taking his oath of office, "Now, our long national nightmare is over." He was talking about the Watergate Scandal that ended one presidency and ushered in his own. It was one of America's darkest periods. When Richard Nixon left the presidency in disgrace, Gerald Ford united the country and gave all Americans a sense of peace. When our country was at an all time low, it took an Eagle Scout to lead them towards the light. It took an Eagle Scout to give America back her pride and her national honor. In his book, "A Time To Heal", President Ford encouraged citizens to remember what is best in America and to go forward in pride, knowing that the system actually works.

Gerald Ford became an honorary member of Troop 26 on September 17, 1979. A beautiful Saturday morning. Eagle Scout Scott Lybarger was my Senior Patrol Leader that day. He was preparing to greet a President. The troop was assembling to see thirteen of our members receive the highest award the Boy Scouts have to offer to one of its members. The Eagle Scout Award. They knew that the court of honor was special but they didn't know why. They knew somebody important was coming. But they didn't know who.

The church was filled to capacity that Saturday morning when the Secret Service and the 38^th President of the United States arrived. He was greeted by our Senior Patrol Leader and taken to the door of the sanctuary. When he walked through the doors of that church, the crowd came alive. They all knew that we were in the presence of history. The President was introduced to the troop and all its assembled guests by Master of Ceremonies and Eagle Scout John Weston. President Ford gave his speech and it was wonderful. He didn't talk about politics. He didn't talk about world affairs. He talked about Scouting. He said that when he was preparing to leave the White House, he and Betty were packing things up in the attic and they came across a box with his Eagle Scout medal and his merit badge sash in it. He and Betty sat there on the floor and talked about his memories of his days in Scouting. His leaders. His patrol members. His feelings about the Oath and the Law. He only talked to the Court of Honor for several moments but his speech was absolutely wonderful, especially for the thirteen new Eagle Scouts.

When his speech was over, President Ford was made an honorary member of the troop by scout Ragon Linde. He gave the President a neckerchief and a slide. As the President was thanking Ragon for the tribute and the honor of being a member of Troop 26, he gently put the neckerchief and the slide behind his back. They were taken by a Secret Service Agent, who checked out the items and made sure they were not harmful to the President, and then he handed them back to Gerald Ford.

Then the President stepped down from the elevated pulpit and joined SPL Scott Lybarger. Scott escorted the President down the line as he presented thirteen bright shiny Eagle Scout medals to thirteen great scouts. I'll bet those scouts, wherever they are in the world today, are remembering that moment in time. The day they received their Eagle Scout medal from a United States President. What a memory. What a magnificent memory.

He posed with the thirteen Eagle Scouts for a photo and then he was gone.

Scott Lybarger now lives in Alabama where he is an Assistant Scoutmaster in a troop with his son Kyle. Joel Stinnett, Jeff Parks and Mike Smith are still here in Tulsa. I got to see Scott Cunningham when his dad, my friend Herb Cunningham, passed away recently. Robert Hefley is living in Arkansas. I still hear from Troy Sappington and Pat Lannon on occasion. I've lost touch with DJ Lawrence, John Bourland, David Glancy, Rick Patterson, Chuck Woods, and Steve Smith. I've wondered a million times about John Weston, the Master of Ceremonies that wonderful day. I seem to remember that he went to Oklahoma University but I've lost touch with him as well. The little guy who made Gerald Ford an honorary member, Ragon Linde, eventually became an Eagle Scout and one of Troop 26's best Senior Patrol Leaders. I hear from him pretty often too.

Pastor Frank has passed away. He was so proud to have a President in his church, after the initial shock of having bomb dogs sniffing around his office. He did something very special that day. Right before Gerald Ford came in the sanctuary, Pastor Frank came up and flipped on the tape recorder attached to the pulpit where the President was going to stand. He used that recorder to record his sermons. I still have that recording of Gerald Ford's speech that day. It starts with Master of Ceremonies Eagle Scout John Weston introducing to the Court of Honor "the 38^th President of the United States, Gerald R. Ford."

Gerald Ford. 38^th President of the United States. We thank you for taking the time to make the scouting careers of thirteen young men very, very special. Thanks for going out of your way to come to our Court of Honor and enrich our lives. We honor that memory today and our best wishes go out to your family and to the country you served so well.

Opportunity Knocks # 54 - "Joyful Music on a Cold Winter's Night"

A Piano Recital featuring the students of Candy Coonfield.

On December 15, I was sitting in Tyrrell Hall on the campus of the University of Tulsa, attending a piano recital that included one of my very best Eagle Scouts. I went out of respect for this young man and his family. What I learned that night far exceeded any expectation that I might have had.

