Week Two at Lake Swan

It was pretty much an uneventful week at camp. The women are still painting, since there is much that needs a fresh coat of paint. We put a primer coat on two newly built lifeguard stands.... Oh my! We had more paint all over ourselves than any other day, trying to get on the insides.

The Mark and Ben have been resizing used doors to fit in smaller door openings to replace doors that were weathered.

Friday, our day off, we visited the College of Missionary Aviation right here in Melrose, Florida. They have an economical and accelerated course to teach students to fly and also learn the mechanics so if overseas and a problem arises, they will be trained to fix the aircraft themselves. We spoke with three of the students of varying ages.

The classrooms and dorm rooms are located at a local church and they have a large hanger at the local airport which includes donated aircraft. It's a wonderful program for those students who don't want to spend years in college with huge debts to payoff afterward. We learned there is a huge shortage of pilots out there in every arena.  You also come out of the college with  a minor in Bible. Great alternative to the conventional plan.  We ended our day with a Valentine's Day lunch at a local restaurant.

Saturday the Wheeles' wanted to take us to see some real, live allegators so we all loaded up and drove to Gainesville where we did see two large ones and three babies.  We observed them at a place called Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park.  It was a very beautiful place!

                   The gang heading into park

              And here is what we came to see!

             Look closely... He's lurking in there!

          It was a successful alligator hunt indeed!

Below are some random shots from around the camp. Allie has enjoyed swimming on some of the hot days.

Lake Swan Camp

This is our home for the month of February.

It was an interesting start. We had been notified that we would not be allowed to arrive at camp on the normal day (Friday or Saturday) because of some unusual conditions, so Sunday arrival was proposed. After arriving, we discovered that an error had been made, the email confirming that six couples would be serving in February, was never received or was missed. The RV sites were filled by a different group of volunteers, leaving only two sites. Also, the sites we actually are staying on, in the picture, only had electric and water... No sewer.  Which meant, we would have had to pick up and move to dump our tanks, which means disconnecting everything, putting things  away to be in "travel mode". So, the first job on Monday morning was to put the sewer lines in! Digging a trench and piecing the pvc pipe together and adhering it.  We are very thankful to now have full hookups.


The guys also built outdoor benches and put new shelving up in the kitchen. Chainsaw work and power washing tennis courts was also accomplished.

The ladies did a lot of painting and cleaning, with a little kitchen work mixed in.

Mark and I had some relaxation Saturday at Flagler Beach. Allie was happy that dogs were allowed.

 The lake is so pretty at camp, especially at sunset.

I thought you may enjoy some antedotal information about this neck of the woods. We thought it quite interesting. We've been seeing signs that talk about Florida cracker cooking. We were a bit surprised by this and curious. Mark googled it and here are the results:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=25&ved=2ahUKEwj3zL3PnMLnAhVQ1lkKHchnD2kQFjAYegQIBxAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.myrecipes.com%2Fextracrispy%2Fhow-to-eat-breakfast-like-a-florida-cracker&usg=AOvVaw21LhriMgDhsfvKOtU3Hdl1

  To many people, the term “Cracker” is a racial slur, but down here in Florida, where things are often a bit, um, different, “Cracker” can be a badge of honor. Self-described “Florida Crackers” are people who were born and raised in the Sunshine State. The nickname is a nod to the state’s early settlers, called Crackersbecause they kept cattle in line with a crack of their whip. Back in their day, Florida was the frontier. Though most people associate cowboys with Texas, according to James M. Denham, a history professor and the director of the Lawton M. Chiles Jr. Center for Florida History at Florida Southern College, in the 1800s, Florida was just as bountiful with bovines.

There were fast herds of wild cattle roaming everywhere,” Denham says. “All you had to do was round them up.”

Sounds straightforward, but it was hard work. The Florida Crackers rose before dawn and spent the day hunting for livestock in alligator- and mosquito-infested swamps and scrub forests. It was a dangerous gig. Even the scrawniest of cows weighed hundreds of pounds. Some also had horns. You had to be careful as it was often a few days’ trek to the nearest village with a doctor. In addition to herding cattle, most Crackers had farms to maintain, families to raise, and crops to harvest.

So now my friends, you know about the true meaning of "cracker".

Last week of work completed

Sadly, we have competed our last week on this project. This is a project I would love to stay at for another month, except we are already signed up for a project near Gainesville for February. The kids are the reason. It seems like we are just getting to know them, and know  their names, etc. This week we were invited to two of the cottages for dinner. Some of the boys knew about it before we even knew! At lunch time a couple of them said "you're coming  to our house for dinner!!" I said,  "We are?? Cool!!!" Several of the boys we already knew, lived in the first cottage we attended for dinner. We got a tour of their bedrooms, heard funny roommate stories, saw family photos and a glimpse into their personalities and interests. One of the boys was anxious to hear we were invited to his cottage the next night because he had just installed remote controlled lights in his room that he wanted to show us. Once there, the boy that seemed more quiet, talked the entire meal about his deep sea fishing expeditions he did with his uncle. I set next Kolby, the guy who I met while walking Allie that was doing detention work. He was talkative again and stayed at the table with us longer than any of the other guys. He had taken seconds on the food. I asked him if he was always the last to finish. He said he was concentrating on eating politely because we were there for dinner. One of the cottage parents told us that they go through a "manners" book each morning because most of the boys have no idea about the simple manners that we all taught our kids as young toddlers. I will say, most are being taught to say "yes ma'am" "no ma'am".  The best part is that a lot of them have heavy accents! I never thought of Floridians having accents, but wow!!  Some of these boys I would just like to take with me!  I wish I could take pics of some of the ranchers, but there is a no photo policy here. Most of the boys are between 16 and 18 and thinking about their futures and what they want to do in life.  The staff works hard to help them achieve their goals. One of the older boys has been applying to different colleges and had flown to California to check one out.

The riders continue to improve each week! It's really amazing to watch! Most have never even been on a horse, which makes it that much more impressive! Last week was a cold week here. Once the sun went down it was too cold to sit on the bleachers and watch the riders... Except for me. Hahaha. I loved it! The kids notice when you are there watching them and seem to really love it. They will wave and/or make a comment as they ride by. The next day at lunch I would comment about them really improving, and the boys that didn't recognize me with my warm hat on, would say "Was that you last night". We can't wait to go back next month for their performance.

The two boys in front have been riding 

for awhile so are the two leaders

The arena at sunset before the riders arrive. The barn, where they tack up the horses, is about a half mile from the arena, so they walk two by two in the dark. They have a truck out front and behind them so traffic doesn't hit them. I loved sitting in the dark on the bleachers, waiting and listening. I could hear them talking and laughing before I could see them. What an opportunity for troubled kids to feel the accomplishment of learning to ride and perform, building confidence in themselves.

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                                    Working on the routine.

Last day with  the kitchen crew. We had a great time with them!

There is a reason this town was named Live Oak.... There are Live Oaks everywhere, most with Spanish moss growing on them, giving an eerie look.

This Live Oak is at the edge of the ranch property. You can see a couple of the huge branches to the right, even touch the ground. I couldn't even get the whole tree in the pic but you can get a good idea of the size with Mark in the pic.

The day we arrived here, several very tall dead pine trees were cut down. Everything was cleaned up except for about 8 stumps, which will make it difficult for the next larger group of Sowers coming in this weekend. So to make it easier for them, Mark rented a stump grinder to take care of the problem. Another "toy" to play with. Hahaha.

Another week at the ranch

The time is flying here at the ranch! It's hard to believe we have finished our second week! We've been having a lot of fun working with the staff on our projects. The guys finished up the hardie/cement board and will start on the trim Tuesday. We have tomorrow (Monday) off since the staff has the day off for MLK Day. We worked on Friday to make up for Monday.

As for us gals, we are still helping out in the kitchen... Maybe they are trusting us more now, as we are being given more duties. We love serving the kids, though. The other day we had steak for lunch. (95% of the food is donated to the ranch from a food bank, and they send lots of good things) The cook has two ways of cooking steak...either medium or well. One of the ranchers was looking for as rare a piece as he could get. We had a discussion then about how to get the most tender steak. He said he needed to train the others, and he would do it by cooking a brisket for them all. But he wasn't sure they could be retrained. Haha. Dessert is only served a couple of times a week because some of the ranchers would only eat dessert. As it is, they load their pockets with as much as will fit . Lol. And.... This is "sweet tea" territory, so Mark enjoys it on occasion.

One of the cottage parents retired this week after serving here for 18 years!! There was a big party at lunch and their family and alumni were invited. It was so heartwarming to listen to the stories of how one couple touched the lives of so many young people. 💚

Incidentally... Mark has made a new friend here at the ranch...I have NOT!!!

