The Buckhorn District Eagle Scout Banquet was held recently at the San Rafael Museum. This Eagle Scout Banquet was to honor the accomplishments of 26 Eagle Scouts from Emery County. This was one of the largest groups of Eagle Scouts to have been honored in Emery County for some time. Bart Cox a member of the Buckhorn District Advancement Committee welcomed the Eagle Scouts, parents, leaders and friends.
Before the US Flag was posted by the Huntington Stake Eagle Scouts 2011, a short video was shown about the history of “Old Glory” the American flag and the National Anthem by Francis Scott Key (1779-1843) an American lawyer, author, and amateur poet, wrote the lyrics to the Star-Spangled Banner.
The invocation was given by Brian Clark, Troop 307 Ferron Stake.
After the meal, catered by Drew Leroy of Food Ranch, Danna Gray the Buckhorn District Advancement Chairman introduced the guest speaker Roger Anthony.
Anthony is a motivational speaker and a proud US Citizen who was born and formerly lived in Australia. He said, “It is an honor being able to live in the United States of America. My wife, myself and my children are proud to now be citizens of the United States. It truly is, here in this country, a melting pot of people from all over the world and all cultures. I see this as the last bastion of freedom throughout the whole world. This country stands for the freedom of every human soul on planet earth. I pray that we will never take what this country stands for, for granted and hope that we will always remember that we have to uphold the Constitution of this great land. I am honored to say that I am now officially a citizen of the United States.
“One of the things I have learned with regards to leadership is the need for integrity. How imperative it is that we stand by what we believe regardless of the consequences. Integrity will never stand up to be what it was designed and created to be unless we the people stand up for what it really means. True integrity has a companion principle. That companion principle that supports integrity is assertiveness. To me, assertiveness is the soul of integrity. Without the soul, there is just a shell. Assertiveness is the right to share ideas, beliefs, our rights and our privileges in a manner that does not violate the rights of another. If I’m not living in integrity, if the organization is not built upon a foundation of integrity and even according to the principle of assertiveness, then that organization will become unstable. The same applies to a country, the same applies to a government, the same applies to the city and the same applies to the family. Assertiveness is being able to say deep within my heart, what I know to be true regardless of what the consequences may be, but to do it in a manner that does not violate the rights of another.
“I would like to share with you one of the great examples of integrity that I know and it is the crocodile. The crocodile is one of the greatest survivors known to mankind. They roamed the earth during the prehistoric times with their cousins, the dinosaurs. They shared the same hunting grounds and experienced the same dynamically changing environment. Today there are 23 species of crocodiles alive upon the face of the earth, striving and adapting. When was the last time you or I ever saw a dinosaur alive? We were created to be crocodiles and a crocodile lives in integrity.
“I will use a crocodile. To illustrate the principle that I would like to leave with you. To the scouts and all of those that are supporting these scouts. I will tell you a true story about a king croc in charge of a particular lagoon. A king croc is quite large. Under research, and being filmed this large croc was seen to slither into the water and lie motionless, because the croc senses the wildebeest are on their way back from a migratory track. The researchers estimated that the crocodile had not eaten for three months. So he was a hungry crocodile. Lying motionless in the water, the crocodile looked like a log, just off the shore, about two feet under the water, for 24 hours. The next morning, the wildebeest arrived on the other side of the lagoon. They were a little bit skittish because they knew there were crocodiles in the lagoon. This crocodile lay motionless for the next 24 hours. By the way, a crocodile in the relaxed state can get its heartbeat down to about three beats a minute. He didn’t move for about 24 hours. Then he begin drifting, and the next 24 hours, he went about 30 feet. This went on for 14 days. On about the 20th day or the 21st day, the crocodile was right under the nose of the head wildebeest. The wildebeest were not at all concerned because the crocodile had conditioned them to believe that he was harmless. The wildebeest caught on camera started to nuzzle the crocodile out-of-the-way to get a drink. Not a bad plan eh.
“When you think about leadership, you scouts. When you think about what you have won to become Eagle Scouts. Congratulations, what a fantastic accomplishment to become an Eagle Scout. What an honor, what a preparation for the future and the leadership of this country.
“Here’s the first thing the crocodile did and some of the reasons why it has outlived the dinosaur. The first thing it did, as hungry as it was, was to relax. Think about your life. When the unforeseen happens as you look into the future. We never know what’s going to happen. From one moment to the next. Regardless of how well prepared we are. The world is changing at a dynamic and rapid rate and it is speeding up. The key is to learn to relax under all kinds of conditions. The last thing the opposition wants you to do is to relax. The opposition wants you to be stressed and fearful and deeply concerned to such a degree that we are not really in control. Whether we are parents, grandparents or up-and-coming leaders like some of you Eagle Scouts. Please remember this principle of relaxation.
