Opportuntiy Knocks - 2007 Year of Opportunity
This will be the last Opportunity Knocks for 2007. I just wanted to take this opportunity to send all of you out there in the extended Troop 26 family, a note of thanks for what you have provided for me personally. We all struggle through life with jobs and responsibilities and worries and concerns. All we want, really, is to matter to someone. Life is about making a difference. As a troop, we matter. We have participated in the life of our community. We have participated in the life of our sponsoring institution, the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church. We have participated in the life of our great Indian Nations Council. We have participated in our District. We have continued to participate in Pine Tree and in the Order of the Arrow. Through the Eagle Projects done in 2007, we have reached out and touched many worthwhile causes and organizations in our city. Our troop matters. We are depended on and counted on.
Our year has been filled with ups and downs. Oklahoma's weather is always extreme but we did get a lot more camping in this year than we did during the year where the burn bans were such a hindrance to the camping program. We continued to have excellent troop officers and wonderful Senior Patrol Leaders. We presented twelve Eagle Scout Awards to twelve deserving young scouts.
We attended two summer camps. An outstanding trip to Medicine Mountain in South Dakota marked the highlight of the summer. The trip was planned by Assistant Scoutmaster Ed Hobbs. That was also one of our lowest moments as well, as Ed passed away before the trip. Ed was a wonderful and caring Assistant Scoutmaster. He was so excited about this trip. Bill Kelshaw stepped in and completed the planning but it wasn't going to be the same without Ed. Our Scouts performed the evening flag ceremony at Mount Rushmore during the Medicine Mountain trip. The color guard wore black armbands with Ed Hobb's name on them as a gentle rain fell on the quiet crowd. I personally think that this one event at Mount Rushmore, more than any other single event in 2007, identified the spirit present in Troop 26. Not only do we make a difference in our community, but more importantly than that, we matter to each other. We honor our past. We value those who participate in our present. And we are excited about our future. Because we know that what we are is directly related to all those wonderful people that have worn the numbers "26" on their arm in the past. Men like Jim Goller, my own Scoutmaster when I was in Troop 26 as a boy, and Zeke Dampf, my Scoutmaster in Troop 26 when I left Tulsa for Military School, and Bud Kunze, the Scoutmaster of Troop 26 before me, and all the wonderful Assistant Scoutmasters who have come and gone. Men like Leon Smith, Ed Herhold, Bill Dalton, Bert Shelby, Bob Barbero, Joe McCann, and Jerry Pepper, who, along with Bud Kunze, were my very first Assistant Scoutmasters back in 1969. And to all the Assistant Scoutmasters since then. Men like Ed Hobbs. There have been so many wonderful men and women over the years who participated in the life of our troop. They came and they mattered. They participated in a program that changed lives. We are all grateful for the opportunity to know them and learn from them.
Last Monday night we held our annual Christmas Party with our Special Scout friends from Woodland Park. It is abundantly clear that Troop 26 has mattered to them. Over the years we have added something in their lives that would not have been there otherwise. We have become the family that many of them do not have. Our Special Scout friends want to matter too. And they know they matter to us. The gifts were OK and Santa was OK and the cookies were OK, but the hugs were better. And they are looking forward to 2008 because they know that Troop 26 will be there with them. Our involvement with the Special scouts over the years has added to the quality our own lives. The Special Camporee continues to be a major event in the life of our troop.
Every trip to the mailbox is exciting for me at this time of year. Troop 26 alumni Christmas Cards are coming in. For all those who sent cards, thank you. Those cards from people I haven't seen in years, let me know that I matter too. We have built something wonderful here. Something that lasts. I so appreciate you allowing me to be a part of your lives. And each of you have been a blessing in mine.
I know that all over the country, Troop 26 alumni are getting ready for Christmas. Maybe they will stop during this hectic time of year and think back on a simpler time. Maybe they will remember something from their childhood. The battery run Christmas tree lights at the Explorer Base. The big rocks at Kunze's Farm. The swinging bridge at Camp McClintock. The cold water of Spring Creek at Camp Garland. The smiles of our special friends at the Special Camporee. The sounds of thousands of scouts at National Jamborees. The lonely sounds of a loon coming across the lakes in the Northern Tier. The lightening on Tooth Ridge at Philmont. So many memories.