There are some really nice hiking trails here. The terrain is so different than in Michigan, but beautiful in its own way. We were warned to be watching for snakes sunning themselves on the trail and/or hanging from the trees. I'm happy to report, that we didn't see any on our hike yesterday.

The foliage was very thick, sort of like yucca

The white sands at the river's edge looked like snow

Close up of the yucca

While on his way back from a hike one day, Mark noticed a young man at the corner of the property, kicking away at the dirt on the fenceline. I had seen him there one day also and thought he was one of the boys that came through the lunch line... one with a chip on his shoulder. Mark stopped to say hi and asked him if he was a rancher which he affirmed. He said he was working on the fenceline as a punishment.  A day or two later, Allie and I were walking, and there he was again, in the same spot. A little anxiously, I wondered what I might say to him, whether he would have an "attitude" with me so I quickly asked God for the words He would have me speak. Well... This young man and I talked for about a hall hour!!!! He just wanted to talk, talk, talk. At one point I thought I better ask him if he was on the clock because I didn't want to get him in trouble. He said he and his twin brothers had been at the ranch for a year. Their mother is in rehab with  the possibility of two years jail time ahead of her. He shared about everything and smiled and laughed. I feel like I really made a connection with him. The stories here are so sad and just so many. It is encouraging to hear some positive outcomes from some of the alumni though. There is hope! Everyone needs hope. This young man I met does have hope! He's seen progress academically (a year ago, at 16 yrs old, he was at a 4th grade level, now a year later he is up to 8th grade) and has a goal.

The ranchers are diligently working on their horsemanship skills, but with such little time to learn how to ride PLUS learn the group routine in the show ring which is highly dependant on timing and spacing...keeping your horse at an even pace and evenly spaced from the other horses. That is so important, because the pattern they are learning is a moving figure eight where the horses have to cross paths without running into each other.

It's hard to tell, 

but they are working 

on the figure eight

The other night seemed to have it's challenges for the ranchers remembering the patterns and keeping their horses under control, so their instructor threatened then with "up downs". You may recall from the movie "Remember the Titans" the football players doing "up downs" when they didn't get things right... run in place, hit the ground, repeat. Well..."Up downs" in this arena means dismount and remount, which can be extra hard for some ranchers that carry a few extra pounds. 😩

This is one of the longhorns.

The last week here has been very humid and warm here, much to my chagrin. I never expected this, but many of you in the North may not have any sympathy. As I see some of your pictures of snow, I am envious. Hahaha

One last interesting little tidbit... One of the first mornings here, about 7:30 am, we were taking Allie for a walk. The roads immediately around us are all sand/old pavement, lots of potholes... very rough!. It was just getting light when an older man approached on a bicycle, holding a rifle!! Not something you would ordinarily see on a walk. 😂 Later we asked about him, since he was so close to our camp site, and found out he hunts regularly on his mother's property which is across the road from the Boys Ranch property. That was a very interesting start to our time here. 😂

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!!! 😳

Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranch

We are here in Live Oak, Florida for our January project. We can already tell this is going to be a great project! We met our supervisor yesterday and he seems to be a very likeable and fun person to work with. The camping area is quite primitive, even though we have full hookups. As we pulled in yesterday, the maintenance crew was beginning the job of cutting five tall, dead pine trees down so we set up as far from them as possible. As each tree fell, the very loud crash and smash was startling, even though I was watching it. Haha. Our friends, the Thompsons, are due in tomorrow, and they have a 40' fifth wheel. I'm not quite sure how he will be able to maneuver it, but will be interesting to watch. We're very happy with our 28' to say the least.

After getting settled in, we took a little drive around the campus. It is beautiful! This is a picture of the long, tree lined drive in. Out in the pasture you can see a huge Sheriff's badge.

There are actually four ranches located throughout Florida. Each one offers a stable home to needy

kids up to 18 yrs old, and live in what they call cottages or villas with a set of house parents. If a sibling group comes, they keep them together. There are up to ten kids in each house.  These 'cottage parents', as they are called, help each child develop a strong sense of responsibility and respect through the 'work, study, play and pray philosophy. This along with counseling and other services, helps the kids develop strong  values and positive behavior as they become productive young men and women. 

The campus has over 3,000 acres and has its  own school, chapel, gym. If kids are interested, they can participate in working with  horses and cattle, and show in 4H.

We're anxious to get started Monday!