“When this king croc was relaxing. He wasn’t just doing nothing. While he was in this relaxed state. He was observing the wildebeests and evaluating the situation. At the beginning of any endeavor when we’re disciplining children, when you Eagle Scouts are getting to the point where you’re deciding on a wife. How important is it not to rush in, regardless of how hungry you might be, to get married? Make sure that you first relax and then go to the second step, which is to evaluate the situation. When we as humans are relaxed we are way more creative than when we are stressed and uptight. Yet we have been conditioned to worry about stupid, petty mundane things. By the way, all the studies that I have done have shown that worry is a learned behavior. We were never born to worry. It is not natural. It never will be. Our Creator designed us to be successful. He designed us to be healthy. He designed us to be dynamic. Why would he build into us an ability to worry?
“What happens if we continue to worry? Do we get stress? What happens when we’re stressed? We get sick. We keep getting warning sign after warning sign that we shouldn’t be worrying. One of the earliest warning signs of all is a stiff neck or shoulder. When I get a stiff neck or shoulder. I get excited. The reason I get excited is because it’s an early warning sign that I shouldn’t be worrying. Why should we be designed to worry so that we would shorten our lives? It doesn’t make sense from a creator who knows what he is doing. But our opposition doesn’t want us to live a full life here upon the earth. We are hoodwinked into worrying about stupid and mundane things.
“This crocodile, the first thing he did was to relax the second thing he did in the relaxed state was to observe and evaluate. You scouts when you get into business and start to forming a company around your life. Please remember that no matter how quickly you may need to develop a plan for your business. (Follow what we’re teaching you here.) Number one relax first, number two evaluate in a relaxed state. Number three before you do anything else you now layout a plan. You manage the situation, Relax, observe and manage. Layout your strategies and your tactics or your goals. You never set your goals until you have first relaxed. Then you observe and evaluate. You are in a much better position to evaluate when you’re in a relaxed state. Then set your goals, which is to manage the situation.
“Would you agree that this crocodile had patience? The crocodile relaxed, observed, managed, had patience and then acted. Here are the five principles that help us master our lives. Relax, observe, manage, have patience, and then act. The name of the crocodile is ROMPA.
“The Creator said that he would take the simple things of the world and confound the wise. Let’s try not to make things too difficult. We have a tendency to take things too serious. The Creator doesn’t make anything complex . It is always simple. Our minds and the grand philosophies of men cause us to make the simple truths complex, so that we miss the reality of our Creator,” said Anthony.
Anthony then took off his suit coat and underneath the coat he was wearing a white dress shirt torn in several places. This shirt was used to illustrate how we hide things from others or put on a mask of respectability. How often do we cover up the truth from our loved ones from our husband or wife, from our colleagues, from our workmen, from our school friends. How often are we covering up the truth? Because we’re afraid of what people may think of us. Is that integrity? Does that represent what the United States stands for? We know this, that any organization, society or individual that bases their life on the lack of integrity, eventually those foundations will collapse.
“There’s a statement that I use when training corporations. Success is simple, but it is not easy because it is so simple, and another statement is that truth always wins. Sometimes, eventually, but it always wins. Please keep that in mind and remember, in this land of the United States. In my opinion the United States is the last bastion of liberty and freedom for the whole world based on this God-given Constitution. The emblem of the United States is an eagle. So we chose in our crocodile program for the emblem of Integrity an eagle.
“When we use true and correct principles, regardless of what the consequences may be, we can have a life of harmony, even in the storms. It doesn’t mean we’re not going to have heartaches. It doesn’t mean that we’re not going to feel sadness and sorrow. But what It does mean is that even in the storms of life we can still recognize the life and the truth of who we really are and we will always stay steady and firm anchored to the rock of integrity,” said Anthony.
After Anthony told two more stories relating to management skills involving the eagle and then an ostrich, he went on to a demonstration of how to correctly punch a boxing speed bag. The speed bag platform was set up in one corner of the room. He said, in learning to punch a speed bag, it is no different than learning to use any other piece of equipment or practicing a musical instrument or becoming a great business person or a leader. There are certain principles involved. Regardless of what the consequences might be. If we follow them like ROMPA and integrity. We can take what could be chaos and confusion, and through those storms create harmony and rhythm in our lives.
