Buckhorn District Eagle Scout Banquet

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The Buckhorn District of the Boy Scouts of America held their Eagle Scout awards banquet March 16, at the Museum of The San Rafael. Bart Cox a member of the Buckhorn District Advancement Committee from Castle Dale Stake welcomed the Eagle Scouts, parents, leaders and friends to the 2013 Eagle Scout Banquet. This Eagle Scout Banquet was arranged to honor the accomplishments of 16 Eagle Scouts from Ferron, Huntington and Castle Dale LDS Stakes in Emery County. The invocation was given by Jeremiah Luke of Troop 903 Huntington Stake.
The posting of the Flag of the United States of America was accomplished by the Castle Dale Eagle Scouts of 2012. After the meal, catered by Drew Leroy of Food Ranch, Danna Gray the Buckhorn District Advancement Chairman from Huntington Stake introduced the Guest Speaker James Lawrence a native of Canada living in Utah.
Lawrence a World Record holder and a very athletic person is noted for his dedication to competing in Iron Man Triathlons. He is noted also for taking upon himself big challenges and completing them. James is a very good inspirational speaker for young people. He encourages them to set goals, to become prepared to reach their goal, life can be difficult at times but never give up.
One of Lawrence’s first challenges came, as a young man, at the Calgary Stampede in Canada. There he accepted the challenge to enter a contest to see who could continuously ride a large ferris wheel for 10 days straight. The rules allowed for only two 10 minute breaks during the day and the rest of the time you had to sit on the ride and do nothing. You could not take anything with you to entertain yourself on the ride. The goal was for the rider to have absolute boredom for 10 days. The result was that he won $10,000 and learned a lot about himself, his capacity for boredom and the ability to control his mind. He lost his regular job. That was a turning point in his life.
Lawrence used this as an opportunity to travel to Utah, where he married and now has five children. He currently lives and trains in Lindon. He does not come from an athletic background. He said he was just average.
One day his wife encouraged him to do a four mile fun run with her. From that experience, he discovered how out of condition his body was. Barely surviving the four mile fun run, his wife then suggested that he should consider training to do a marathon. Lawrence spent five months of preparing for the marathon. On the day of the marathon he said, the experience was a disaster. He hated every step of it.
Lawrence went on to explain how he made up his mind that he was not going to be defeated or quit the race, but would better prepare his body and mind for the next marathon and later the triathlon.
Dayton Hayward, a young man with cerebral palsy participated with Lawrence in an Iron Man Triathlon at Lake Havasu, Ariz. Dayton was towed by Lawrence in an inflated raft for the swim, in a bicycle type trailer for the bicycle ride and the run. This was a lot of extra weight to pull during the triathlon. But he did it.
Lawrence described the physical muscle pain, the fatigue and exhaustion he experienced in some of those triathlons that he competed in. He never gave up. He always finished the race despite the hardships. He quoted, “If you think you can or think you can’t. You are right.”
In 2010, he set a goal to best the World Record of 16 Half-Iron Man 70.3 Triathlons run in one year. Lawrence did compete in 22 Half-Iron Man Triathlons and accomplished this World Record goal in 30 weeks. The Half-Iron Man Triathlon consists of a 1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile bicycle ride and a 13.1 mile run.
Lawrence’s goal in 2012 was to compete in 30 Iron Man Triathlons in one year and set another World Record. The Iron Man Triathlon consists of swimming 2.4 Miles, biking 112 miles followed by a 26.2 mile run all without stopping except briefly for water and food.
At the Naples Triathlon he finished the full distance triathlon, and won the race’s overall title with a time of 10 hours, 27 minutes and 46 seconds.
Lawrence has been competing in these triathlons to raise money for the building of dams in Africa. He is attempting to raise $5 million for the Quiet Way Foundation in a campaign called “Tri and Give a Dam.” Quiet Way is a nonprofit organization and raises money to build dams to help provide fresh water to the people of Kenya.
Lawrence’s nine year old daughter Lillie assisted her father by operating the computer for his slide show. The slide show was made up of scenes taken from Triathlons in which he competed.
Lawrence has traveled through Europe and throughout the United States to compete in Iron Man Triathlons. There were always people there to help him along the way. The Iron Man mantra is “just finishing is a victory.”
Lawrence then told of a particular difficult triathlon in which James was the legs for Dayton Hayward. Only with the help of the Lord answering his fervent prayers was he able to finish the race. He did so in 16 hours and 40 minutes. It was a memorable day.
One of the lessons he learned was to allow people to help when help was needed. As a result of this incredible journey to complete 30 triathlons in one year his belief in the goodness of mankind, around the globe, was restored. Only he and his wife believed he could accomplish the 30 Triathlons in a year. All others said it couldn’t be done.
Lawrence said that he reminds himself from time to time that no goal is too big. He then said, “If you believe with enough conviction, not knowing if or how. It is going to work out. With the right action it will. You must set goals and then take the appropriate action,” said Lawrence.
Congratulations to all the young men that were able to become Eagle Scouts.
Miriam Sorensen, a member of the Buckhorn District Advancement Committee from Ferron Stake introduced each Eagle Scout as he received his award. The Eagle Scout Awards were handed out by Bart Cox, James Lawrence and Danna Gray. The gift of the US Flag was given by Dan Johnson and Mary Alice Johnson of the Elks Price Lodge. Each Eagle Scout honored at this banquet was given an eagle plaque, a certificate of achievement and an American Flag. The flag was a gift from the Elks Price Lodge 1550.
The names of the scouts receiving awards are as follows: Corbin Barnett-Troop 315; John T. Birch-Troop 395; Spencer Fauver-Troop 315; James Healey-Troop 300; Kody E. Holmes-Troop 385; Hunter W. Huntington-Troop 904; Dawson Jensen-Troop 315; James B. Jewkes-Troop 904; Spencer S. Labrum-Troop 315; Jeremiah E. Luke-Troop 903; Curtis Mason-Troop 315; P. McKlayn Moss-Troop 305; Austin J. Olsen-Troop 903; Jaden D. Olsen-Troop 930; Justan Potter-Troop 903; Jared A Shakespeare-Troop 930.