Yahoo!!!

The day the entire city thought would never come graced us with its presence today.  It RAINED!!!!  We’ve been waiting all summer for a day full of rain and rain it did!  First thing this morning the clouds rolled in thick and heavy and even activated street lamps.  No one was too upset driving to work in the semi-dark.  The rain was worth it!

Today’s awesome weather reminded us of a few storms we’ve survived.  Towards the end of one of our Philmont treks we were caught in rain and lightning.  We had to ‘assume the lightning’ position until the storm fizzled out.  Let’s just say we hope to NEVER crouch in the lightning position again!  Another wonderful adventure at Philmont left six of us playing endless hours of cards on top of Visto Grande.  The real kicker…we were crammed into a Philmont issued tent!!!  We were slightly smelly to say the least!

The most wonderful thing about a storm?  The glorious displays that follow.  Brilliant skies, double rainbows, magnificent colors, the contrast of dark skies and light.  There are wonderful storm skies to be had in your own backyard but there is just something about living through a storm and seeing the results first hand.  So standing on the top of Mt. Philips, looking over the ocean in the Florida Keys or watching the raging whitewater after rafting makes waiting out a storm so worthwhile.  The opportunity to experience the power of a thunderstorm and see the radiance following have all been through Venturing.  Without Venturing the smells of the Ponderosa Pines at 10,000 feet would never have been possible.  The smell of salt off the ocean and the rolls of sea foam would be non-existent.

Venturing is an opportunity.  An opportunity to go places you never would, to experience challenges on a whole new level, to build friendships that will last a lifetime and to be a part of something so much bigger than yourself.  Venturing is an opportunity of a lifetime.  What will you do with it?

On the Pontoon

If we’ve said it once we’ve said it a million times.  We love the water!  There is no better way than spending a morning on the river.  Maybe the reason we finished shucking all that corn so quickly was the motivation to tube the morning away.  So there’s this new song we think we should adopt as our own, Pontoon  by Little Big Town.

It’s the perfect description of our crew!  We could spend all day out in the sun with no regrets.  Everything about the water is fabulous.  So last Saturday we spent a few hours on the good ol’ Illinois.  There were 10 of us on our zippy little boat, okay maybe it wasn’t so zippy!!  There was an AWESOME launch by the fantastic Amariah and Holden duo.  If only we could have captured the barrel-roll of the tube and the bodies flying through the air we could have won an award!

Let’s just say we’re ready for the next Kodak moment!

So Proud

As the Advisor to this crazy group I just have to take a minute to brag about the guys and gals in my Crew.  Last winter when we decided to put together a Relay for Life team we were all pretty excited but we did not really have a fundraising goal.  Not sure who it was but someone from our Crew thought each member of the team should raise at least $50.  It’s not an exorbitant amount but still a substantial commitment.

We spruced up a couple of yards and received monetary donations and then we held a car wash.  We raised more than we thought we were going to through our fundraising activities.  We were all really excited.  The week of the Relay we went to the meeting and had just over $1,000 in team funds!!  We were super pumped and so happy we raised over $1,000.

The day of the Relay comes and we have a really great crowd from the Crew.  Our little team not only included Crew members but family members too.  In total we had 20 people show up to support our Relay for Life team.  Not everyone stayed the whole night but it came pretty close.

What is so amazing is the support, enthusiasm and willingness of my Crew!  For those who stayed through the night, they walked, they ran, they joked, they laughed, they had a great time.  What is even more exciting?  They are already planning for next year’s Relay team and how we can exceed this year’s fundraising goal.

All in all this fancy team came together and raised way more than $50 per person.  They have raised $2,828.52!!!!  It would be completely awesome if we found a way to raise an additional $171.48 before August 31.  The wheels are turning so hopefully Life Crew 91 can reach $3,000 before the end of August.

Just Keep Shucking, Just Keep Shucking

What do we do? We shuck, shuck, shuck!  What you ask is all this shucking about?  Let us tell you.  Every year the Chillicothe Chamber of Commerce holds the Corn Fest.  And as you might guess the main dish is corn!  Not just any corn mind you, the most delicious and mouthwatering corn you’ll ever taste.

There are a few steps to making this corn the most amazing you’ll ever experience…shucking.  This year there were 220 dozen ears of corn that needed shucked before the festivities could begin.  At a very crazy hour on a Saturday morning, 6:30 to be exact, we made our way to Fire Station 1 to begin the de-husking and de-silking of 2,640 ears of corn.  Thank goodness our Crew was not alone in the shucking department!  Here’s a shout out to fellas from Troop 50!  You guys rocked!!

Because the weather hasn’t been so fabulous with this whole no rain deal there were itsy tiny ears of corn.  It became a competition to see who could find the smallest ear.  It’s really too bad we couldn’t serve these little darlings.  It became more of a shuck and release kind of deal.

Now if you have ever shucked corn you know you are bound to find at least one or two little critters in an ear or two.  This year was no exception.  It was all too funny to hear the gasps of horror, the looks of disgust and shrieks of terror when our little corny friends made an appearance.

Though we had well over 2,000 ears to shuck we made good time and were finished before 10am.  Thanks to everyone from the community and to Boy Scout Troop 50 from Mossville who came out to help shuck corn for the Corn Fest.  It was another exciting year!