My Eagle Scout was wonderful. So gifted. So much talent. He played Etude Op. 10, #12 by Chopin. His fingers seemed to glide over the keys so effortlessly. I went out of respect. I wasn't planning to be entertained. But as I sat there listening to the wonderful musical presentation, I started thinking about this edition of Opportunity Knocks.

Several things came to mind that night in Tyrrell Hall. First and foremost was how honored I felt that I was asked to attend this recital. With over 200 scouts in the troop, it isn't always possible to go to everything that I am asked to go to. I try but it just isn't possible. I went to this event for several reasons. First, it was to see a side of a young man that I hadn't seen before. I thought I knew him pretty well but I had absolutely no idea that he was musical. I've watched him grow up over the years, watched him thrive in Troop 26 and become an Eagle Scout. Watched him become a valuable member of the Leadership Corp. And then suddenly here's this new thing. Music. I was curious why I had missed that.

And second, it had something to do with the piano. I'll tell you about that in a minute.

And last, I went because of where the recital was held. The campus of the University I attended for three years. I haven't been back often. In fact I avoid it. I help with the TU concessions during football games but thhat's on the fringe of the campus. I don't actually have to go "on" the campus. But during the infrequent lulls in the popcorn action, I would look out past the stadium fence and look at the campus where I walked as a young man. I left that campus without getting what I went there to get. A degree. I was close, but didn't get it done. So for me, the TU campus became symbolic of a particular failure in my own life. One that I regret more than you'll ever know. And suddenly here comes this opportunity to go back to TU to see someone achieving something.

So I went. And I was so glad I did. It helped me learn a little more about a person and a family that I care about. And it helped me deal with a lot of memories, some good, some not so good. And some that I wanted to share with you in this Opportunity Knocks.

When I was little, I think about eight years old, I wanted more than anything in the world to play the piano. I was obsessed with it. But our house was too small. Couldn't fit a piano in it. I begged and pleaded and so finally my mom decided to let my musical career begin. But not with a piano. She bought me an accordion. An ACCORDIAN!!!! I couldn't believe it. I was speechless when I saw it. My mom rationalized that it was the same thing as a piano, only smaller and you could hold it in your lap. Just like a piano only sideways. Great for a little house. I hated it from the minute I saw it. And my mom reminded me that I had promised to practice for an hour every day. I didn't have the guts to remind her that I made that promise for a completely different musical instrument.

My hate for the accordion was only slightly less than my hate for spinach. It was heavy. It pinched my legs when I tried to play it. I had to learn "Lady of Spain" for my first recital. I had to dress up in a little cowboy outfit and play Lady of Spain while sitting on a little country fence thing. I cried while I played. I cried when I had to put on that stupid cowboy suit. I cried when I fell off the fence. I cried when I had to practice. I hate Lady of Spain to this very day.

So, to see this young man playing Chopin on an instrument that I would give anything to be able to play, and playing on the campus of a University that I would give anything to go back to and earn what I should have earned years ago..well..it was an interesting evening. And it was an evening I wouldn't trade for anything. It let me come to grips with things I hadn't thought about in years. And it helped me move forward.

I close with this bit of advice for all my current scouts. Music is a wonderful talent to have. Absolutely wonderful. Don't apologize for it and don't fight it. It is a talent that can go along with you for the whole ride. It isn't like sports or grades or many of the other things that are limited by age. Music can be a part of your life for as long as you let it. I encourage you to share that talent with others.

Remember, musical talent is a gift from God. Refining that talent is a gift that you give yourself, but once you have it.. it becomes a gift that you can share with others. It can make other people feel something. It can make other people remember things. It can make people laugh and it can make them cry. It can make them feel patriotic and it can make them touch base with holidays and birthdays and memories of events and people in their past. Football games and the Rose Bowl parade wouldn't be the same without the bands. Jay Leno and Saturday Night Live wouldn't be the same without the musical guests. Christmas wouldn't be the same without the carols. Movies wouldn't be the same without the musical score. Birthdays wouldn't be the same without people singing our name in that silly "happy birthday" song.

Music. It adds class, dignity, and laughter to our lives. Its there for all of us. Garth Brooks and Rachmaninoff, The Grateful Dead and Mozart. John Phillip Souza and Sinatra and Bing Crosby. Patsy Cline and John Denver and the Morman Tabernacle Choir and Buddy Holly. The Beatles and Elvis. Streisand and Kid Rock. And Chopin. Music in all its wonderful forms.

If you have that talent, nurture it because with it you have the opportunity to make the lives of other people better because of it. I wish I had taken advantage of the opportunity I had with the accordion. I wish I had practiced. I wish I could stand up at campfire programs and play Lady of Spain. My mom would have liked that.

And to the young man who invited me to hear him play...he has provided me with a brand new reason to love Chopin. I know that the piece by Chopin, a piece that lasted only several moments that night at the University, I know that it represented years of practice. And I'd like to tell that Eagle Scout, and all the other troop members that practice an instrument when they would like to be doing other things, someday you'll be glad you did it. You'll be glad you practiced. What that Eagle Scout gave to me that night in Tyrrell Hall cannot be measured. It was my very best Christmas gift.

See you all next week for this year's last Opportunity Knocks.

Opportunity Knocks #53: Every person is an Opportunity

Okay. I am backing up a little. Opportunity Knocks # 52 was about Dan Crookham, former Assistant Scoutmaster, who passed away last Saturday. I want say a little more about Dan and decided to do it in OK#53.

Ray Yarroll and I attended Dan's funeral yesterday. I saw Adam Gist across the aisle but I didn't see any other Troop 26 people there. I know Bert Shelby would have been there had he still been in Tulsa. I guess I was expecting to see more 26ers there and I was thinking about that as I sat through the service.

Dan was an amazing person. Far more amazing than I knew. I knew about the Russian trip and talked about it briefly in OK# 52, and I knew about the coaching. But yesterday I found out some things that I had not previously known. I didn't know that Dan had planned similar trips and taken Oklahoma football players to New Zealand, Australia, and was thinking about games in South America. They had a slide presentation running before the service and there was a photo of Dan when he was a little guy in his Cub Scout uniform. I don't think I ever knew that he had been in scouts as a child. The photos of Dan with his wife and son and daughter were also amazing. He was a wonderful father and he was very focused on what was important in life. Focused on the things that really matter. There were several photos of Dan standing in front of small planes and I heard the people sitting behind us talking about how Dan loved flying. They wondered if he was also a pilot and I wondered that too.

Dan was a coaching legend in Oklahoma. One of the eulogies was done by J.V. Haney, also a coaching legend and a long time TV sports analyst. Bill Blankinship, State Championship Coach for Union High School, also participated in the service. There were tons of other coaches and players in attendance. In fact, there was standing room only, people crowded into adjacent rooms and hallways at Floral Haven, all there to honor a man that had touched thousands of lives. The minister, Pastor Blevins, read a letter of condolence from Governor Brad Henry. The letter said that Oklahoma had lost one of its finest ambassadors.

I was really proud of Joe Crookham as he delivered a eulogy for his dad. I tried to remember Joe as a Troop 26 scout. He didn't make Eagle Scout but he should have and he could have. I'd love to know what interrupted his quest for that honor. But in his eulogy, he honored his dad by saying one of the coolest things I have ever heard. He said that one of the things he learned from his dad was ..."the harder I work, the luckier I get."

It was a great and uplifting service and I was so glad I went.

So..why am I doing another Opportunity Knocks about Dan? Simple. The other one, OK#52, just wasn't enough. There is more to the story and definitely something to be learned.

Dan coached for several schools that were not "winning" teams on the level of the Jenks, Union, Washington, Owasso, Broken Arrow teams that we are used to hearing about. Dan's teams struggled. But it was apparent that winning or losing didn't provide an accurate measure for Dan Crookham. He wanted the boys under his direction to be the best they could be. He called on them to do everything they could to put forth their finest effort every time they stepped on the field. He urged them to play the game the right way and never have regrets about the way they played the game. And in that pursuit of excellence, Dan provided "opportunities" along the way. Opportunities to be better than you were, opportunities to learn how to plan and focus on what you wanted to get done, opportunities to stand in the shadow of the Kremlin or Big Ben or visit with the Aborigines in Australia. It occurred to me during the service that Dan wasn't about the game, he was about life. He used the game ass the vehicle to take young people to the places he wanted them to be able to go. He was about living life to the fullest. He was about bringing out the best in himself and doing everything he could to bring out the best in others. Both in the game and in life.

There were lots of coaches in that room. Dan had probably beaten some of them but also he probably lost too most of them. But they were there to honor the way he lived his life and honor the way he respected those young lives he coached. They all saw in Dan the true measure of a human being. A person who made the world a better place by simply living in it.

Dan was with Troop 26 for a time. He served as an Assistant Scoutmaster for the 1989 National Jamboree trip. He was a great leader and a good friend to those of us lucky enough to know him. But I haven't seen Dan in years. I sort of kept up with him through Adam Gist, one of Dan's friends and coworkers at Edison high School. But I hadn't really heard from him or made any attempt to reach him in years and years. Why exactly is that?

