Arapahoe Nation Marches in Raleigh Christmas Parade

In their largest showing ever, the Arapahoe Nation had hundreds of Big and Little Braves and Princesses walk in the 63rd Annual Raleigh Christmas Parade. The line of walkers stretched nearly 100 yards on this chilly Saturday morning, in front of 60,000 blanket-covered parade watchers.

Many Big Braves carried jingle bells, while Little Braves & Princesses threw fireballs (what else?) to kids watching the parade.

You gotta love hearing WRAL TV anchor Bill Leslie talk about our program's size and exclaiming "That is incredible!"

The crowd was great by yelling back when we yelled "How-How!"

When we got home after the parade, I watched a tape of the parade and was initially bummed that they went to commercial right when we walked by. I just learned that WRAL didn't broadcast the parade in order and showed the Y-Guides & Princesses later in the broadcast.

You can watch our segment online!

If you go to http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/2058072/ and click on Raleigh Christmas Parade Part 2 within the video window. When the video panel comes up, move the slider to 11:41, and you'll see the Y-Guides & Princesses. I can see Big Hare, Denny Cole and several dads from my daughter's 2nd year Dancing Turtles Princess tribe. That's okay, don't show the Nation Chief and his beautiful kids. :-)

If you're a 1st year tribe, make sure your chief signs up your tribe to walk in Raleigh Christmas at next Fall's Chief's Meeting. Not only will you have a lot of fun and get a cool patch, but it's just one more experience that you and your child will share and be able to talk about for years to come.

Arapahoe Nation Blasts WeBuildPeople Goal!

It's jaw-dropping.

It's unbelievable.

The mighty Arapahoe Nation, the largest father-child program in the country, set a goal this year to raise $30,000 for WeBuildPeople. We raised $20,000 in 2006. Could we do it?

The program pushed all tribes to join the "One Tribe, One Child" program to donate their wampum to send a child to camp for a week. Longbow Council held several call nights where most all dads in the program were contacted asking for a personal pledge. We only had 6 weeks to meet our goals.

At the WeBuildPeople Victory Celebration on Thursday night, Matt "Moose" Strickland revealed how much money the Arapahoe Nation raised.

$81,762!

This is incredible! Just think of all the needy families and children that will benefit from our hard work.

If your tribe has not made your WeBuildPeople pledge, it's not too late to do so. Contact Matt "Moose" Strickland at 582-2266. We can still take your pledge at the last Fall Outing of the year.

The Alexander YMCA's WeBuildPeople 2007 goal was $675,000, but all the volunteers and donors crushed the goal, raising a record-setting $850,341! This will change the lives of over 1,000 people during the next year!

I want to congratulate everyone involved in the WeBuildPeople campaign. Matt for developing a great plan to take our campaign to the next level, and Steve Motter, our Nation's WeBuildPeople Colonel. We also couldn't have done it without the help of our incredible Longbow Council volunteers.

A Fall Outing to Remember

For the first time in seven years, I was fortunate enough to have my parents and my wife Monica come to Fall Outing at Camp Kanata. It was a special day for me -- a day that I had been planning for months. Since I was in the Indian Guides with my Dad in Charlotte in the early 70's, I wanted to thank him, and my mom for all that they have done for me. I wrote my script with tears in my eyes. It was going to be difficult to read. For the next week, I read over the script several times each day and it became easier. During the ceremony, when I turned to the last page of the script, my son Aaron whispered "Uh-oh", knowing I might have trouble reading it. Fortunately I didn't get choked up.

Here's what I added at the end of the ceremony for my parents.

Little Braves, tonight is a night you will never forget.

You'll remember the fall breeze and the color in the trees.

You'll remember taking your 2-mile hike and having fun with your tribe.

You'll remember holding your dad's hand and walking together between the lit torches as the tom-tom beats in the background.

You'll remember how high you jumped when the bonfire was lit.

You'll remember exchanging bear claws with your dad and giving him a big hug.

All the memories that you form tonight and in the years to come with your dad in the Y-Guides program will be with you forever. And perhaps you'll be able to share these same experiences in the Y-Guides with your son or daughter when you become a big brave.

I want to tell you a true story.

There once was a man named Morning Cloud. Just like your dad, Morning Cloud had a son who he loved very much. Morning Cloud taught his son to love his family. He taught his son to be respectful of others and to respect our natural surroundings. He taught him to fish and to make a campfire. Together with his wife, Morning Cloud helped shape and guide their son into a man. But most importantly, together, they showed their son how to be a great father.

Morning Cloud's son is now grown and has two children of his own. It's now the son's time to pass down all those important lessons that he learned from his mother and father to his own children. The son is thankful every day for the lessons he received from his parents.

You ask yourself "Is Morning Cloud an Indian?"

No, but Morning Cloud was a dad just like the Big Braves sitting here tonight. Morning Cloud was a father in the YMCA Indian Guides program. The son was just like all of you Little Braves.

The son's Indian name in this story is Red Cloud. I am Red Cloud and the son in this story.

I then introduced my parents and walked over and gave them the biggest hug.

Now this is something I'll never forget.

Princesses Wrap up Fall Outing Weekend

We had the second Fall Outing ceremony for the remaining 1st & 2nd year Princess tribes this past Sunday.

What a beautiful day and evening! I enjoyed welcoming the 1st and 2nd year tribes at the deck and handing out our cool new 2007 Fall Outing patches.

I've never seen so many torches before. There were so many torches, that we actually ran out of kerosene. Lighting them also took longer. The procession nearly got to the torches before all were lit. Seeing all the torches and their reflection in the lake is an impressive sight.

The ceremony was more impressive now that the time has changed. Unlike the first weekend, it was completely dark before the procession came down between the torches.

I had my son Aaron "Tough Bull" (7th year) and my daughter Ashlyn "Fuzzy Kitty" (2nd year) with me this weekend. I'm already looking forward to this Sunday when I'll be bringing my wife Monica and my parents to Kanata to see Fall Outing for themselves.

Attention Guide Tribes! The Princess tribes have raised a ton of money for WeBuildPeople! Can you top them? I know you can! Make sure your tribe has talked about your tribe's pledge for WeBuildPeople by the time you come to Fall Outing. We will be collecting your tribe's WeBuildPeople pledge cards on the Mess Hall deck where you check in. Remember, no money is due now. Just your pledge.

I heard about one tribe having a yard sale with all the proceeds going to WeBuildPeople. That's an excellent idea. The dads matched the sales and then one of the dads' employers matched the total contribution. This is a great way to meet your $500 donation level (or more!) to be eligible to win a free Spring Outing for the entire tribe.

I look forward in seeing all the 1st & 2nd year Guide tribes this Sunday! Don't hesitate to come and say hello. Be the first Little Brave to come up and meet me any time Sunday and mention this blog and you'll win 15 fireballs!