Tag: Smithers

The Big Event – Shovel Flag Handoff

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So the hype has been great, and the STRONG showing this morning proved it has value!  26 HIM’s all came out on what was a pretty cold 48 degree March morning (that WIND).

This was not an ordinary workout.  Barry Manilow was handing over the shovel flag to YHC, as I was stepping into the role of Site Q for Slow Burn.  Barry started the workout for the first half, and then we handed off the Q to me for the last half.

I’ll do my best to get Barry’s portion right:

Mosey all the way down to the far side of Lowes and circle up for the following:

  • OH Hand Claps 10x
  • Moroccan Nightclubs 10x
  • LBC 10x
  • Imperial Walker 10x
  • Travolta 10x
  • Dying Cockroach 10x
  • Hillbilly Walker 10x
  • HR Merkins 15x

Mosey to the Triangle Lot

  • Moroccan Nightclubs 10x
  • OH Hand Claps 10x
  • Grave Digger 7×2
  • Squat 10x
  • Mak Tai Jai 10x
  • Knee Tai Jai 10x
  • Calf Raise Regular 10x
  • Calf Raise Toes Out 10x
  • Calf Raise Toes In 10x

Mosey back to the side of Lowes

  • Wall Sit with Pop Out Burpees
  • Bear Crawl/Toy Soldier to the second island and back
  • Wall Sit with Pop Out Burpees

The official Q Handoff….Barry Manilow Done, Smithers is up…

Mosey back to the Triangle Lot for 4 corners, circle up and count off in 4’s

Three different rounds at each corner station.  Finish one round and rotate to the next corner.  Once returning to where you started, perform the next round’s exercises.  The Rounds looked like this:

Round 1:

  • Corner 1 (CORE) – 30 LBC’s in Cadence
  • Corner 2 (UPPER) – 20 Carolina Dry Docks in Cadence
  • Corner 3 (CARDIO) – 30 SSH’s in Cadence
  • Corner 4 (LOWER) – 20 Low Slow Squats in Cadence

Round 2:

  • Corner 1 (CORE) – 15 Flutters in Cadence
  • Corner 2 (UPPER) – 15 Shoulder Taps in Cadence
  • Corner 3 (CARDIO) – 15 Peter Parker’s in Cadence
  • Corner 4 (LOWER) – 15 Calf Raises in Cadence

Round 3:

  • Corner 1 (CORE) – 15 Wheezy Jefferson’s in Cadence
  • Corner 2 (UPPER) – 30 OH Hand Claps in Cadence
  • Corner 3 (CARDIO) – 15 Imperial Walker’s in Cadence
  • Corner 4 (LOWER) – 15 Jump Squats OYO

Mosey back to COT

Countoff (26), Name-O-Rama, Announcements, Prayers, and the Shovel Flag Handoff!

I’m really looking forward to this opportunity as Site Q for Slow Burn.  I will do my best to keep the Q schedule full and diverse, remember it’s a moderate site, but challenge us to push it just a bit more than comfortable (and beyond).

Smithers…Out

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The Baby Yeti

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It was a beautiful morning…not too warm, not too cold, a bit breezy, and a bit of a foggy gloom.  Perfect!

Attendance was light…but today was The Yeti CSAUP.  In honor of all those men running in the main attraction for the day, we did a Baby Yeti at The Yard

We started out with a mosey around the back of the school for the following warmup:

  • 15 SSH’s
  • 15 Imperial Walkers
  • 15 Moroccan Nightclubs
  • 10 Windmills

Off we went on another mosey, continuing around the property towards the bus entrance.  We stopped at the bottom of the hill and partnered up.  The first partner would run to the top of the hill, two light poles away, while the other performed a series of exercises.  Those exercises were as follows:

  • Wide Arm Merkins
  • Squats
  • Shoulder Taps
  • Monkey Humpers

We talked a bit about the word(s) of the month, worry/anxiety and how it makes us feel.  Then, after the talking portion of this program, In true Yeti style, off we went with another mosey to our next pain station for more of the same type of thang, just with the following exercises:

