Cherish The Past, Embrace The Future

After 40 years of having a separate Boys and Girls Club, Lawrence County now has a new consolidated organization, The Boys and Girls Club of Lawrence County.  The old clubs had tremendous histories.  The BNL boy’s baseball team that went to the state finals in 1975 and 1977 was made up almost exclusively of boys that played at the Thornton Memorial Boys Club. As a member of those teams, I know mine and my team mate’s club experiences helped us gain that level of state-wide success.  The BNL girl’s 1983 state championship team was made up almost exclusively of girls that played at the Limestone Girls Club. I was fortunate to have been given the opportunity to referee a lot of their games at the club and to watch them develop and win a state championship is still one of the highlights of my life. I watched both my daughters start playing basketball at age 5, at the club, and coached their last game as 18 year olds in senior league softball. I cherish the past and the memories will live forever in my heart.  But, as they say, the only constant is change and now we are in the midst of great change.  Change can sometimes be difficult and painful, but with change comes the great opportunity to make things better. With this change, maybe we can fulfill the mission of the boys and girls club: To enable all young people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens.