Alumni Alive - Summer 2016

Newsletter for Scouting Alumni association Affiliates

alumni alive! summer 2016

What’s Inside Director’s Message.........................2 Alumni News.........................................4 Happenings..............................................6 Program...................................................8 Profiles.......................................................10

A Message From the Director

Courtesy Shutterstock.com/©David Carillet

One of the highlights of the BSA National Annual Meeting in May was the Duty to God Breakfast. The keynote speaker, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, offered a vivid description of the power of Scouting. He said that young men in Scouting take their flight into the future “with our thrust and with our aim. And even as we anxiously watch that arrow in flight and we know all the evils that can deflect its course after it has left our hand, nevertheless we take courage in remembering that the most important mortal factor in determining that arrow’s destination will be the stability, strength, and unwavering certainty of the holder of the bow.”

Those words have stuck with me as I’ve reflected on those who held the bow for me and on the countless Scouts I’ve known across the decades whose course has been straight and true.

What is it about Scouting that makes such a positive difference in its members? There are many factors, but among the most important is our method—the way we use our program to teach young people character, citizenship, and fitness so they can become healthy, happy, helpful citizens.

The Scout method uses appealing games in the outdoors to generate challenges that a Scout learns to solve by himself. Through the training and the example of adult leaders, Scouts are taught independence, leadership, the ambition to learn by themselves, and a moral code with positive goals. According to founder Robert Baden-Powell, the Scout method works naturally and unconsciously: naturally in the way that it follows the natural impulses of the Scout, and unconsciously because the Scout is not aware of the education he’s receiving.

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Here are a few examples of the Scout method in action: • We don’t expect a boy to break his leg. We teach him how to treat and transport a person with a broken leg.

• We don’t expect a boy to steal. We ask him to memorize and live by the Scout Law, which begins with “A Scout is Trustworthy.”

• We hope that each boy becomes a responsible citizen. We require community service projects and three citizenship merit badges to qualify as an Eagle Scout.

• We don’t create a win/lose environment. We teach “Do Your Best,” and all boys can win.

• We recognize a boy’s need to belong and achieve in a “gang.” We place boys in dens and patrols (a positive manifestation of the gang concept).

• We know that no boy is a born leader. We place boys in “real life” leadership roles to gain experience, learn from their mistakes, and apply their wisdom to productive adult roles.

The Scouting method works. I know it worked for me, and I trust it worked for you. I encourage you to become a holder of the bow and to help launch a new generation of Scouts on a straight and true course into the future.

Dustin Farris Director, Scouting Alumni Association

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alumni news Alumni Association Puts Out New Digital Welcome Mat • Links to the latest posts from top Scouting blogs • Information on joining the Scouting Alumni Association and giving gift memberships, a new service that the association is offering Those who have joined the Scouting Alumni Association at the Hiker (free) or Pathfinder ($35) level have access to the Scouting Alumni Network 1.0, which lets them reconnect with friends from their Scouting days or make new friends who share similar career or hobby interests. As explained in the January 2016 edition of Alumni Alive, SAA members can manage their own profiles and easily search the alumni database, which includes members of the Philmont Staff Association, the Charles L. Sommers Alumni Association, and other groups.

Entryways are important. The marble columns of the U.S. Capitol, the spacious front porch of a graceful home, the rustic gateway of a beloved Scout camp all encourage visitors to come in, look around, and stay awhile.

Pathfinder members of the SAA can learn more about the perks of membership, including discounts from a host of national retailers and service providers. There’s even a free “perks report” that shows how SAA benefits, provided by Abenity, align with those offered by AAA and AARP.

This summer, the Scouting Alumni Association is getting its own entryway in the form of a new (and greatly expanded) website.

“We’re putting out a virtual welcome mat for alumni, giving them more ways to engage with Scouting and with each other,” says Ryan Larson, associate director for the Scouting Alumni Association and the National Eagle Scout Association, who has overseen the website’s development.

Alumni aren’t the only people who will benefit from scoutingalumni. org. At the request of local councils, the site includes a number of resources for building and growing a local alumni committee.