  • LBC’s
  • Carolina Dry Docks
  • Hand Release Merkins
  • Overhead Hand Claps

We had a little time for Short Sale to share ways he tries to fight the worry/anxiety of this world…Then we were back on the run again…to a super secret hideaway in the woods that my 2.2 (she attends Fort Mill Elementary) told me about.  At the top of a little known set of wooden stairs, up into a clearing in the woods you will find BENCHES!  They are perfect for dips, irkins, and derkins.  So we ran the following circuit:

  • 10 Dips, Double Count, in Cadence
  • 10 Irkins, Single Count, in Cadence
  • 10 Derkins, Single Count, in Cadence
  • 10 Count
  • 20 Dips, Double Count, in Cadence
  • 10 Irkins, Single Count, in Cadence (Was supposed to be 20, but these guys were spent)
  • 10 Derkins, Single Count, in Cadence
  • 10 Count
  • 10 Dips, Double Count, in Cadence
  • 10 Irkins, Single Count in Cadence

Then we headed back to COT for some stretching.  It was something that Stang did at the END of the workout the day before at Slow Burn, and it was very well received.  I’m thinking of incorporating that into my Q’s as I see real value in it.

Thanks to Short Sale, Spitz, and Lugnut for coming out this morning.  It was literally the first workout I have Q’d with only Respectible’s in attendance…and boy do I respect them!  As for me…#norespect

Smithers….OUT

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Lucky 13 at Footloose For a Re-do of My 1st F3 Workout

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I’ve  been buggin’ Beacon to let me Q Footloose again, just because it’s always a lot of fun.  He finally caved and let me do it.  My original gameplan included 100 SSH and a jog around the big block to warm us up and a bear crawl up that massive hill but I didn’t want to make any enemies so made it a little closer to the expected moderate workout.  Not totally moderate though.  My new gameplan became a redo of my first ever F3 workout.  It happened at Slowburn on June 16th.  Dark Helmet made me want to vomit.  I’m sure a few of us have felt that way during or after his workouts.  It went a little something like this:

Warmup:

  • Windmills x 10
  • Imperial Walkers x 10
  • Merkins x 10
  • Weed Puller x 10
  • Squats x 15
  • SSH x 15

The Thang: Stolen right from DH’s backblast

“Start with 5 of an exercise at one end, run to other and do 10 of that exercise;
Run back do 15, then run and do 20, back and 25, one more time down do 30 of that exercise, run back to start. We’ll do this as many rounds as we can, as time permits. Yes. It’s as confusing and stupid as it sounds.

Here are the exercises:
Round 1: Merkins
Round 2: LBCs
Round 3: Squats”

On Day 1, I was the 6.  The pax waited for me to finish and join them before they started the next set.  I was convinced everybody was a beast, how the heck were they still jogging to the next spot?! On Day 245 (yes, I counted), I felt like the beast!  We finished all 315 reps in a little over 15 minutes so we had some extra time. I circled us up for:

Moroccan Night Clubs x 25
Overhead Claps x25
Seal Jacks x25
Dying Cockroach x15

We celebrated Smither’s 41st Valentine Bday by doing an exercise of his choice:
Flutters x41

I think we did a couple more x15 sets, but I can’t remember them.  I couldn’t believe we still had 10 minutes left in our workout… I set us off towards our starting point for a round of AbLab in reps of 10.  We made it through a few guys and then I called it.

Announcements:
The Yeti – Don’t second guess yourself, dude, you can do it.  Even if you just want to do the last leg back to the BBQ joint, you should do it.
S2S – Get your butts to an S2S AO, you won’t be disappointed.

Prayers and Praises:
Prayers for Zima’s family
Prayer for Anchorman’s extended family
As I looked around the group, I could feel the call for the Unspoken requests – I hope we are all lifting the group on a daily basis.  We are a brotherhood and have each others back.  Thank you Anchorman for praying us out.