Anthony displayed the speed ball and said, “This speed ball is made to represent the mastering of our lives. A few of the scouts were then asked to try their hand at punching the speed bag. These scouts found it difficult to hit the speed bag correctly even after being shown how. Learning the skill of punching a speed bag takes time and training as with any worthwhile goal.”
Anthony then said, “By the way, if I know I have got a ripped shirt on, and I cover it up. Pretending that it is not ripped or pretending I’m OK when I’m not and I’m not living in the truth. How does It make me feel when I’m hiding the truth? Good? Or bad?” The audience replied bad. “It is a sign from our Creator. Speak the truth, and eventually it will win. The idea is that we burn energy when we are hiding the truth. Often at the end of the day, the end of the week, the end of the month, the end of the year. We are literally burned out because we are hiding the truth and avoiding speaking, it and making the changes we need to make in our lives. Anthony then displayed his artistic talent for punching the speed bag. The rhythm and sounds he produced while punching the speed bag was almost like music.”
In conclusion, Anthony again stated, “Truth always wins. Sometimes, eventually. So never, never give up on speaking and living the truth. Leadership in life is all about effective positive communication. It is all about relationships, wife with husband, children with parents and so it goes on throughout our whole existence on the earth and making allowances for the individual differences of those around us. Congratulations once again Eagle Scouts,” concluded Anthony.
Bart Cox then introduced Dennis Dooley of the Elks Price Lodge 1550. The Elks Lodge are great supporters of the Scouting program. They have today a gift for each of the Eagle Scouts. The gift is a flag of the United States of America. Dooley said, “The program and presentation by Mr. Anthony was absolutely inspiring. Your accent inspired me to tell this story. Not too long after the war in Afghanistan started the British troops supported us. There were quite a few troops over there from Great Britain at the time. Tony Blair, was the Prime Minister of Great Britain and for those of you who don’t know anything about Parliament. You may expect it to be a very staid and quiet meeting. But they have this tradition called question time and it is not at all calm. As a matter of fact, it usually turns into a shouting match. They don’t have desks in Parliament. They just have benches, and basically the opposition parties will shout questions to the Prime Minister, and he is expected to field these questions. In this case, the opposition was giving Tony Blair a real hard time about supporting America. It got into almost a shouting match. Mr. Blair stood up, looked at the opposition leader, directly across the room and said, ‘I will remind the right honorable gentleman that there are only two people who offered to die for this freedom and asks nothing in return. One is Jesus Christ and the other is the American soldier. So we will support them.'”
Dooley said, “We support the scouts because we like you have to stand up and publicly salute the American flag. We like you have to stand up publicly and say we believe in God. The world is run by those who show up. It does not matter whether they are good people, or bad people. The world will be run by those who show up. We hope that in the future when your country calls, you will show up. Because you’re the ones that have had the training, you’re the ones that have been taught the Creed, you’re the ones that have been taught the values by your family, you’re the ones that believe in God and if you stay home, we are in trouble. Show up.”
The closing prayer was given by Jordan Cox, Troop 305 Castle Dale Stake. The Eagle Scout Awards were presented by Danna Gray, Bart Cox, Roger Anthony, Dennis Dooley and Robert Regruto. The honored were given an Eagle plaque, a certificate of achievement and an American Flag.
The names of the scouts receiving awards are as follows: McKoy E. Allred, McKlane J. Allred, Jason G. Anderson, Stetson Gordon Bennett, David R. Bird Aaron J. Brower, Kelven V. Childs, Brian Lewis Clark, Jordan F. Cox, Chase A Fausett, Chet J. Funk, Jax Duane Gardner, Adam Daniel Irving, Brendon C. Jorgensen, Johnny A. Lindquist Matthew N. Mecham, Jaron M. Murray, Kaden Daniel Oakeson, Ashton T. Palacios Kaden J. Parkins, Tyler S. Rubio, Brett Lane Sorensen, Brent Blake Sorensen, Logan Deliverance Tuttle, Caleb Joshua Woolsey and Drexler L. Tanner.
Eagles soar in Emery County
"The Buckhorn District honored 26 Eagle Scouts: They include: front row; McKoy Allred, Aaron Brower, Matthew Mecham, Kaden Oakeson, Adam Irving, Jaron Murray, Brent Sorensen, middle row from right: Jax Gardner, Chase Fausett, Kelven Childs, David Bird, Stetson Bennett, Jason Anderson, McKlane Allred, back row: Danna Gray, Jordan Cox, Brian Clark, Logan Tuttle, Drexler Tanner, Brendon Jorgensen , Caleb Woolsey, Johnny Lindquist, Brett Sorensen, and Bart Cox. "