The Advisor’s Award is given out each year to a youth who has joined in the last year whom the adults feel has most demonstrated excellence in service, leadership and spirit.
Please welcome this year’s winner, Tyler Johnson.
Tyler and his sister both joined at the same time and both have done a great job as new members. Let me explain why Tyler was selected for this award.
Tyler has been an enthusiastic supporter of this program since the moment he joined. There rarely has been a meeting, outing or service activity that he has missed. And youth and adults have noticed when he is there.
I will always remember our bike weekend in Virginia, when the weather dropped 20 degrees below the forecast and we woke up to ice sunday morning. Icicles formed on the dining fly. It was hard to get the youth to stir that morning, much more to do camp chores. The night before it was cold and rainy and the youth had left all the dinner dishes to be washed the next morning. Not a fun chore. It was 30 degrees and everyone was trying to stay warm and dry. Then Tyler stepped forward and volunteered to wash a mountain of dishes in the freezing cold. By himself. He was also one of the few who stayed in his tent the night before when the temperature dipped below freezing.
His dish-cleaning made an impression, not just on the adults but on the youth as well. But it is just one of many Tyler moments. Like the time he came with his sister and volunteered to help troop 312 clean out the scout shed. Not his job or unit. But he helped anyway. And what did he do afterward? He went with casey to help serve lunch at the council tennis tournament when she came asking for volunteers.
But his enthusiasm for service is the same as his excitement for our other activities. From flag football to indoor rock climbing, Tyler approaches what we do with gusto and spirit. He’s curious and interested in everything we do, even when it’s outside our regular events. When laura’s dad held a photo exhibition recently downtown, she was impressed to see the one crew member who appeared, Tyler.
A couple months ago, i asked the crew for volunteers to tell me what venturing meant to them. This is what Tyler said;
For me venturing is much more than just camping and exploring. As much fun as caving, skiing, and ice skating (just to name a few of many adventures) are, they wouldn’t be nearly as enjoyable without the crew. Everyone in our crew is a good, honest, well-rounded individual who is always willing to help a friend in a bind.
For his very active participation, his willingness to think of others first, his spirit and sense of adventure, i am very proud to proclaim Tyler Johnson as our 2008 advisor’s award winner. Congratulations!
I’ve often told new crew members that the only way to win an elected office is to run for it. It can be a scary thing to ask a group of teens to select you as their leader. When our elections came up this month for president and vice president, Marion decided to run for vice president. She didn’t win. But that didn’t stop her from running again, this time as treasurer. And Marion is our new crew treasurer.
For her active participation, her enthusiastic spirit, her leadership and service to others, i am proud to award marion the 2006 advisors’ award. Congratulations!