Thru-Hike/Personal Blog in honor of Stephen W. Harrington.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Back to School
Okay, so if you are still checking the blog due to habit. Here's one for ya! " A man without eyes saw plums on a tree. He neither took plums nor left plums, now how could this be?"
Mr. C is very, very proud. Not for the fact that such a great riddle was remembered and accurately quoted. I am proud that I have known two such fine young men. This summer while Ben and Spencer were accomplishing their great feat, they gave untold numbers of us all a sense of pride and adventure. They showed all of us what true, lasting friendships are about through their amazing tribute to another amazing young man, Steve Harrington.
From the beginning of our Troop 215 AT trips, I have said that we do this with the hope that Scouts will return to the outdoors, return to the AT, to again experience the sense of fun, adventure, and accomplishment. Over the years I have also told Scouts that someday a few of them might even venture a thru-hike. How great it is that Ben and Spencer were our first thru-hikers and taught us all so much in the process.
What a privilege it has been to be able to follow the hikers along the trail. These two young men have rallied many to their cause. Many times out of the blue friends, relatives, and acquaintances have asked me if I had read this Blog about two Scouts from Raleigh hiking the AT to honor their friend. You can only imagine how proud I was to say "They are from our Troop."
Those of you that followed along all know of the excitement of seeing a new post on the Blog. I hope that now the Boys are back that you all will log in and let the Hikers know what the trip, Blog, and their adventure meant to all of us following along.
Spencer, in answer to your plum riddle, He was plum blind!! and "I see said the blind man as he picked up his hammer and saw." ****** What a great tribute to Stephen. How you have touched all our hearts.... I am so proud of you both. You, your incredible feet and ankles, and your support team deserve much credit. ****** Don has such wonderful memories of his Philmont adventure with Stephen. ****** And, now that the hike is over, I wish you Godspeed.
Incredible work, guys---and well thought out indeed. You are honorable men. Proud to know you. Best wishes, John Cox (John.Cox.1@ndsu.edu) writing from kathleen's account
How funny that you used that infamous riddle as your next entry!! The comments are right on target...SO many of us were glued to your blog and enjoyed tremendously sharing in your wonderful adventure!! How life changing and inspirational! (...even told the new first graders all about you fellas and showed them your follow up article!) I feel very proud to know you. Best of luck this school year! Sending good thoughts! Fondly, SueDew ; )
Ben and Spencer: yes being a part of this on the sidelines has been a huge inspiration to all the Troop 215 extended family - and certainly they look forward to you guys returning to one of the meetings, with slide show, stories and tattered shoes in tow to reflect on your incredible journey.
You have shown many of the boys that life is for the taking and that you must set your goals high and work hard to attain them. We are capable of so much more than we think. Dreams do come true, you have proven that. And as you both know so well now, attaining one of these oft thought “no way” goals makes the taste of success soooooooo much sweeter.
Hats off to both of you for serving as tremendous role models to today’s youth.
9 comments:
ah, Mr. C would be so proud...
Ah the great stump burning man.
I think he posed that one on every AT hike in the last 10 years.
Mr. C is very, very proud. Not for the fact that such a great riddle was remembered and accurately quoted. I am proud that I have known two such fine young men. This summer while Ben and Spencer were accomplishing their great feat, they gave untold numbers of us all a sense of pride and adventure. They showed all of us what true, lasting friendships are about through their amazing tribute to another amazing young man, Steve Harrington.
From the beginning of our Troop 215 AT trips, I have said that we do this with the hope that Scouts will return to the outdoors, return to the AT, to again experience the sense of fun, adventure, and accomplishment. Over the years I have also told Scouts that someday a few of them might even venture a thru-hike. How great it is that Ben and Spencer were our first thru-hikers and taught us all so much in the process.
Great comment Mr. C.
What a privilege it has been to be able to follow the hikers along the trail. These two young men have rallied many to their cause. Many times out of the blue friends, relatives, and acquaintances have asked me if I had read this Blog about two Scouts from Raleigh hiking the AT to honor their friend. You can only imagine how proud I was to say "They are from our Troop."
Those of you that followed along all know of the excitement of seeing a new post on the Blog. I hope that now the Boys are back that you all will log in and let the Hikers know what the trip, Blog, and their adventure meant to all of us following along.
Spencer, in answer to your plum riddle, He was plum blind!! and "I see said the blind man as he picked up his hammer and saw."
******
What a great tribute to Stephen.
How you have touched all our hearts.... I am so proud of you both. You, your incredible feet and ankles, and your support team deserve much credit.
******
Don has such wonderful memories of his Philmont adventure with Stephen.
******
And, now that the hike is over, I wish you Godspeed.
Congratulations on completing this memorial hike. And so quickly!
I've added another post about the news article in the Raleigh newspaper to my blog.
Good luck with the re-entry process back to school.
Incredible work, guys---and well thought out indeed. You are honorable men. Proud to know you.
Best wishes, John Cox (John.Cox.1@ndsu.edu) writing from kathleen's account
How funny that you used that infamous riddle as your next entry!! The comments are right on target...SO many of us were glued to your blog and enjoyed tremendously sharing in your wonderful adventure!! How life changing and inspirational! (...even told the new first graders all about you fellas and showed them your follow up article!) I feel very proud to know you. Best of luck this school year! Sending good thoughts! Fondly, SueDew ; )
Ben and Spencer: yes being a part of this on the sidelines has been a huge inspiration to all the Troop 215 extended family - and certainly they look forward to you guys returning to one of the meetings, with slide show, stories and tattered shoes in tow to reflect on your incredible journey.
You have shown many of the boys that life is for the taking and that you must set your goals high and work hard to attain them. We are capable of so much more than we think. Dreams do come true, you have proven that. And as you both know so well now, attaining one of these oft thought “no way” goals makes the taste of success soooooooo much sweeter.
Hats off to both of you for serving as tremendous role models to today’s youth.
Best,
Mr. B
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