First Week of Work In The Bucket

We've had a great first week here at the Boys Ranch. What a great work they  are doing here!!! 

Nelda and I have worked in the kitchen along with the staff doing meal prep and then serving the ranchers and staff. The population is more boys than girls, and it has been fun learning their faces and their playful attempts to finagle extra food.

David and Mark have spent most of their time hanging "handie board" aka cement board on the Alumni House which was actually donated to the ranch by Elvis Presley. Evidently he was a big supporter of the ranch when he was alive. The guys also spent some time working on installing lights in the guest house.

The ranch was started by a couple of sheriffs deputies that wanted to give some  of the local juvenile delinquents a better opportunity in life and a positive attitude toward law enforcement. Here at the ranch the kids have opportunity to explore their interests.  If they are interested horseback riding and calf roping, they can learn all that is involved in taking care of horses and cattle, ie bale hay, muck out stalls, etc.  We were given a tour of the ranch in a horse drawn wagon, with one of the ranchers driving (we were his very first passengers since it was his first day of training. He did a great job.) Yes, haw for a left turn, gee for a right turn.

The ranchers live in individual houses with their "cottage parents".

The ranchers that are in the horse program, since returning from Christmas break, have had their practice days ramped up in preparation for the largest event of the year, here at the ranch in February. Thousands come including donars, previous ranchers, town people and many other horse competition groups. They have a mini rodeo and many other events during the three day open house.  We were able to go to the riding arena and watch the ranchers learn the formations they will be demonstrating.  It was so fun to watch, and the ranchers seemed to enjoy an audience. They practice three or four  days a week, so I will be posting pictures soon. I will probably be spending a lot of time at the arena when I am not working.  

We were invited to one of the cottages for dinner thereby having the opportunity to learn a little bit more about life on the ranch. The"cottage parents" are only responsible for breakfast meals as everyone eats lunch in the cafeteria and dinner is prepared also and sent to each home in a hot box to be eaten whenever the family can sit down together and eat. Before dinner we had a chance to chat with AJ (she works in maintenance, and we had spoken with her several times previously) who was most anxious to show us her room and her decorations. AJ is a junior in high school and plans to go into law enforcement. Since she is also on the horseback riding team, we wondered whether she was interested in the mounted police. She told us she was the best rider on the team. 😘 She seemed pleased that we came to watch the practice.

With each Sower project we do, there are new experiences that we encounter.  After leaving the arena in a ten person van, with one of the cottage dads and ranchers, we witnessed what they do for fun in Florida after dark. We drove into a large hay field looking for feral pigs or deer. After spotting some deer, the chase began in the moonlight until the deer finally veered off and jumped the fence into the woods. What a crazy ride!!!!

Next week, Nelda and I may be tutoring at the school, which we are both excited about. The only qualm both of us have... We thought we heard that math is what they need help with, but so do we!!! 😳