Several years ago I walked across not-so-known footbridge from the Virginia side of the Potomac River to visit the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial and happened upon the following TR quote etched in stone under the title, Youth: I WANT TO SEE YOU GAME BOYS I WANT TO SEE YOU BRAVE AND MANLY AND I ALSO WANT TO SEE YOU GENTLE AND TENDER BE PRACTICAL AS WELL AS GENEROUS IN YOUR IDEALS KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE STARS BUT REMEMBER TO KEEP YOUR FEET ON THE GROUND COURAGE, HARD WORK, SELF MASTERY AND INTELLIGENT EFFORT ARE ALL ESSENTIAL TO SUCCESSFUL LIFE ALIKE ARE THE NATION AND THE INDIVUAL THE ONE INDISPENSABLE PREREQUISITE IS CHARACTER. Of course, when I first read it as a young father and coach, I couldnt help but think of my boys, Jackson and Wesley first and foremost, and the idea of raising boys to become poet/warrior/gentlemen. Several years later and two times zones removed, I encountered a team of boys who wanted me to coach them and one in particular reminded me over and again of those sacred words every time I saw him. His name is Colten Clark. Brave, manly, gentle, tender, practical, generous, grounded, courageous, hard working, self-controlled, intelligent Colten Clark. Talk about an honor to have someone call you coach. I have so much I could say about Colten. How he just negotiated a deal in Beach, ND to buy a $100,000 tractor to plough leased hay ground here that he also found and arranged so he could custom farm it; how he just earned a $1,000 scholarship to MT Western (in Agribusiness) from the Narcotics Officers Association for his response to the question, How would you prevent prescription drug use in Montana and enforce its regulation?; how he respects his Grandpa Gary for teaching him how and when to feed the cows, pull a calf, doctor animals, ride a horse, and how to mechanic; how he appreciates his Grandpa Ron Schott for teaching him how to hunt and field dress the deer and elk that hes shot, not to mention wing shoot pheasants and waterfowl; how he adores his Mama, Dulcie Clark and his grandmothers, Bennie Clark and Linda Schott; or how he credits his old man, David Clark, for making him tough and teaching him that winning and having fun go hand in hand. Nor will I tell get into how much he enjoys Coach Frederickson, the government teacher and former Marine, whom he likes to sidetrack with random ideas like nuking Russia just to delay the start of that days class. Ill just tell you this instead. I love Colten Clark for the same reasons everyone does. His mother put it best: Colten is the hardest working person I know. Its his second nature to work and LOVE it. He puts helping others above everything and never thinks twice about it, which is why were just so PROUD of him. I tell you what, if there was such a thing as a Mt. Rushmore for greatest kids ever, Colten Clark would deserve the honor every bit as much as my favorite President, Teddy Roosevelt.
Posted on: Sun, 23 Mar 2014 01:15:15 +0000
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