Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46Guadalupe Valley (TX) YM/MSgt Chandler Dillon was one of ten attend- ees for the annual Boys State event held in Texas. Boys State is a program of the American Legion and has been conducted since 1935. American Legion Boys State is among the most respected and selective educational programs of government instruction for high school students. It is a participatory program where each student selected becomes a part of the operation of his local, county, and state government. Chandler was chosen as his City Constable. The students who attended stayed in the dorms at the University of Texas in Austin, and visited the State Capitol and conducted business just as if they were really running the state government. After the event, Chandler was invited to speak to the Legion at their monthly meeting.In his speech,he thanked them for their sponsorship and told of how much he learned about the state gov- ernment. We encourage other students entering their junior year of high school to speak to their counselors about par- ticipating in this program. --Submitted by Dina Dillion, Unit Commander, Guadalupe Valley (TX) Young Marines A Young Marine Gets to Learn About State Government Young Marines Adult Volunteers: Give ‘em a Break By Joe Lusignan, Deputy Director, West Coast Operations and Program Drug Demand Reduction Resource Officer You’ve seen the signs on the roadway when coming into a construction zone. Okay, true, they’re spelled differently and ask that you give a brake, meaning to slow down…but you meant what I know... After visiting several units in the last few months, I would ask the same phrase to our parents with regards to our all-volunteer staff that run our units across the nation. Did you know that the registered adults in our units, the adults that work with your kids, are all vol- unteers? None of them are paid a dime, and yet they de- vote a plethora of hours to running a unit, in alignment with the outlined policies and procedures in the Registered Adult Manual… all for the benefit of our kids… your kids. Many of them have jobs that provide them with less spare time than you have…and yet they devote themselves to your children. So, I would humbly ask that when they may be a little slow getting your child’s community ser- vice hours entered into the database, when they haven’t entered the precious ribbon that was just earned yesterday, when they are a little slow in responding to your email, when they haven’t called you back within ten minutes…give ‘em a brake, I mean, break. Maybe even say a little prayer of thanks that our country has people like them that devote so much of their time, en- ergy and love to other people’s children. In Texas, Guadalupe Valley Enjoys a Freedom Fiesta The City of Seguin, TX stages an annual city wide party, the Freedom Fiesta, located downtown in the central park. There is live music, games, food, and a it’s a great time to visit friends. Guadalupe Valley (TX) Young Marines won 1st place for our booth! In our booth, we sold beef sticks, and we also had a bean bag game with prizes for kids who were accompanied by their parents. We were able to talk to the community about being drug-free and Red Ribbon Week. It was a super hot day, but we came prepared with our own ice chest and everyone stayed hydrated. The Young Marines were even challenged to a push up competition with one of the judges of the booths- let’s just say that man was ready for the challenge. We raised a little money and got the community to understand more about our drug-free mission and also why we are raising money to travel to Pearl Harbor later this year. --Submitted by Dina Dillion, Unit Commander, Guadalupe Valley (TX) Young Marines YOUNG MARINES ESPRIT ONLINE 35