Included are branding resources, sample outreach materials, training information, and best practices submitted by councils from around the country. There’s also plenty of information about the leadership of the Scouting Alumni Association, making it easier than ever for local councils to find support at the area, region, and national levels.

Housed at scoutingalumni.org, the site offers much to BSA alumni, whether they have joined the Scouting Alumni Association or not.

Among the variety of features: • Profiles of prominent alumni

“We encourage folks to stop by and explore the new site,” Larson says. “Whether they renew their memberships, update their profiles, submit their local events, or vote for this year’s top alumni, they will be helping us improve the site and strengthen our ability to offer the Scouting program to more and more kids.”

• Links to local and national alumni events • Back issues of Alumni Alive, Eagles’ Call (the magazine of the National Eagle Scout Association), Scouting, and Boys’ Life • “Tenderfoot Talks,” a curated set of Scouting videos from a range of alumni speakers (“Think TED Talks but with a Scouting flavor,” Larson says.)

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Changing of the Guard at NESA Frank Tsuru took over as NESA president at the BSA National Annual Meeting in May. Tsuru, the former president of the Sam Houston Area Council in Houston, Texas, joined the NESA Committee three years ago and is excited to take on what he considers “the best job and the best committee in all of Scouting.”

Glenn A. Adams

When he’s not serving as a Scouting volunteer, Tsuru is president and CEO of M3 Midstream, a Houston-based company that provides natural gas producers with services linking the wellhead to the market.

Tsuru got his engineering training at the University of Kansas, but he got his leadership training in Scouting. When he first became a company president, at Red Cedar Gathering, he was only 35 years old and among the youngest in his peer group. Yet, Tsuru says, “I was absolutely prepared. The leadership skills, the need to gain consensus with your team members, the need to listen to others’ input were really critical and something that I really was very fortunate to have. I never thought for a second that I couldn’t do those things.”

Frank Tsuru

After eight years as president of the National Eagle Scout Association, Glenn A. Adams is heading to Florida Sea Base. He’s not going there to soak up the sun, however, but to chair the committee that oversees the high-adventure base. “I felt that the opportunity to make an impact on Sea Base was one that I could not pass up,” Adams writes in Eagles’ Call, NESA’s quarterly magazine.

Like his predecessor, Tsuru fully commits to organizations he believes in. As board chair for Yellowstone Academy, an inner-city Houston school, he regularly drops by to have lunch with the students. As a supporter of Family Legacy, the Christian mission agency where his daughter Kylee works, Tsuru takes annual two-week trips to an orphanage in Zambia. “Writing a check and walking away is the easy part,” he says. “The more important part is studying the organization you write your check to and then being all in with that organization.”

If the past is prelude, his impact will be great indeed. During Adams’ tenure, NESA more than quadrupled its scholarship program, going from $150,000 awarded in 2007 to $650,000 awarded in 2015. He launched (and funded) the Glenn A. and Melinda W. Adams National Eagle Scout Service Project of the Year Award, which recognizes outstanding service projects at the local, regional, and national levels, and he spearheaded creation of the NESA World Explorers Program, which has sent young Eagle Scouts around the globe to work side by side with scientific researchers like Eagle Scout and National Geographic Society Explorer-in-Residence Dr. Lee Berger. And if that were not enough, Adams oversaw the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Eagle Scout Award in 2012—the same year he was named the BSA’s Alumnus of the Year.

Now, Tsuru is bringing that energy and passion to NESA. Glenn Adams left him big shoes to fill, but they seem to be just Tsuru’s size.

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Happenings Scouting Names New Top Volunteer Leaders astronauts … if you were to remove the Scouts, it’d be interesting to see what kind of hole would be left.”

At the same meeting, Charles W. Dahlquist II assumed the role of national commissioner, replacing Tico Perez, who served in the position for eight years. As the BSA’s 10th national commissioner, Dahlquist will represent Scouting’s uniformed leaders and oversee the commissioner service, which provides vital program support at the local, council, and region levels.

Randall Stephenson

“The energy that Charles Dahlquist brings as the incoming national commissioner uniquely reflects his deep understanding of the instrumental role our many valued chartered organizations play in bringing Scouting to life for youth across America,” Surbaugh said.

