State Days

I just returned from a few days up in State College. Get this... the 4-H program trusts me to chaperone children. I know.... shocks me, too.

But hey, I do my best to try to set a somewhat decent example for the kids, as well as impart some grown-up wisdom along the way.

Pennsylvania State Achievement Days is actually a really fun event for the teenagers in the 4-H program. The primary focus is the competitions, but it also is a nice little preview of college life and a chance to meet some new people and hang out with ol' friends. Some of my strongest friendships today were cemented back in the days of my youth at State Days. There's a little bit of freedom that comes with an event like that, and I personally think it's important that teens get to have some experiences like that from time to time.

Dealin' with teens make my job relatively easy, as the older ones help out with the younger ones, and they're all expected (and for the most part do) act like the young men and women we're groomin' 'em to be. I'm just there as a guide, more or less.

I try to make it up most years to at least assist with the archery competition, regardless whether I'm a chaperone or not. I don't know that I'd want to help out with anythin' other than a shootin' sports competition up there, and thankfully I drew the archery range again.

I got purty lucky again this year... the archers assigned to my target were older teens and were exceptionally skilled for their age. They didn't bitch about how I scored them, and they were overall pleasant to shoot with.

Archers and coaches at the line. As you can see, we had
a nice mix of recurve bows just to keep things interestin'.

Over the shoulder of my lone Adams County representative.

And, of course, after finally gettin' the kids settled in the dorms for a night and a long day on the archery range, an adult nightcap at the end of the day is in order. Just like the old days:)