Thank you Beacon, for caving and letting me Q again. 🙂

NMM:
Worrying sucks.  When we worry, we are tearing ourselves apart.  It’s human nature to worry though, so how do we overcome it?  We need to find peace.  The Prince of Peace.
33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Much Love,
Polaroid

 

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Be Still

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18 pax posted ’round the Shovel Flag at Slow Burn for some usual Fri 1st F and 2nd F engagement. Well, at launch, we actually had 17 pax and reports of an 18th enroute.   Disclaimer was proclaimed.  February theme of #Worry was noted and the pax were informed that YHC would not disrupt the the Slow Burn rhythm of #moderation and #mumblechatter, though this adventure would force them to talk out their worries.  With that, we launched.

The Thang

Warm up run around CFA through Drive Thru lane

Karaoke lap around CFA through Drive Thru lane

COP alongside CFA — SSHs, Hillbilly walkers, Imperial walkers, Mtn climbers, Windmills

Lugnut posted at this point, so we moseyed on down to the parking lot between the retail strip and Lowes

10 strong form burpees OYO (requested by Twister)

SSH

10 strong form burpees OYO

Partner up to complete all exercises together and talk out your anxieties/worries
Round 1: Merkins x5 + Squats x20, Merkins x10 + Squats x15, Merkins x15 + Squats x10, Merkins x20 + Squats x5
Round 2: CDDs x20 + Bombjacks x5, CDDs x15 + Bombjacks x10, CDDs x10 + Bombjacks x15, CDDs x5 + Bombjacks x20
Round 3: Partner legthrows x20 + LBC x5, Partner legthrows x15 + LBC x10, Partner legthrows x10 + LBC x15, Partner legthrows x5 + LBC x20

Line up along curb

Bear crawl to center parking line, sprint to other side, jog back
(Rinse and repeat for 3 total cycles)

Run home

COT

NMM

Slow Burn has such a great vibe.  It’s always a treat to Q at that AO — it’s Fri, plenty of energy, plenty of mumblechatter, guys looking out for each other and challenging each other, great 1st and 2nd F warm-up for 3rd F experience at CnW afterward.  S/O to Hard Drive for launching it and to Barry Manilow for continuing to carry the torch.  Well done!

As the pax gathered, it appeared Spitz would be the last one in…until he made it to the circle and alerted the crowd that Lugnut was still inbound.  Glad we were able to get him onboard before departure.

I kept the Weinke in the moderate zone, and there were plenty of breaks to discuss Worry and Anxiety.  Somehow I awoke on Sat with a little soreness in spots, so clearly my fitness level needs some attention.

Thanks to pax for engaging fully in dialog and sharing re personal anxieties.  If you haven’t read Chicken Hawk’s February theme one pager, take a look here.

“Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)   This has become one of my go-to verses in times of worry and anxiety.  I could go on forever about worry/anxiety…I’m closer friends with those two than I ever thought I was or wanted to be.  But when I leave it all in God’s hands and just allow myself to “BE,” I mostly come to realize that (a) my worry is worthless, (b) it’s mostly CREATED by me and (c) it’s too much ABOUT me.  There are many ways to turn this verse into a meditative prayer that cuts through anxiety.  Here’s one:

Be still and know that I am GOD…
Be still and know that I AM God…
Be still and know that I am God…
Be still and know THAT I am God…
Be still and KNOW that I am God…
Be still AND know that I am God…
Be STILL and know that I am God…
BE still and know that I am God.

Here’s another:

Be still and know that I am God…
Be still and know that I am… 
Be still and know that I…
Be still and know that…
Be still and know…
Be still and…
Be still…
Be.

Try ’em and let me know what you discover.

Thanks to Barry Manilow for the chance to lead.  Always an honor.

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A Primer on The Mission and Principles of F3 served with a side of pain.

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Another day at The Ballroom dawned clear, cold and windy. Kept the Shovel Flag in the trunk for fear it would be blown away. Excellent mixture of veteran and new pax were ready to get warmed up and take on the Weinke. Think that we got some Pax scared away from Jedi’s Q at Golden Corral.

