The Mile Swim

I can't say that I was the fastest swimmer, but I could go for long distances.  I had several resting strokes down.  This included the side stroke and the elementary back stroke.  Of course if you wanted to get anyplace you had to do the crawl.
I completed my mile swim at the Sky View High School pool.  Our ward Scouts would rent the pool  and we would go up there to work on our scout swimming requirements.  It made for a long Young Men's as the pool was twenty minutes away from Hyrum.  After being in Scouts a while, I had passed all of the basic requirements.  So we moved on to harder things.  There was a handful of us passing off the mile swim.  We started as soon as we arrived.  We only had the pool for an hour.  I took it easy, using plenty of resting strokes and taking my time; But I was steady.  Bit by bit I swam.  The leaders encouraged me to go fast.  There was no way I would finish before the hour.  And in fact I didn't.  I was a few minutes over.  But I swam a mile.  I received a patch to put on my swim suit.

Hardward Ranch Elk Ride

I saved an article form the Great Outdoors section of the VIA AAA magazine a few years back about hardware ranch up Blacksmith Fork Canyon.  Too late this year, but the ride is great fun, and the herd seems to always increase in size.  You can go to the visitors center all year and see elk across the mountain meadow.  I remember as a scout going to the ranch and helping with conservation projects, or bringing in the cut hay or bailed grass.  We had some good times there.  One of our scouts' dad worked at the ranch so we got to go there a few times.  That would have been the Hyrum Fourth Ward at the time which included the ranch in its boundaries.  Check out their website.

My Eagle Scout Project

When I received my Eagle, there was a rush to hurry us through because the standard was changing from 21 merit badges to 25.  It prompted leaders and boys alike to hurry and finish their eagle award before the end of the year. 
Looking back, I think maybe my eagle project was not what they were looking for, but nobody said anything, and it was approved by our local leadership, as well as the Scout Council.  I made cookies and treats to deliver to all the widows in our ward.  It was fun, and it provided the necessary leadership as well as the hours they were looking for.  The Bishop gave me the list of those to whom to make deliveries.

We hadn't had an Eagle in our ward for some time, but after I achieved the rank there was a flood of boys after me.