Tara is the sister of Tyler, though neither one wants to admit that much.
She came to us four years ago and has been active ever since. She actually joined ahead of her brother. In fact, one of the earliest emails I have is Tyler asking if he can join and identifying himself as Tara’s brother.
While I have lauded Tyler over the years for his service work, his sister has also put in a lot of hours. In fact, I recall a day in 2008 when as quartermaster she was overseeing the cleaning of the Scout office and shed, then went to work with her brother at the Council tennis tournament. With a cast on her arm. And spent several hours there in the kitchen helping to serve hundreds of lunches. The tournament, by the way, raised $17,000 for Scouting.
Which reminds me that Tara in in our scrapbooks as the first and only Venturer to have broken a bone while on a crew event. She broke her arm while ice skating with us. This is a record, by the way, I would not like to see added to.
Tara was a member of our 2008 Sea Base crew, which included two boats full. She was on my boat along with six other youth and my daughter, who was serving as a chaperon. I remember her being excited about the trip but then getting sunburn and mostly avoiding our snorkel trips into the water.
Like others in the crew over the years, she has some artistic talent. She gave me a beautiful artwork one Christmas of the Venturing symbol made by piecing together lots of tiny colored glass fragments. I look at it proudly every day in my office.
The thing I most remember about Tara is her hugs. She probably has hugged more people over the years than anyone else in the crew. She is exceptionally friendly and kind.
When it came time to name her I thought of those hugs and the heart behind them. So it is my honor, tonight, Tara, to award you the Sioux name Macawi, which means, “generous.”
Congratulations!