The weather was perfect on Friday, September 27th at the Rocky Ridge Golf Course. Everyone was stoked thanks to the hot dogs and Brats provided by Mckenzie Brothers and beer provided by Long Trail Brewing. We had a full field of 132 golfers. The 50-50 raffle was generously supported by all. The live auction was very spirited.
One of the highlights of the day was the presentation of an Adventure Scholarship to an outstanding adventurer, Erick Crockenberg, a renaissance man and graduate from UVM. He will be spending 8 weeks this winter in Kyrgyzstan working with 40 Tribes, a backcountry ski guiding and community development initiative in the Tien Shan Mts of Northeastern Kyrgyzstan. The concept marries entirely native resources– yurts, mountains, snow, and motivated locals– to create jobs at the local level and deliver a blended mountain and cultural experience. The grant will help Erick fund his travel and airfare costs.
Our friends at Akes, Long Trail and Farrell Distributing all contributed to making this event very successful. They believe in our mission of extending the impact of the life of Ryan Hawks by providing athletes and adventurers with the opportunity and mechanism to establish self-identity and ownership of their decisions and destiny in life. They can do this by crafting core values, providing the foundation for their attitude. Attitude subsequently dictates future behavior: everything you say, everything you think, and everything you do. We believe this a very fundamental life skill which should be incorporated into secondary education. The state of Vermont agrees. We are Chapter 1 in the state mandated Personal Learning Plan, which is now part of the curriculum from grade 6 through grade 12. Several schools around the state are on board: South Burlington H.S., Essex H.S., CVU, Duxbury, Rutland Town School and Shelburne Middle School. Others are making plans to introduce the Flyin Ryan Decisions Program.