“We look forward to the powerful impact we know Charles will have in this role as he further grows and strengthens relationships with our chartered organizations.”

Charles W. Dahlquist II

While much of America has been focused on who will become the nation’s 45th president next January, the BSA quietly installed a new president in May. At the National Annual Meeting in San Diego, AT&T Chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson became the organization’s 38th president, replacing former Defense Secretary Dr. Robert M. Gates at the end of his two-year term. As the BSA’s top volunteer, Stephenson will lead the National Executive Board, a group he joined more than a decade ago.

“Scouting, in all its programs, is more relevant and needed by youth and families today than ever before to help develop character and leadership that will empower this generation to face the challenges of the future,” Dahlquist said. “I am honored to build on the tradition that Tico Perez established before me to serve as the national commissioner to continue to strengthen the bonds between the Boy Scouts of America and our chartered organizations that deliver the program in communities nationwide.”

In a statement, Chief Scout Executive Mike Surbaugh said, “Randall has been a valuable counselor to me since I became Chief Scout Executive. I place considered value on his business acumen and his character, both of which have guided him to notable successes in his life—and no doubt will help guide our movement during the next two years while he serves as our national president.”

Dahlquist has long roots in Scouting. A Cub Scout, Boy Scout, and Explorer in his youth, he has served in many adult roles since 1975, including Scoutmaster, council president, head jamboree chaplain, world jamboree contingent chairman, and chairman of the National Venturing Task Force and of the National Court of Honor.

Stephenson said he sees his presidency as a continuation of Gates’ efforts to realign Scouting’s programs, structure, and marketing efforts to better meet the needs of today’s youth and families, an effort he believes is critically important. “We mass-produce leaders,” he said. “If you look at corporate America, you look at the military, you look at academia, you look at our political leaders at every level of government, scientists,

Stephenson is newer to Scouting, but no less passionate about this program. He joined the National Executive Board in 2005 and oversaw the BSA’s 100th Anniversary Celebration in 2010. Both men have received the Silver Buffalo, Scouting’s highest adult honor. Together, Stephenson, Dahlquist, and Surbaugh form the National Key 3.

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Jamboree Adventure Awaits In 1937, the Boy Scouts of America held its first national jamboree in the shadow of the Washington Monument. Participants enjoyed a Washington Senators baseball game, tours of Mount Vernon, and “colorful historical pageants by night,” according to The National and World Jamboree in Pictures.

we’ve learned a lot and improved,” he says. “We’ve improved the program, we’ve improved the infrastructure, we’ve improved the experience.”

Those improvements are possible in part because the Summit is owned by the BSA and is dedicated to the jamboree and ongoing high-adventure programs. Even when the BSA used Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia from 1981 to 2010, “at the end of each jamboree, we had to take everything down,” Myers says. “Everything we build at the Summit is ours long-term.”

Myers says the biggest problem with the next jamboree is getting the word out to potential youth and adult participants. Although the event is still a year off, some people think it’s too late to sign up. It’s not.

Fast-forward 80 years, and the program looks a little different. OK, a lot different. The Scouts who attend the 2017 National Scout Jamboree at the Summit Bechtel Reserve in West Virginia will enjoy climbing, shooting, mountain biking, skateboarding, zip-lining, and whitewater rafting opportunities that rank among the best—not just in Scouting but in the world:

One of the top priorities for Myers is letting Scouts and Scouters know that there’s still room for them. On the participant side, he’s working with councils to help them fill their contingents and dropping the contingent late fees that may have discouraged council participation.

On the staff side, he’s offering a special incentive: Work the 2017 national jamboree, and you’ll get selection preference for staffing in 2019 at the world jamboree. (The 2019 World Scout Jamboree will be the first one held in North America since 1983; it will be hosted at the Summit by the Scout associations of the United States, Canada, and Mexico.)