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the real subject of Opportunity Knocks #53.

Every person we meet along life's long and winding road, is an opportunity. And some of those opportunities develop into good friends. What we do with those special opportunities is really up to us. Our world moves so fast, interests change, priorities are readjusted, people move, so many things happen to change our lives day by day..that we allow good friends to slip away. We delude ourselves into thinking that we don't have the time to keep up with people we knew, or that we don't have anything in common anymore. We move on. Life moves on. A Christmas card or a birthday card for several years and then every other year and then..they're gone. But good friends are like treasures. How can we throw those treasures away? How can we let them go?

At the last Thanksgiving campout, I was privileged to visit with Don Zvacek and his new wife. Don had moved on with his life and it was so great to see him again. Last week I had the opportunity to visit with Basil and Suzanna Theodoras, parents of former scouts Tom and Michael Theodoras and grandparents to William Ely, current troop member. All the things we had in common are still there. Those things haven't gone anywhere. We talked about good times and people we knew and plans for the future. Good friends don't stop being good friends just because some time or distance interfere. I got an E-mail from good friend Michael Cox and a Christmas Card from John Morehead. I'm going home tonight (after the troop committee meeting) and drop them both a line. I hear often from Mark Herhold and Brent Barron and Jeff Stava and Jeff Longueville and from the Parks family in New Zealand and Daniel Rusco in Germany. Every day I hear from somebody and far too often I find myself too busy to respond. I'm going to try to change that.

In this Opportunity Knocks I would like to encourage each of you reading this message to reach out and connect with someone that you used to know. Write or call an old friend or a grandparent or an old teacher or next door neighbor who moved away. Connect. Reach out. Pull some of those various threads from the tapestry that is your life back together. Don't wait. Don't let life move too fast. Don't let life's rat race move you away from the things that are really important.

I left that funeral service with a renewed dedication to try to be a better person. I left that service with a new urgency to make new friends and to be a better friend to the ones I have. I was glad to ride home with Ray Yarroll. He's been a good friend for many years through good times and bad. That is what life is really about. Dan Crookham's funeral service reminded me of that. Money and things and awards just don't do it. When you open up your own personal treasure chest at the end of your days, those things are not in there. It's your friends. They are in that treasure chest.

Opportunity knocks. There is a new friend at the door. Open it, and let that opportunity in.

See you next week.

Opportunity Knocks #52 - Dan Crookham

This one will be short. We have all been fortunate over the years to have some really great people sew an Assistant Scoutmaster's patch on their shirt. As a Scoutmaster, I have been unbelievably lucky in the great men that have come on board to support the Troop 26 program. Men with dedication, character and compassion. Men who came in as Assistant Scoutmasters who were interested in one boy, and who left as great and lasting friends who were interested in hundreds of boys.

One of those men was Dan Crookham. Dan passed away this weekend. We want to express our sadness and our best wishes in this sad time to his son, Joe, and his family.

Dan served as an assistant scoutmaster on a National Jamboree trip to Virginia. He was the head football coach at Rogers High School and then at Edison, and served as the Athletic Director at Edison for a number of years. He was perhaps best known for putting together the very first exhibition high school football game held in Russia. He took two complete teams of Oklahoma high school football players to the Soviet Union to play a series of exhibition games for a Russian populace who had never seen football before. The trip was a huge success. Dan asked me to design a T-shirt for that trip and I got a kick for several years after the exhibition games when I would see one of those shirts on TV. Every now and then there would be a story about Russia or Europe on TV and when they were panning the crowd, sometimes one of those T-shirts would show up. It was exciting.

What many people didn't know, Dan was using his time in Russia to help plan a Troop 26 scouting trip to Russia. We wanted to be the very first troop to camp in Red Square. Unfortunately, another troop beat us to it and we sort of lost interest. Looking back, I wish we had gone ahead with our plan. Being first isn't always the most important thing. But Dan played an instrumental role in planning a trip that never happened. One of the things in our Troop museum is an American flag that was flown over one of those exhibition football games in Moscow. Dan brought it back and presented it to the troop. He also brought me one of those big fluffy fur hats with the ear flaps. I still have it sitting over my desk.

Its tough to lose a friend, even one that you haven't seen in a while. I think of Dan and Joe often. I want to take this opportunity to express my appreciation to Dan and his family for all Dan did for the boys of Troop 26 over the years. He was a great Assistant Scoutmaster and a wonderful friend to many, many scouts.

Please keep his family in your prayers.