Buckhorn District honors Eagles

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The Tavaputs/Buckhorn District Eagle Scout Banquet was held at the Museum of the San Rafael on March 28.
The Tavaputs/Buckhorn District Advancement Chairs are Danna Gray over Huntington Stake, Miriam Sorensen from Ferron Stake and Bart Cox from Castle Dale Stake. District Advancement Chairman Bart Cox welcomed the Eagle Scouts, their parents and friends to this years District Scout Banquet and asked the Eagle Scout Honor Guard from Castle Dale Stake to present the flag ceremony led by Eagle Scout Mason Moss. This was followed by the pledge of allegiance. Before the group sang the National Anthem. Mason Moss read a brief history about Francis Scott Key’s writing the “Star Spangled Banner”.
Eagle Scout Justin Jennings gave the opening prayer.
This Eagle Scout Banquet was held to honor the following young men who had achieved the rank of Eagle Scout. Noah W. Bennion Troop 307, Benjamin Brower Troop 903, Travis Fehlberg Troop 903, Andrew Madsen Troop 904, Mason Moss Troop 305, Riley T Rasmussen Troop 305, Chad S. Rowley Troop 903, Alexander Stilson Troop 300, Stetler E Tanner Troop 305, Jesse P. Braun Troop 307, Zachary D. Clifford Troop 302, Justin J. Jennings Troop 385, McKay Meccariello Troop 307, Zachary D Parlo Troop 307, Jason W. Roberts Troop 300, Charles Rubio Troop 306, Brinler M. Tanner Troop 305 and Ethan Tuttle Troop 304.
Scouting District Chairman Danna Gray introduced the guest speaker Eagle Scout and Iron Man athlete Heath Thurston.
Heath Thurston of Orem grew up in Payson where he became an all-state swimmer while in high school. Thurston in 2000 started training for the triathlon and has become proficient in that sport. He received his pro/elite license as a tri-athlete in 2006 and has raced for eight years as a pro. Heath retired from the iron man triathlon and ultra runner sport last year. He has been married 15 years and has two girls, Kida age 11 and Scout age 8. His daughter Kida accompanied Heath to this Scout Banquet.
Thurston now coaches individuals and groups to become tri-athletes and swimming champions at the Provo Recreation Center. In front of the speakers podium Thurston had on display several photos of himself winning medals and trophies from race events he had participated in.
An Eagle Scout himself, Thurston spoke about how scouting helps prepare our young people for life. His father is also a life long scout who obtained his Silver Beaver award. Thurston’s father was always his scoutmaster. He said becoming an Eagle Scout has helped him in triathlon and many other things. Thurston started swimming when he was five and loved that sport. His mother was his swim coach and teacher. Along with one brother and three sisters they were basically the Payson swim team. “All of those things we learn as we grow up teach us how to be stronger and to be more prepared,” said Thurston.
Thurston spoke of his trials and hardships experienced in preparing to participate in the Triathlon sport which included, in addition to swimming, bicycling and running. He mentioned the importance of resources of information from those who had gone on before in the sport. When he had the desire to compete in the triathlon, he purchased an old bike for $300 and he started running in marathons to get in shape trying to get ready for a triathlon.
My first Olympic distance race was at Yuba Reservoir. There are four different distances in triathlon. You have the sprint distance, the swim distance, the bike distance, and the running distance. When he got out of the water he was in third place after a mile swim. The bike ride is 40 kilometers or about 25 miles. He had a water bottle, but he had not thought about fuel for his body such as carbohydrates. When he got off his bike his legs were like rubber. He then walked and jogged through the rest of the race. He wasn’t miserable but was hurting. He was far from winning.
In 2003 he came up with a plan to get better. “I started running everyday at least one hour. I began learning a lot more about training myself for the triathlon. I set the goal of running everyday all that winter. As a result I started getting better, started getting faster and started losing weight. Going into 2004 suddenly my body had changed. I finally started enjoying running and I was biking more. I started learning a lot more about fueling my body. All these little things like merit badges in scouting down the road become useful. In my training I started understanding all these little things. Like keeping my heart rate up longer, and using fuel other than water, fuel for energy that had electrolytes in it.