• Canopy tours: No. 1 in total mileage • Zip-lining: No. 1 in total mileage • Challenge courses: No. 1 for number of courses at one facility • Rock climbing: No. 1 manmade outdoor facility • Skateboarding: No. 2 for square footage

However, the life-changing experiences Scouts and adults enjoy at a jamboree are always the best incentive for participating. After the 2013 national jamboree, the mom of a 12-year-old participant perfectly captured the event’s value: “Did my son stand on long lines? Yes. Did he get dirty? Yes. Did he miss out on doing some things he had hoped to do? Yes. Did he dislike some of the food? Yes. Are his hiking boots so mud-saturated they are unusable now? Yes. Did he have the best time of his short life and accumulate a ton of memories and skills that will stay with him forever? YES.”

• BMX: No. 2 for square footage • Mountain biking: No. 3 for total mileage • Shooting sports: No. 3 in total shooting opportunities • Whitewater rafting: a 20-minute drive to the world-famous New River Gorge What’s more, unlike the 2013 jamboree (also held at the Summit), next year’s event will feature an open schedule designed to minimize wait times and maximize fun, according to Jamboree Director Matt Myers, who assumed the role on July 1. “The last jamboree was great, but

To learn more about the 2017 National Scout Jamboree, visit http://bsajamboree.org.

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Program BSA Pilots Program for the Kindergarten Set In the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy famously imagined a forest full of “lions and tigers and bears—oh my!” Throw in some Wolves and Webelos, and you may soon have an accurate description of Cub Scouting in many parts of the country.

AS A LION, YOUR KINDERGARTNER WILL...

MAKE FRIENDS LEARN AND GROW LAUGH LOUD GAIN CONFIDENCE WORK TOGETHER HELP OTHERS EXPLORE THE WORLD PLAY GAMES BUILD CHARACTER HAVE FUN NURTURE CREATIVITY CREATE MEMORIES DEVELOP RESILIENCE DISCOVER NATURE

Lions will be part of a Cub Scout pack like their older counterparts; however, their participation in pack activities will be limited. They won’t participate in fundraising projects, overnight outings, or activities like shooting sports that are beyond their ability. Instead, they will attend two or three pack meetings, as well as age-appropriate special activities. They’ll also wear a Lion T-shirt instead of a Cub Scout uniform and will earn stickers instead of belt loops.

Beginning this fall, select Boy Scout councils will test the new Lion program for 5-year-old kindergarten-age boys. Lions is designed to offer a low-key introduction to Cub Scouting, giving families a Scouting option at a time when many would otherwise commit to sports programs that start in kindergarten.

The National Lion Pilot builds on the work of the Northern Star Council, which first began testing Lions several years ago.

Results there have indicated that Lions could have a positive effect on the retention of Cub Scouts—and their parents. On the Bryan on Scouting blog, one former Lion leader reported that nine of her 11 boys are still involved in Scouting three years later. “They are the most engaged boys in my den, and their parents are the ones who are most likely to jump in and get involved,” she wrote. “No signs of burnout here in the Twin Cities in my pack.”

PRACTICE SKILLS

SHINE AT SCHOOL BE AWESOME

BUILD YOUR LION ADVENTURE!

JOIN NOW TO EXPERIENCE THE FUN AND EXCITEMENT OF CUB SCOUTING’S PILOT PROGRAM FOR KINDERGARTEN-AGE BOYS! LEARN MORE AT SCOUTING.ORG/LION.

310-543C Lion Build An Adventure FLYERS.indd 1

5/5/16 5:03 PM

“Often, children become attached to lifelong activities at an early age—that is certainly a goal we would have, as we know the long-term benefits of Scouting involvement include strong asset development in the areas of character and leadership,” says Chief Scout Executive Mike Surbaugh. “However, we also know that when youth participate in numerous activities at an early age, and miss joining Scouting, they are unlikely to do so at adolescence.”

Burnout is one issue the pilot will explore. Test councils will be looking not just at how well the program serves today’s kindergarteners but how likely those boys are to remain involved throughout their Cub Scout years and into Boy Scouting. “What will be important to learn in the next few years, if the initial entry point works at the kindergarten-age level, is will this cause losses at a different age, or will the program keep the same retention all the way through to Boy Scouting?” Surbaugh says.

Like Tigers for first-graders, Lions is built around parent-son pairs who share leadership within the den. Leading each Lion den will be the Lion guide, an experienced adult Cub Scout leader. Den activities, which have been developed by experts in Cub Scouting and child development, will introduce Scouting activities and values in age-appropriate ways.

If Lions turns out to enhance retention, look for the program to be around for generations to come, much like Tigers, which was introduced in 1983. Then the Cowardly Lion won’t be the only lion in the forest.

For more information, visit www.scouting.org/lion.

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New Website Explains Exploring Not surprisingly, the website features plenty of materials for people who are interested in getting involved, including youth and adult applications, medical forms, and the memorandum of understanding organizations must complete in order to offer the program in their communities.

There are also plenty of resources for current Explorers and adult volunteers, including information on training, Youth Protection guidelines, and scholarships Explorers can earn. A large and growing section of the website, the Activity Library, offers free lessons that posts can use to teach both careerspecific and general life skills. “The life skills are meant to be taught along with how to become a doctor or how to become a carpenter,” says Tim Anderson, senior director of Exploring.

“We have everything from how to write a résumé to things that kids need to know to get a job.”

Most Americans have a good idea of what Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts do, even if they mostly envision boys racing pinewood derby cars or teens helping little old ladies across the street. Exploring—the BSA program that focuses on career exploration—is another story. Say the word “Explorer,” and most people will think of Christopher Columbus, Lewis and Clark, or maybe a cartoon girl named Dora.

Another key feature of the website is an online career interest survey, which largely replaces the machine-scanned forms Exploring has used for decades. Besides being easier to use, the online survey should guarantee more accurate results.

For example, when teens type in their city and state, the list of public and private schools in that community pops up.

(Scannable forms are still available and are required for anyone under age 13, as mandated by the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA.)

To change (or perhaps create) clearer perceptions, the BSA recently unveiled a brand-new Exploring website, www.exploring.org. The modern, mobile-friendly website features a new logo, a new tagline—Discover Your Future— and an inspiring video that explains just what Exploring is.

Over images of everything from law enforcement to aviation to auto mechanics, a diverse group of Explorers describes what they’re doing in Exploring: tapping into their potential, discovering who they are, making the most of the opportunities in front of them, igniting their passions. One after another, they also describe what Exploring is not: “I’m not a student.

I’m not at work. I’m not an intern. I’m not a pencil pusher. I’m not a procrastinator. I’m not cramming for an exam. And I’m definitely not in detention.”

The survey prompts teens to choose their first and second career choices from a broad array of professions and trades in 12 different fields. “This program is for all youth; it’s for everybody,” says National Director of Exploring Diane E. Thornton, Ed.D. “I think that’s the beauty of this program.”

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profiles R. Gil Kerlikowske, Commissioner, U.S. Customs and Border Protection While Kerlikowske is fairly new to Exploring, he is already putting his stamp on the program. For example, seminars at this year’s National Law Enforcement Exploring Conference are going beyond traditional topics like forensics and defense tactics. “We have included a variety of courses they’ll be participating in, including things like protection of civil rights and community policing,” he says. “Those are new and different aspects of law enforcement.”

As commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, R. Gil Kerlikowske oversees America’s largest federal law enforcement agency, with 60,000 employees and a budget of $12.4 billion. But the Scouting alumnus still finds time to chair the National Law Enforcement Exploring Committee. In fact, he’s spending part of July 2016 at Northern Arizona University, site of this year’s National Law Enforcement Exploring Conference.

He is also pushing for increased awareness of Exploring across the country. He’s especially proud of an effort to start a post to serve young people in Minneapolis’ Somali community. “We know that Minneapolis has been one of those locations where a number of young people have become radicalized,” he says. “What a great opportunity to have a post to offset the kind of ISIL radical mantra that is out there.”

“I couldn’t do anything but say yes” when asked to chair the committee, he says.

Kerlikowske became commissioner of CBP in March 2014, bringing four decades of law enforcement and drug policy experience to the position. Most of his years in law enforcement were spent in St. Petersburg, Florida, but he has also led the police departments in Seattle and in Buffalo, New York. His other federal work includes service as director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy and deputy director for the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services.

