Well, they say a picture is worth a thousand words. In that case, why don't I just quit typing and upload some pictures? :o) Ha, ha, ha. Seriously, the Rangers are Clearfield Job Corps students who have volunteered to give up most of their free time for the sake of representing Job Corps to the community through a pseudo-military on-center program. There are three main groups within the Rangers: Black Lions (rifle precision drill team), Main Corps, and Color Guard. The CG presents the flags for CJCC's awards assemblies and monthly graduation ceremony, as well as events that the community asks us to help with. It's a lot of work, but there's a lot of fun involved too.
We practice three nights a week, for about 1-2 hours per night. Mondays we practice from 6 to 7:30 or 8 p.m., Tuesdays 6 to 7:30 or 8 before 8:30 Rangers meeting in the guys' dorm, Wednesday we used to do a 6:00 presentation during Job Corps new-student orientation meeting, and then 7 to 8 p.m. drill practice.Some of the details--I guess you could call them "Ranger missions"--we've been on include Denver's annual St. Patrick's Day Parade, the air-show held at Ogden Airport on May 29th, Clearfield town's Fourth of July Parade (July 5, '99), crowd-control details for two fireworks displays (keep the audience away from the fireworks so they don't get injured), and most recently a Color Guard detail--presenting the colors for an Eagle Scout awards ceremony (July 18, '99).
Rangers know how to R&R, too! On June 26, '99, we loaded two vans and a "step-van" (like a mail-delivery truck) full of Rangers, food, softball equipment (borrowed from the gym), and two BBQ grills. After riding for about an hour, we arrived at Cutler Flats--a park in the mountains. We spent most of the morning and almost all afternoon hiking, playing softball and Frisbee, and wading in the (cold!) creek nearby. Some rangers hunted for the perfect smooth rocks and painted them with poster paint one of our staff members had brought. By 4 p.m., most of us wanted to stay but were so tired that we were ready to return to Job Corps. It was great!
In August ('99) we had a surprise birthday party for our co-ordinator, Mr. Jesus "Papa Bear" Morales. And boy, was he ever surprised! Our student commander at the time, Colonel Sarah M., had secretly asked several staff members to help keep Mr. Morales busy and out of the dorm. She'd also asked a couple friends to help decorate and tape the party on their cam-corder. :o)