Mosey around the school for  COP:

  • Windmill* 10
  • IW * 15
  • SSH * 20
  • Merkin * 10
  • Squats * 15
  • Plank-O-rama
  • DIAMOND MERKINS *10

Mosey to hill between PKES and PKMS. Word on the Misssion of F3: For our NEWER PAX: WHAT IS THE MISSION OF F3? PLANT, GROW AND SERVE MEN’S SMALL WORKOUT GROUPS FOR THE INVIGORATION OF MALE COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP.  The Nation is here to serve the Pax not the other way around.

Partner up FOR MODIFIED DORA 1,2,3

P1 RUNS TO TOP OF HILL, P2 DOES EXERCISE

54 Donkey Kicks TOGETHER with your Paartner, 108 MERKINS, 216 LBCs, 324 SQUATS. PLANK ON THE 6

Mosey to wall- Word on the  Core Principles of F3:

  1. Free
  2. Open to Men of all ages, fitness levels
  3. Outdoors, rain or shine
  4. Peer Led
  5. Ends with a COT

Peoples Chair while each Pax does 5 Bombjacks. Mosey to field-partners do 20 leg throws, 20 cherry pickers, 20 Big Boy sit ups (ouch)

Circle up for some scorpion dry docks & Jack Webb.  Back to COT and a word on one of my favorite F3 themes- PROVERBS 27:17-AS IRON SHARPENS IRON, SO DOES ONE MAN SHARPEN ANOTHER.

The camaraderie and banter among the Pax today was great to experience. Never hurts to remind the group how this crazy thing called F3 came to be and, more importantly, what it stands for. Always a pleasure to lead even when the Q-drenaline means a night of fitful sleep.

This is Short Sale bidding you a pleasant adieu.

 

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Footloose – Balmy weather

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What a difference a week makes.  Who would have thought we would be out in tee-shirts and shorts after a week of the teen temperatures.  Fortunately the rain finished up a few hours before we kicked things off at 5:15.  17 PAX were ready for a saucy challenge.  We started out with a mosey around the FBC parking lot Indian run style.  Towards the end it became quite comical with more mumble chatter going on than running.  So Ihad to circle up quickly to get back control.  We did a few rounds of SSH, Moroccan night clubs, merkins and imperial walkers.  Then off for another mosey down to the Church of God parking lots.  We circled up again for a few additional paleo exercises while the six rolled in.

The Thang:

We started out with 4 corners, but made it crisscross style to keep the cardio going.  Do 1 exercise and go to then run to the next corner.  Once you finished the round plank it up in the center for a dealers choice exercise.  Then on to the next round.

Round 1 (15 reps) : Flutters, Calf Raises, Peter Parker, Shoulder Taps

Round 2(15 reps) :: LBC’s, Lunges, S.S.H, CDD’s

Round 3(15 reps) : Hello Dolly’s, Squats, Mtn. Climbers, Merkins

Rinse & repeat increasing the reps to 20.  That was a big hit with the PAX.

Round 1 (20 reps) : Flutters, Calf Raises, Peter Parker, Shoulder Taps

Round 2(20 reps) :: LBC’s, Lunges, S.S.H, CDD’s

Round 3(20 reps) : Hello Dolly’s, Squats, Mtn. Climbers, Merkins

Jailbreak back to COT for some mary to wrap things up.

Appreciate the opportunity to lead such a fine group of men!

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Frosty Footloose

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11 PAX gathered in about 18 frosty degrees at Footloose.  The most important thing is that they showed up!!!  That is the first step – show up!  Great job.

The work:

A brief disclaimer followed by Windmills and SSHs with a mosey to a church parking lot.  YHC has no idea which church it was as there are about three or four within rock throwing distance.

The main work was centered on a triangle – enough of the four corners – we went with the triangle symbolized by the triangle of pain, the Illuminati or the Taco Bell Stacker.

