Apr 25, 2011

Did you have a mentor or friend you admired and followed? Is there one person who really changed the course of your life by something that person said or did?

Wow how do you limit your choices to just one person? I have a good friend who always said: “it takes a village to raise a child.”  Well that was certainly the way it was growing up in Duchesne. I had a lot of mentors and friends. Just to list a few : Harold Spencer, Steve Asay, Leland and Carol Wright, Neil Jensen, Ray and Donna Hansen, Lowell and Beverly Caldwell, Jinx Ivie, Mont  Poulson, Milton and Pauline Poulson  Nana (Grandma Poulson), Jack Skewes,  Art and Pauline Taylor, Nadine Wimmer, Glen Stevenson, Trooper Hooper,  Trooper Phil Barney, Doug Horrocks. That is only a drop in the bucket too. There was one who does stand out and of whom I have told the story many times to scouts trying to earn their eagle. Bev Caldwell moved to town when I was a Senior in high school and she was a member of our ward. She was also a professional lifeguard and after graduation she worked with me all summer to teach me to swim and earn my swimming and life saving merit badges. I earned my eagle rank because of her. There were a lot along the way who had helped me but she was there at the point where no one else had been able to help and she cared enough to take the time to do it with me. I had me Eagle Board of Review on Aug 4, 1971 and my Eagle Court of Honor on Aug 13, 1971 and left for college as soon as the program was over. I now help boys who are almost 18 and have not quite gotten over the hump whenever possible because of her. Her influence has reached far beyond the realms of just one scout.