Karen’s Opinion

Hubby and I will be attending a ceremony this afternoon. The ceremony will be honoring a young man who is receiving his Eagle Scout award.

From Wikipedia

Eagle Scout is the highest rank attainable in the Boy Scouting program of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). A Scout who attains this rank is called an Eagle Scout or Eagle. Since its introduction in 1911, the Eagle Scout rank has been earned by more than 2 million young men. The title of Eagle Scout is held for life, thus giving rise to the phrase “Once an Eagle, always an Eagle”.

Requirements include earning at least 21 merit badges and demonstrating Scout Spirit through the Boy Scout Oath and Law, service, and leadership. This includes an extensive service project that the Scout plans, organizes, leads, and manages. Eagle Scouts are presented with a medal and a badge that visibly recognizes the accomplishments of the Scout. Additional recognition can be earned through Eagle Palms, awarded for completing additional tenure, leadership, and merit badge requirements.

This honor is not given at random and takes hard work to earn. I can’t wait to give our friend a hug and tell him how proud we are of him and his achievement.

Speaking of great causes…Bumble Bee Foods is having a wonderful promotion to spur those of us who need a boost to do something to fund finding the cure for breast cancer. By joining thousands of walkers, you can, log in at BeeWellMiles.com, record the amount of miles you walk, and raise money for the Breast Cancer Network of Strength.

How does this work? From 4/1/09-10/31/09 Bumble Bee Foods will donate $0.15/mile for every mile logged at BeeWellMiles.com. That means for every mile I walk or run, I will be helping to raise funds for a wonderful cause. I need to exercise so why not add to the reason I walk and give it a special meaning. The website allows me to get great ideas from healthy living experts and have a place to log my miles. It will be fun to see my BeeWell Miles turn into a donation from Bumble Bee Foods. They are donating up to $200,000! Just think what a difference my walking will make. I will get into better shape too. What if I got my card club and other friends to do this? Just think what a difference we could make in the amount of money raised for this great project. Check it out! (Don’t make fun of my white legs!)

I am amazed at how much energy some of my blogging friends have. Of course, they are young and know more about technology than I do so why should I be surprised?

Take my friend Drew. He is always thinking of ways to help people and how to make the world a better place. He is the one who takes the pictures for that little widget, The BenSpark Photo-A-Day, down there on my sidebar.

Drew and his wife, Alison created an event ‘Blogs, Brews and Belly Laughs’ at their local comedy club, the Speed of Thought Playhouse to unite bloggers while enjoying a few brews and crazy, fun comedy. What a terrific idea! A bunch of other people thought it was a terrific idea and had loads of fun. Here is a picture of Drew enjoying the evening full of live blogging and twittering. He was even broadcasting the whole thing!

On April 17, 2009 BenSpark.com in collaboration with Speed of Thought Playhouse present Blogs, Brews and Belly Laughs II: Laughing it up while raising money for Walking for 2nd Base!

Please stop by Drew’s blog to read more, join his Facebook group, make a donation to help Walking for 2nd Base (which is part of the Avon Walk For Breast Cancer Campaign) or to simply leave a comment.

Drew has tons of really cool prizes to give away, so you can be sure I’ll be attending to support this wonderful cause and to take responsibility! You can join in on the fun at 8:30 pm on Stickam April 17 2009.

What would make Christmas feel special for you? Would it be eating freshly baked Christmas cookies with a glass of cold milk? Would it be reading a book while wrapped in a comfy quilt? How does staying in Ralphie’s house sound?

Yes, I am talking about Ralphie as in the “You’ll shoot your eye out”, kid. During the Christmas holiday season, bidders were able to participate in the ebay auction to stay Christmas Eve & Morning in A Christmas Story House.
Photo provided by ebay.

The Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) is dedicated to assisting our nation’s servicemen and women severely injured during the wars on terrorism in Iraq, Afghanistan and other hot spots around the world. Beginning at the bedside of the severely wounded, WWP provides programs and services designed to ease the burdens of these heroes and their families and aid in the recovery process and smooth the transition back to civilian life.

You will find other auctions through The Wounded Warrior Project like Longaberger basket sales and other fine items. This one struck me as special. I love the movie, A Christmas Story.

Spend Christmas Eve & Morning in the house from A Christmas Story
VIP EXPERIENCE FOR 4 WITH AIRFARE, HOTEL, & MEALS INCLUDED!

“A Tribute to the Original, Traditional, One-Hundred-Percent, Red-Blooded, Two-Fisted, All-American Christmas…” is now yours for the bidding. eBay Giving Works, eBay’s program that empowers people to buy and sell for a cause, and A Christmas Story House & Museum, celebrating the film’s 25th anniversary, invite the winning bidder and 3 guests to spend Christmas Eve & Christmas Morning reliving their favorite moments from the cult classic A Christmas Story at the original Christmas Story House in Cleveland, Ohio! This special experience is being offered exclusively on eBay Giving Works, with all proceeds from the charity auction going to the Wounded Warrior Project.

Experience includes:

* Airfare for four (4) people from anywhere in the lower 48 states to Cleveland, OH (up to $1800 total)*
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* 2 Day, 2 Night stay for four (4) in a suite provided by the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel
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* Christmas Eve accommodations for four (4) at the A Christmas Story House
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* Christmas Eve dinner for four (4) provided by Pearl of Orient Chinese restaurant
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* Christmas Day dinner for four (4) provided by Sans Souci, an award-winning, fine-dining restaurant in the Renaissance Hotel
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* $200 stipend for food & beverages during stay included

It appears that there were 33 bids on the auction and the winner spent $5,250.00 to stay at Ralphie’s house. I’ll bet they had fun and feel that their money was well spent.