Our next award is for growth in Venturing, recognizing a crew member who has most demonstrated improvement in the past year. Please join me in welcoming this year’s winner, Jake Harrison.
Jake joined us two years ago and is the younger brother of Sarah Harrison, a past crew president.
Jake also is a Boy Scout member of Troop 312, where he has served as a patrol leader and is working on his Eagle award.
One of the reasons he is standing here is because of the tremendous growth he’ s shown in leadership.
He started out as our Webmaster, then became health and safety officer early last year. Last September he was elected as secretary and in December was elected as first vice president.
The vice president of administration is a key position. Not only are they responsible in case the president is not here but they must also coordinate recruiting and service activities and oversee closing ceremonies at our meeting.
Those who are active Boy Scouts have a hard time keeping the Venturing Oath separate from the Boy Scout Oath. I wanted Jake to get the youth used to the Boy Scout Law because I like to use stories to illustrate its points. So I asked him without warning about a month ago at the closing to recite the Law and then to tell me the third point. That was not too easy for him and I apologized for putting him on the spot, which I did only because David was absent.
But he handled the task well as he has done for the rest of his leadership responsibilities.
He’s participated in almost all of our service activities as well as service and Eagle projects with our troop.
And this year, as you saw earlier, he is our most active crew member.
Jake is a little bit reserved and talks, as many young men of his age do, in a low rumble. But he also has a playful side and a twinkle in his eye and his father’s humor.
When he lost his uniform shirt lately and threatened to replace Erin as the officer who most likes to leave his uniform somewhere, he discovered it beside a tree where it had been for two weeks, “Just where I left it,” he said, proudly, noting that the rain had just cleaned his shirt and the sun had dried it.
One of my greatest pleasures as an Advisor has been watching youth grow. Not physically but emotionally and intellectually, into the fine young men and women they are destined to become. Jake’s growth in the past year has been just such a treat.
For all of those reasons, I am proud to declare Jake as our 2017 recipient of the Growth in Venturing Award.
Congratulations!