Why does Kerlikowske spend time with Exploring? While he was never an Explorer himself, he has seen firsthand the program’s value for participants and law enforcement agencies. Customs and Border Protection sponsors Explorer posts at sites across the country, including Washington, D.C., various ports of entry, and Chicago— where National Youth Representative Cynthia C. Garcia participates in a CBP-sponsored post.

Kerlikowske was elected twice to be president of the Major Cities Chiefs, which represents the largest city and county law enforcement agencies in the United States and Canada. He has received numerous awards and recognition for leadership, innovation, and community service. He served in the U.S. Army, where he was awarded the Presidential Service Badge.

Kerlikowske says the program gives participants the chance to learn about career options while developing leadership and social skills that will help them in whatever careers they pursue. But the program offers important benefits to law enforcement agencies as well. “I think with law enforcement coming under as much scrutiny as it has, whether it’s the United States Border Patrol or civilian police departments, it’s always very helpful to have the Explorer program,” Kerlikowske says.

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Jeff Segler, National Artist of the Boy Scouts of America Jackson Hole, Wyoming; Fort Worth, Texas; and Santa Fe. “I’m extremely well represented and stretched pretty darn thin,” he says.

A child of the 1960s, Jeff Segler grew up on a steady diet of The Lone Ranger and Flipper, and he dreamed of becoming a cowboy or a dolphin wrangler. There wasn’t much call for either occupation in Huntsville, Alabama, so he became an artist instead.

But he’s not stretched so thin that he can’t be involved in Scouting.

He was a den leader the last five years as his son, Ben, advanced through Cub Scouts, and he now serves on the committee for Troop 22 in Los Alamos. He often visits Philmont to participate in cattle drives and brandings, and spent a week there as artist in residence in 2013, the same year the Philmont Museum featured him in an exhibit called “The Gift of Inspiration.”

Segler’s cowboy dreams never died, however. In 1978, his second summer on the Philmont Scout Ranch staff, he became program director at Beaubien, a livinghistory camp that teaches about cowboys, cattle barons, and other characters from the American West in the 1880s. Over the next few summers, he worked in a range of backcountry camps, usually playing cowboy as he had done at Beaubien.

Segler’s Scouting involvement is about to ramp up considerably, because he was recently named the BSA’s national artist. He’s just the third person to hold that title, following Norman Rockwell and Joseph Csatari. (All three artists are featured this summer in a new Philmont Museum exhibit, “The Artists of the BSA.”) As national artist, Segler will produce an average of one painting a year to mark Scouting milestones and celebrate Scouting values. His first canvas will probably be inspired by Eagle Scout projects he’s read about that have helped homeless veterans. He also envisions a painting of a Venturer teaching a Cub Scout astronomy (in keeping with the BSA’s increasing emphasis on STEM learning). And he’d love to make the rounds of the BSA’s four national high-adventure bases and revisit some of Rockwell’s most iconic subjects.

Not surprisingly, the experiences he had and the photos he took began to inform his paintings. After graduating from the University of Alabama in 1979, he spent five years trying to build a career as a painter, which was a challenge given his age and lack of experience.

At the same time, he led the teams that created the first Philmont Fieldguide (1985) and Philmont: A Pictorial History (1989). By the time the first book appeared, Segler was a permanent resident of Santa Fe, New Mexico.

There’s really only one thing he doesn’t want to paint: a recreational vehicle. In the early 1990s, the BSA commissioned Segler to do a painting for the cover of the Boy Scout Fieldbook. The design process was managed by a committee of 30 or so people, each of whom had his own ideas about what the painting should include. “I think I was victorious in that I didn’t have to put a Winnebago on the cover of the Boy Scout Fieldbook, but there was one guy that was adamant that it needed to be there,” he says.

During the next 15 years or so, Segler started and sold several businesses and helped Los Alamos National Laboratory build its first multimedia team. He returned to art full time a dozen years ago and quickly built a reputation as a leading artist of the American West. His work is now featured in galleries in Scottsdale and Sedona, Arizona;

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