Four Morgan boys attend Mountaineer Boys State
American Legion Mountaineer Boys State was conducted from June 13-19, at West Virginia University’s extension campus, Jackson Mills, near Weston.
West Virginia has the second oldest Boys State program in the nation.
The American Legion program is a one week course in the operations of government and the political process.
Each citizen, as they are referred to, can choose one of six career paths. The paths are: legislative, judicial, financial, law enforcement, journalism and National Guard.
The Morgan County high schools sent four boys and one counselor, three from Berkeley Springs High school and one from Paw Paw High School. The counselor Theo Chambers is First Vice Commander of Post 60 American Legion, Berkeley Springs.
Attending were: Andrew Rickli, Kevin Close and Brenton Arrington, all of Berkeley Springs High and Ronald Fifield of Paw Paw High.
Arrington is the great-grandson of WWII Purple Heart Veteran, William V. Widmyer. He has always challenged himself for better grades and strives to make himself a better person. He likes to travel and has visited Oregon, Washington, Florida, Ohio, New York and Maine. He hopes some day to be able to visit foreign countries such as Australia where his paternal grandfather lives. He attends United Methodist Church where he is involved with the youth group.
Close, 16 year old junior, is on the high school golf team. He is actively involved in the yourth group at First United Methodist Church. He is currently employed at the Country Inn. He plans to attend Marshall University. He likes playing basketball, writing and listening to music. He is the son of David and Brenda Close.
Rickli, a junior, maintains a 4.0 GPA. He was on the Principal’s Honor List, he placed in the Morgan County Math Field Day and is on the school newspaper staff. He has been a member of the high school band drum line and won the Outstanding Sophomore Award for band. He attended Jr. National Young Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C. He was named to the Potomac Valley Conference Baseball Team for the last two years. He would like to play baseball in college and plans to apply to U.S. Naval Academy.
To know more about American Legion Mountaineer Boys State, contact the local American Legion Post. American Legion Mountaineer Boys State is a great program to mold young men into to future careers. It is a program they remember the rest of their lives.