A great past. A wonderful 2007. An exciting future ahead.
See you next year.
Our year has been filled with ups and downs. Oklahoma's weather is always extreme but we did get a lot more camping in this year than we did during the year where the burn bans were such a hindrance to the camping program. We continued to have excellent troop officers and wonderful Senior Patrol Leaders. We presented twelve Eagle Scout Awards to twelve deserving young scouts.
We attended two summer camps. An outstanding trip to Medicine Mountain in South Dakota marked the highlight of the summer. The trip was planned by Assistant Scoutmaster Ed Hobbs. That was also one of our lowest moments as well, as Ed passed away before the trip. Ed was a wonderful and caring Assistant Scoutmaster. He was so excited about this trip. Bill Kelshaw stepped in and completed the planning but it wasn't going to be the same without Ed. Our Scouts performed the evening flag ceremony at Mount Rushmore during the Medicine Mountain trip. The color guard wore black armbands with Ed Hobb's name on them as a gentle rain fell on the quiet crowd. I personally think that this one event at Mount Rushmore, more than any other single event in 2007, identified the spirit present in Troop 26. Not only do we make a difference in our community, but more importantly than that, we matter to each other. We honor our past. We value those who participate in our present. And we are excited about our future. Because we know that what we are is directly related to all those wonderful people that have worn the numbers "26" on their arm in the past. Men like Jim Goller, my own Scoutmaster when I was in Troop 26 as a boy, and Zeke Dampf, my Scoutmaster in Troop 26 when I left Tulsa for Military School, and Bud Kunze, the Scoutmaster of Troop 26 before me, and all the wonderful Assistant Scoutmasters who have come and gone. Men like Leon Smith, Ed Herhold, Bill Dalton, Bert Shelby, Bob Barbero, Joe McCann, and Jerry Pepper, who, along with Bud Kunze, were my very first Assistant Scoutmasters back in 1969. And to all the Assistant Scoutmasters since then. Men like Ed Hobbs. There have been so many wonderful men and women over the years who participated in the life of our troop. They came and they mattered. They participated in a program that changed lives. We are all grateful for the opportunity to know them and learn from them.
Last Monday night we held our annual Christmas Party with our Special Scout friends from Woodland Park. It is abundantly clear that Troop 26 has mattered to them. Over the years we have added something in their lives that would not have been there otherwise. We have become the family that many of them do not have. Our Special Scout friends want to matter too. And they know they matter to us. The gifts were OK and Santa was OK and the cookies were OK, but the hugs were better. And they are looking forward to 2008 because they know that Troop 26 will be there with them. Our involvement with the Special scouts over the years has added to the quality our own lives. The Special Camporee continues to be a major event in the life of our troop.
Every trip to the mailbox is exciting for me at this time of year. Troop 26 alumni Christmas Cards are coming in. For all those who sent cards, thank you. Those cards from people I haven't seen in years, let me know that I matter too. We have built something wonderful here. Something that lasts. I so appreciate you allowing me to be a part of your lives. And each of you have been a blessing in mine.
I know that all over the country, Troop 26 alumni are getting ready for Christmas. Maybe they will stop during this hectic time of year and think back on a simpler time. Maybe they will remember something from their childhood. The battery run Christmas tree lights at the Explorer Base. The big rocks at Kunze's Farm. The swinging bridge at Camp McClintock. The cold water of Spring Creek at Camp Garland. The smiles of our special friends at the Special Camporee. The sounds of thousands of scouts at National Jamborees. The lonely sounds of a loon coming across the lakes in the Northern Tier. The lightening on Tooth Ridge at Philmont. So many memories.
A great past. A wonderful 2007. An exciting future ahead.
See you next year.
posted by Bill Shaffer at 10:49 AM
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