Quote of the Week- Strength

A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.
-- Christopher Reeve

It takes more courage to reveal insecurities than to hide them, more strength to relate to people than to dominate them, more 'manhood' to abide by thought-out principles rather than blind reflex. Toughness is in the soul and spirit, not in muscles and an immature mind.
-- Alex Karras

It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.
-- Maya Angelou

Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power. If you realize that you have enough, you are truly rich.
-- Tao Te Ching

trength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.
-- Arnold Schwarzenegger

The size of your success is measured by the strength of your desire; the size of your dream; and how you handle disappointment along the way.
-- Robert Kiyosaki

We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face... we must do that which we think we cannot.
-- Eleanor Roosevelt

Without the strength to endure the crisis, one will not see the opportunity within. It is within the process of endurance that opportunity reveals itself.
Chin-Ning Chu

There are many qualities that make a great leader. But having strong beliefs, being able to stick with them through popular and unpopular times, is the most important characteristic of a great leader.
Rudy Giuliani

Yours in Scouting Service
Mark W
Assistant Scoutmaster
Troop 1616
Great Alaska COuncil
Eagle Scout OA Brotherhood Member
NSJ '05 WSJ '07 '11 Philmont AA '08

Arrowmen in Action

Arrowmen In Action: Living Life To The Fullest

What started out as a great father-son adventure one August morning turned into a quick lesson in emergency preparedness for two Arrowmen last year. Charlie and Hap Stokes, Brotherhood members from Lakeview, Minnesota, were hiking up the 14,259-foot Longs Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado last August when they had to put their Scout skills to use. The two had just completed two weeks at Philmont and were ready to take on a mountain that Hap had wanted to climb since he was a boy. They brought plenty of water, extra clothes and rain gear and even started early enough in the day to reach the peak before the daily thunderstorms hit. “We did everything right,” said Hap of his and his son’s preparations. “But, in this case, it didn’t matter,” he said.

The walk up the mountain was as leisurely as it could be. They stopped to take pictures and admired the well-known scenery along the way. But when they reached to summit of the mountain, the pair noticed dark storm clouds quickly making their way towards the mountain. One of the reasons for making the climb that day was to spread Hap’s dad’s ashes, so they quickly did that, took a few pictures and began their descent back down the mountain. After hiking a little over a mile down the mountain the decided to stop and put rain gear on, something that many of the other hikers on the trail that day chose not to do. A few hundred feet later, they were being pelted by hail and surrounded by lightening. At one point, the hail was hitting so hard that the pair decided to stop with a group of others and seek shelter. "It was hail," Hap told the St. Paul Pioneer Press. "I'm bald. It hurt, man. I was getting pelted."

After a while, the father-son pair decided they had to continue down the mountain or risk being sitting ducks in a lightening storm. They led a group of several people down to a shelter and collected other stranded hikers along the way. Once they got to the shelter Charlie and Hap sprang into action, using the skills they had learned in Scouts to help their fellow hikers. “[Scouting] trained us to help those who were less prepared than we were,” said Hap. They emptied their backpacks of the extra clothes and distributed their water. Eventually someone was able to call for help and handed the phone to Hap. The rangers told him that those who could walk down should do so. While Hap encouraged others to leave, he and Charlie stayed behind to help those who couldn’t leave until more help had arrived. Eventually another group of hikers, including two physicians, arrived at the shelter where Hap and Charlie had huddled with others to escape the storm.

The physicians arrived just in time, because Charlie noticed that his dad was starting to experience hypothermia. “He was so busy helping other people he didn’t help himself,” Charlie told the Pioneer Press. Hap credits his son’s leadership abilities with helping to keep him safe. “It was just natural for Charlie to pick up the leadership role,” he said. Charlie immediately ordered his dad off the mountain and the two made it back safely.

For their heroism and actions that day, the pair was awarded the National Medal of Merit at a surprise Court of Honor held by their troop. The honor meant a lot to Hap and Charlie, whose family’s Scouting heritage goes back several generations. Still, Hap credits his action to the training he received as a Scout. “Any number of people are trained to provide service. The real motivation is to just execute that training.”

Yours in Scouting Service
Mark W
Assistant Scoutmaster
Troop 1616
Great Alaska COuncil
Eagle Scout OA Brotherhood Member
NSJ '05 WSJ '07 '11 Philmont AA '08

Order of the Arrow HA 2010

What is OA HA you may be wondering? It is Order of the Arrow High Adventure which is a opportunity for arrowmen across the country to visit the National High adventure basess, participate at that base, and then do a service project for that base. So here is the information release statement about the 2010 program:

2010 HIGH ADVENTURE DATES ANNOUNCED – APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE NOW

We are pleased to announce that the 2010 applications for OA Trail Crew, OA Wilderness Voyage and OAWV: Canadian Odyssey, have been posted to the national high adventure website (http://adventure.oa-bsa.org). There will be 9 sessions of each program, including the new Canadian Odyssey Voyage, running from early June through mid-August. The OA Ocean Adventure program is currently in revision to give Arrowmen the opportunity to leave an even greater impact on the areas Sea Base serves, at a lower cost to the participants. Details about the program, as well as the application, will be available later this summer.

Each year the OA's High Adventure programs continue to grow in popularity and have been filled to capacity for four straight years. As such we encourage Arrowmen to apply as soon as possible. For more program information including promotional flyers, videos, participant testimonials, newsletter articles, scholarship form templates, website banners, training syllabi and more, visit the resources section of our website. Past participants can share their OAHA experiences by emailing them to OAHighAdventurePromotions@gmail.com.

For those Arrowmen attending NOAC, we hope to see all past participants and staff members at the OA High Adventure Gathering on Monday August 3rd from 9:30 pm until 10:30 pm at the IU Tennis Center. OA High Adventure will also have informational areas at the Experience, TOAP, and during Founders Day. We look forward to seeing you there.

• OATC: http://adventure.oa-bsa.org/files/applications/2010oatcapp.pdf
• OAWV: http://adventure.oa-bsa.org/files/applications/2010oawvapp.pdf
• OAWV:CO: http://adventure.oa-bsa.org/files/applications/2010oacoapp.pdf
• Resources: http://adventure.oa-bsa.org/index.php?p=resources

Yours in Scouting Service
Mark W
Assistant Scoutmaster
Troop 1616
Great Alaska COuncil
Eagle Scout OA Brotherhood Member
NSJ '05 WSJ '07 '11 Philmont AA '08