Boy Scout service day, 2013
A 1st.. speaking for the meal…not used to an audience who’s awake. Bummy
I look around the room and see who you’ll be working with today and I see something pretty remarkable. Many different occupations but they have one thing in common… No one’s making in money by being here. No one’s going to get a promotion or a better job because they’re doing this. Your scout leaders do it for free. They give themselves for you. The people you’ll travel with today don’t mind doing it. In fact, they’ll enjoy it, but they’ve had to rearrange their day to make this happen. They give themselves for you. Many of you Scouts are nervous about what you’re going to do today….you’ve had to give some of your courage.
Your leaders have asked me to speak on citizenship and you might think that means voting in every election and saluting the flag and paying your taxes. That’s just a tiny part of it. The best citizenship is what you’re seeing right now in this room… People giving of themselves for others.
Dad: spanked: 10cent vs. 15cent coke. Fire: $500 … citizenship
8th grade nursing home project…then one year some nice lady donated the gifts….nearly ruined the project.
I know a church...huge endowment...spirit of church stopped once they stopped struggling and giving
NHS sponsor. Kids bored. Service: raked yards elderly, read to kids, sponsored a blood drive…It suddenly became and exciting place to be. Why? We started giving.
The Scout oath emphasizes three things…Duty to God and country, Duty to other people, and lastly…duty to yourself. The entire oath could be summed up by saying, “Give yourself to others.” Citizenship. Albert Schweitzer “The only ones of you…
You may think that you’re really lucky today because you get to spend time with a person who’s really successful and really important in our town. But what makes you lucky is that you get to spend time with somebody who knows how to give.
This is a perfect fit today. The Boy Scouts are all about service…giving.. and you get to spend the day with some of the best givers I know.
You know Randy Duvendack as our sheriff.. the local blood bank knows him as one of the greatest donators in our area. One of you will be spending the day with Richard Freenan and I’m sure he talk to you about his law practice…but I hope he also chats about how he lines up volunteers to help at JHS sporting events and how he and his wife gave their time to re-do the nicest cabin at the Western Illinois Youth Camp. One of you will be with Mayor Andy Ezard…along with showing you how he runs the city of Jacksonville, have his talk about his hours of volunteer work with the Kiwanis. Somebody’s going to be in radio today with Gary Scott. Have him also tell you about volunteering as a singer for Our Saviors Church and appearing in show to raise money for Jacksonville Area Food Center. One of you will be a newspaper man today, following Greg Olson around. Make him tell you about his volunteer efforts to keep Jacksonville’s history alive. Tom Grojean is known for insurance, but take a walk with him today and let him share his dreams for Jacksonville…He’s our town’s idea factory. Whoever is stuck with Bruce Surratt today needs a special scout medal of his own. But aside from his kidding around, let him talk about his .5 K run, walk & crawl that raises thousands of dollars each year for charity. Ask Kevin Eckoff how he gets nationally-known runners to come to town to promote local causes, how Gordon Jumper spends hours working for economic development, how Tony Grootons is working to make Jacksonville a place where drug dealers don’t want to live. Don’t just ask them what they do…ask them what they give. That’s the best story they have to tell you today.
Winston Churchill.. “We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” Today you’ll have a chance to see how to make a life by some of our area’s greatest examples.
I could go on and on with every adult in this room, and Hamilton’s fine meal would get cold, but every person in this room will be remembered more for what they gave than how much they made.
And that….that is citizenship.