“In 2004 I was running faster I was biking faster and taking this sport a lot more serious. I went to a race in Bakersfield, Calif. I was racing a friend of mine B. J. Christensen from Salt Lake. He is 6 foot 7 inches tall and he ran me down numerous times. I would be ahead when we got out of the swim and the biking. Then he would run me down in the running. During this race in California I actually put a plan together, my water and my fuel before the race. I won the race because I finally put my plan to work.
“Then I started winning races in other places. My one big goal was that I wanted to do ironman racing.
“As an example the Hawaiian Ironman Triathlon included a swim of 2.4 miles (3.9 km), a bike ride of 112 miles (180 km), and a marathon run of 26.219 miles (42.195 km). You start at 7 AM and you have 17 hours or until midnight to finish the ironman triathlon.
“My wife helped me with my nutrition plan in 2005 in the Hawaii ironman. There you have to drink a lot of water and you have to have food or fuel to keep your body going. In humidity you sweat a lot. My wife calculated how many calories I needed and what I was going to do. On the bike ride at the halfway point they have an aid station with fuel for the riders. Because the attendant moved too slowly, I went by the aid station without collecting my bag of fuel for replenishment. Then during the long run, at 10 miles into the run my body began to shut down and I had to have a medical escort get my body in a more normal condition. I did not finish the race. I did not follow the plan.
“My wife was more of a planner than me and there are two types of planners. There is the planner and the non-planner. Planning or setting goals is what we do in scouting said Thurston.
To be successful he needed to make a list of things to do in preparing to for a triathlon.
He quoted a statement from a book he read recently. “A plan is just a list of things that most won’t happen.” When planning you will make a list of things a lot of them will happen and a lot of them won’t happen.
Thurston talked about planning for the future. “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” This was illustrated when he told stories about not planning for the heat the humidity and his need for water and refreshment fuel during races in Hawaii and Florida.
“Everything that I have done, every race that I have been in has been a learning experience. Even though you are following your plan and working as hard as you can on your plan occasionally things will fall apart. You need to be able to account for those changes and adapt to those changes or circumstances,” said Thurston.
Thurston ended with a quote from his father. “Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body.” But rather the skin and bones are thoroughly used up, totally worn out and loudly proclaimed. What a ride.”
Cox said the Price Elks Lodge has supported us for many years and is a big part of this award and presentation, he introduced Mitchell Hadden representing the Price Elks Lodge 1550.
Hadden said he was proud to celebrate this great evening of achievement with the scouts. “The thing that resonates with this achievement and me is how scouting develops the growth and personal character in today’s youth. The Boy Scouts of America’s mission statement is to prepare young men to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes. By instilling in them the values of the scout oath and law. The scout law states, “The Scout is trustworthy and keeps his promises. Honesty is a required code of conduct. I say it is part of ones personal character. I believe everyone should make a personal mission statement. Make necessary changes as you go through life. The Scout law also has other statements about loyalty, helpful, friendly, courtesy, kind and obedient. Boy Scouts of America states the character counts and I agree. I cannot think of a better way to bring up our youth and prepare them for adulthood than through Scouting. To all of you that help with Scouting I would like to thank you for supporting Scouting in the way you do,” said Hadden.
Cox announced the name of each Scout as they came forward to get an Eagle Plaque, a certificate and an American flag. These items and congratulations were presented by Danna Gray, Miriam Sorensen, Heath Thurston, Kida Thurston, Mitchell Hadden and Holly Neiwert.
Mitchell Hadden and Holly Neiwert presented each Eagle Scout with an American Flag and a certificate from the Elks BPOE 1550.
The caterer for this event was Kent Wilson from BK’s Stop and Shop in Huntington.