Three stations, with three rounds at each station with legs, abs and upper body.  After each rotation the PAX ran up and down the church stairs.  On round followed by a brief moleskin and then rinse and repeat.

With time still permitting and the temp only dropping the PAX serpentined the stairs followed by 50 calf raises.  With still more glorious time remaining,  we Indian ran to downtown FM and back to our COT.

We prayed for Squeaky’s daughter as well as Reece and Maggie – Mr. Clean’s 2.0s.

 

The moleskin:

When I was in college one of my room mates uncles was a priest.  Often, on Sunday, he would call and if we answered (no cell phones in 1981) he would ask whoever answered if we had been to Mass.  When I said no, he asked why.  Why?  Because, I said, I got nothing out of it.

Well, he said, it isn’t about you.  It is about you supporting the others are that are there.  By your mere presence you may mean something to someone.  And . . . maybe, you will benefit.

It is the same with posting in  the gloom – we are there to support each other.  To lend encouragement, a hand when someone is down, to offer advice (its free so its worth what you paid) and to just be there.

 

That’s all – Twister out.

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Island Vacation at Footloose

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My Qotter (thanks Anchorman) after many months.  I’ll keep it short:

The Thang:

Mosey to back lot

COP
SSH
IW
Windmills
Merkins
Mountain Climbers
Double Applesauce around the lot

Stretch-o-Rama

Forest to the Sea
Island Dips
Forest to the Sea
Island Dips
Double Applesauce around the lot

Side Shuffle Bear Crawl on long lot

Double Applesauce around the lot

Side Shuffle Lunge Walk on long lot

Double Applesauce around the lot

PAX Plank Hurdles

Mosey to Flag
6 MOM

 

Announcements:

Joe Davis, Convergence, Read Your Newsletter

Prayers/Praises shared by all in COT

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Ballroom Beatdown

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So as I stepped outside this morning my first thought was “this is 44 degrees?” As the wind cut straight through my workout gear.  I was cold…so I guess we need to keep moving to stay warm.

At 5:15 sharp we stared off with a mosey down the entrance road to the bend by the field for our warmup. The warmup consisted of the following, all in cadence:

  • SSH – 15
  • Imperial Walkers – 15 (in honor of the new Star Wars movie coming out this week)
  • Move aside for a better late than never greatly missed kotter, Uncle Cracker (who EH’d me into F3 just 10 short months ago)…treated with a wave
  • Windmills – 10
  • Low Slow Squat – 10

Then it was time to mosey around to the wall at the back of the school for The start of The Thang

  • Everyone grab some walls for The People’s Chair as each PAX took their turn with a 10 count
  • A little talk about the word of the month, Gifts
  • Balls to the Wall in the same fashion as The People’s Chair…each PAX with a 10 count (the counting pace was MUCH faster this time around…Hmmm)
  • A couple of 10 counts to recover
  • Another round of People’s Chair, same as before
  • Another round of Balls to the Wall, only this time a single count like when we count off at COT

Mosey across the bridge to the football field and partner up…size does not matter

For a series of 3 exercises one PAX will stay in the end zone while the partner runs to the 50 yard line and back, then switch.  Plank for the six.

  • LBC’s
  • Merkins
  • Flutter Kicks

Break

  • Carolina Dry Dock’s
  • Hello Dolly’s
  • Wide-Arm Merkins

We still had some time left, so it was perfect for a little Reince and repeat.  The only difference was on the last set of 3 we ran to the 30 yard line, but ran back at 75%

After a couple of 10 Counts I had one more beatdown attempt.  We all lined up on the goal line, and ran to the 50 yard line like normal, then continued to the other goal line at full out sprint…100%.

Took a couple 10 Counts and did the same thing back to the other goal line.  At this point I was so close to passing out, I honestly don’t know how any of the PAX was doing.  I just know they all beat me back to COT!

Mosey back to COT for a few minutes of Mary where we got the following exercises in (Probably a few others) all in cadence:

  • Mahktar Jai – 10
  • Side Stradle Hop (Twister style) – 10
  • Peter Parker – 10
  • Superman’s
  • LBC’s – 10
  • Imperial Walkers – 10
  • Morrocan Night Club’s – 15

Name-o-Rama, Announcements, Prayers and Praises

Then off to the cars…

Smithers….Out

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5

Dealer’s Choice, Daniel & the Lion’s Den and talk of Bad Weather/Bad Gear

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The Thang

YHC decided to post a poll on the Twitter to decide whether we’d revisit the “12 Days of Christmas” delivered by Anchorman earlier this week at Ballroom OR have a “Dealer’s Choice” workout, where each PAX Q’s an exercise of his choice.  The “Dealer’s Choice” won in a landslide.

Mosey to front parking lot for warm-up

SSH x 10

Cherry Pickers x 10

Low Slow Squat x 10

Moroccan Nightclub x 10

Peter Parker x 10

Imperial Walkers x 10

Shoulder Taps x 10

Explain  the process to PAX:  Count off and each PAX leads an exercise of his choosing.  Can be single count, cadence count, stay in the circle or a Mosey (Gilmore and Deep Dish!).

We had 14 there and went through each PAX once, getting through the 10th guy on the second time around.

Not an all-inclusive list, but the workout contained (mostly x 10):

LBCs

Merkins

Grave Diggers

Low Slow Squats

Catalina Wine Mixers

Some kind of crazy Burpee

Monkey Humpers

SSH

X’ & O’s

Hello Dolly

Rosalita

Diamond Merkins

Slow Merkins

Indian Run

Run to the Stairs

Dips

Wall Sit

Bomb Jacks

Naked Moleskin:

This was a little  different for most of us and, quite frankly, turned out better than I’d anticipated.  Each PAX was able to call the exercise and lead the count; kind of like a very light version of Q school.

Throughout the workout, and especially in COT, several PAX shared testimony and/or words of encouragement and food for thought. Popper shared a great testimony about his thoughts on Daniel & the Lions Den.  We are all surrounded by the “Lions” of life.  Although difficult, we should always try to keep our focus on Christ. Rather than get bogged down in trying to fight or figure out what to do about the Lion’s, give it to Him, have faith.

Several years ago, Santini said something like “There’s no bad weather, only bad gear”.  I don’t know if that’s a life mantra of his or if he was just saying it off the cuff. Either way, it has clearly been imprinted upon me. For years, I felt like he meant it literally. Recently, I have realized that it’s really about life. Our “gear” is what gives us cover in the “bad weather” of life. All too often, we find ourselves claiming “bad weather” when we really just don’t have the right “gear”.  We must prepare our hearts and have faith, which will sustain us in the bad weather. This is an active pursuit. One that must be acknowledged and actively practiced.

Sacrifice.  We were reminded by HeeHaw of the sacrifice that was made by 1,177 heroes on the USS Arizona on December 7, 1941. And another 1,226 that consisted of Navy personnel, Marines, Army and civilian. May we never forget or take for granted the sacrifices of so many, then, now and in the future.

YHC asked the PAX to consider:

  1. What are you sacrificing (that you should not be) ?  Is there an area of your life being neglected?
  2. What are you currently making sacrifices for (could be something good. could be something not so good)?  Are your “priorities” showing up in how you spend your time & resources?
  3. What should you be sacrificing for? Which areas need your attention?

Prayers for many PAX, as they face day to day grind of life, relationships with family, family members in poor health, marriages, kids, leaders of our great country, MASH as he recovers from knee surgery and Newman’s son. Praises for the PAX.  Iron Sharpens Iron isn’t just something that looks cool on a t-shirt!  Remember, for Iron to Sharpen Iron, it must be strong & tough. For you to sharpen another, you must be strong. Strong in your faith, strong in your actions.

As always, I am humbled to lead a group of such incredibly High Impact Men. I am already looking forward to the next opportunity! Aye!

Beacon

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