Updated:
Sept 25, 2001
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The conference began on Friday evening with food, fellowship, music and inspiration. Jack Dunn and Mickey Howard, both of First Assembly of God in Jackson, cooked a wonderful prime rib steak dinner. Kelvin Dykes, of Magnolia Springs, got the steaks for us and they were delicious. Just before we ate, everyone was treated to music by District Productions Coordinator, Steve Thompson. We appreciate Ricky and Chip for playing the drums. Pastor Derek Youngblood brought the devotion and treated us to a special song. Derek is pastor of First Assembly of God in Columbus. After the meal, there was more music with so special music by Bruce Pepper Saturday's activities started with a devotion by Rev. Bill Manduca. Bill is a missionary to the inner city in Jackson. His message challenged us to reach out to boys of all cultural backgrounds. We appreciate the ministry of both Bill Manduca and Derek Youngblood. Following the devotion, breakfast was served. Thanks to Glenn and Cindy Hodges for organising and preparing both the breakfast and the lunch meal. "I was expecting hot dogs and chips," said District Commander, Wesley Harmon. "It was a delicious chicken casserole meal with all the trimins'. I appreciate all the hard work of Glenn, Cindy and Jack and all those who helped them in the kitchen." The first business item on the agenda covered the calendar of events for 2001. Wesley covered each event in detail with each of the staff offering input. Highlights included: district Pinewood Derby, several FCF events, Ranger of the Year district wide LTC camp out, Ranger of the Year, and Advanced National Training Camp. PowWow 2001 and Merit Camp were also discussed in detail. (Click here for a list of all of 2001's district events and click here for a news brief on many of next year's events). Watch your district web site for details of each of these events to be posted in the near future. The campground development and policy was also discussed during this period. Plans for work days, road construction and camp site development were presented out for the attendees. Following the discussion of next year's events, workshops were held on a variety of subjects. The classes were derived from a discussion at a recent Advisory Council meeting. The Advisory Council is made up of all district leaders. Classes included: promoting advancement (Pete Manley instructor), Outpost Planning and Administration (Glenn Hodges instructor), Reaching the Older Boys (Kelvin Dykes and Glenn Hodges instructors), Pinewood Derby (Mickey Howard and Ron Murphy instructors), Buckaroo/Straight Arrow Crafts (Nora Harmon and John Lawrence instructors), Kids at Risk (Keith Vance instructor), and Using Games to Teach Valuable Lessons (Brian Brolin instructor). Everyone appeared to enjoy each of the classes. "I was able to listen in on each of the classes and they were excellent," said District Commander, Wesley Harmon. "Each of the instructors were very well prepared. I appreciate each one. It was good to have Brian in the district. He is a professional teacher and we look forward to hearing more from him in the future." Everyone who attended Brian's class was treated to his unique teaching style using object lessons to teach character lessons. One game had the men in a circle, each holding a bungee cord ring. Using a team concept, they had to pass the ring over two other leaders who had to stay connected at one point during the entire meneuver. It produced a lot of laughs while at the same time getting the point across. Keith Vance's class, Kids at Risk, dealt with recognising children who may be experimenting with drugs, alcohol or in gangs. Keith is a supervisor at a regional mental health center in Louisville where he deals with children effected by drug abuse, child abuse, and many other social and pathological problems on a daily basis. Pete Manley taught on Promoting Advancement. He used some of the methods used in his outpost that have been successful. Keeping good records and recognising and rewarding advancement was some of the methods discussed. One of his boys, Jonathan Edwards, attended the conference and also participated in a Gold Metal of Achievement review board, one of the last steps in earning his GMA. Nora Harmon and John Lawrence held a class on Buckaroo/Straight Arrow Crafts. Nora, recently returned from the BSTC held in Alabama. Nora and John Lawrence demonstrated many crafts that they have discovered in working with the younger boys. John is the District Buckaroo/Straight Arrow Coordinator. Nora also listed several excellent web sites for new and exciting crafts (we will post these on our links page as soon as construction is complete). Glenn Hodges conducted a class on outpost Organisation and Administration. Organisation is one of Glenn's many talents. This class has been offered many times because it is very important to be organised in order to have optimum impact on the boys. Good record keeping, planning and communication being some of the essential elements of organisation. Glenn also assisted Kelvin Dykes in a class on Reaching the Older Boys. Kelvin works with the older boys at Magnolia Springs and has two teenage boys of his own to keep him in practice. There are many distractions for this age group (Trailblazers and Challengers). There's girls, sports, many have jobs, as well as many physical changes. They stressed the instruction and activity must be at a much higher level to challenge this age group. The afternoon session was dedicated to covering the new ranger program to be launched in September of 2002. Glenn Hodges covered the layout of the new program using a PowerPoint presentation provided by the National Royal Rangers Office. If you have any questions or comments, please let us know. Send your comments to Leantree@aol.com. |
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