Wisconsin School of the Air; Afield with Ranger Mac; Dedication

Lakeland McNeil veteran St. 4-H Club leader and known to many as Ranger Mack believes in fall rates. But let him speak for him south consigning giant club wake Jan. 5 to 12. Two young leaders and listeners particularly there is an old Indian saying which goes like this. Never judge another Indian until you have walked in his moccasins for the light of a moon. Which means of moon or of money. It is well for us to work with you to put ourselves in the shoes of you before advising them what they should be or do. I'm trying to do this in this brief talk with you. I am trying to picture myself a boy today in company with an adult a leader who has traveled farther along the path of life who is saying to me you should be in trouble. I can imagine that boy looking at that adult with a querulous eye and saying

I don't like that word. Work from the vantage point of age I might hope this adult would repeat to that youth and Indian prayer over the Great Spirit. As I close my eyes in slumber tonight. Tell me have I done enough to earn the right to live tomorrow. A couple of months ago I visited a group of boys attending the university. Each one of whom was earning his way by working through the University earning his right to the opportunity to get an education. Each one of these boys had been a club member or a member of the Future Farmers of America in his home community. Each one had caught the gleam. Whether he was conscious of it or not that the gift of life imposed on him the obligation to earn his right to that gift.

You are not too young to catch this same dream. That group of boys was a happy lot. Each one happy as anyone could be who knows he is doing his part and one cannot be truly happy unless he knows that. Believe me in this work will help you to catch that dream and to follow it. It will help you to make friends and to be one to be useful to your home to your friends to society and to yourself and the useful and the beautiful and happiness are never separated. Earn your right to live. If that adult had spoken to me in this manner when I was a by your I should have responded. You bet.

Count me in. I had never thought about club work in that way because now is the time for you to decide for yourself whether or not you will join this happy throng of club members in 1957 at this happy throng of useful young peoples scattered all over our nation. See your local leader or your county agent or one of your own friends who is a club member. I hope you will. It is a great adventure into real living and happiness for the youth of our land. The story is told about one of our Western towns wanting to improve its water supply pipes were laid into springs that came fresh

clean from the field. This water flowed by gravity into the homes of the village. But after the season the housewives began to complain about the water that it was dirty with bits of twigs and leaves that found their way into the pipeline. So all the town officials hired a man to keep the springs clean of leaves and debris. He was a quiet man and a few and only a few people knew him by name but he was performing a great service keeping the springs clean. All of this occurred during the First World War. You are not old enough to know but a depression followed shortly after that war. When that depression came the town officials laid off the Watcher of the spring in order to cut expenses. But soon the mothers again complained about the bits of twigs and leaves in

the water that reached the homes and the watcher of the springs was again basically sought out and returned to his own time. In a short time the villagers knew that the Watcher was back at the Springs again. Ranger Mack is telling this story because he feels just as any older person should feel. That you young people are learning to be watchers of the spring. These springs are our natural resources though saw out of the trees and the wildlife upon these things our happiness in fact our our existence depends in our rambles over the air. It is Ranger Max hope you will catch the idea that even now and more so as you grow older you are the watcher of the spring. When Christ prodded the pavement sod of this earth there were about fifty million people about the

population of France today. Now there are over two Gideons 400 times as many. Over half the people of the world are in hunger or in need. And if we had plenty of good land for people to take up after they had exhausted the old plenty of new forests to go to to get the needed materials after the forest near its hand had been cut the need for watchers of the springs would not be so great. But we cannot do that anymore. We must learn to guard that which we have. You are the watchers of the spring. This is a point that Ranger Mack would not allow his trail hitters to forget the need for watchers of the sprains Guardians of the heritage and he taught that for every need there is a way to satisfy that need. He once expressed it like this.

Have you ever thought how kind the Great Architect of the universe was to this earth when he placed it just where he did among the planets in the family of the sun. When you studied geography you musta thought about that the Earth is far enough away from the sun so that the sun warms it just enough and not too much if the earth were much farther away. This planet would be frozen all the time and if it were much closer things would burn up. You have thought about that I am sure. Then when it comes to the creatures of this earth they too were made just right to fit into the great plan and to meet the business of living the rabbit with hardly any tail at all couldn't get along with the tail of a squirrel. He comes close to sitting on his rump when he hops and such a tail would that would soon bog down with snow and get filled with

hitchhiking seeds as he traveled through the weeds. We had jizz and underbrush. The woodpecker couldn't perform its tasks of excavating grubs from a tree with the curved bill of a shrike or if he had the tail of a brown thrasher he would be unable to support himself while hammering his way to the grub or in digging out a cavity in a tree for his home where there's a need there's a way. We human creatures of the earth also a part of that great plan are equipped with ways to meet our needs too. It's natural that all human beings as they travel along the trail should come now and then to cross roads where a good companion turns off. To help them meet the need that arises at such a time. Nature has provided a way. When a companion turns off at a crossroads. We continue along the trail with the memory of his teachings his friendship his strength

and that memory continues to help us. Just as the companion did when he was at our side. Through 21 years a whole generation Ranger MCAS touched the hearts and minds of thousands. And his words have been recorded in their memories just as Ranger mag encouraged the planting of school forests which assure Wisconsin a heritage of trees. So he has planted the seeds of devotion to nature's beauties and pleasures and assured us the heritage of watchers of the springs. I found evidence that this heritage really exists. I found this evidence in our files of letters here already or letters written to render Mike. I'm going to ask most Arlene bicolor the associate director of the school over there to read from some of those letters now. This letter came from a teacher an expression of appreciation to Ranger Mack for all he has meant to her these many years.

Here's what this teacher room. During gym act. I don't believe I should have continued teaching all these years without your help. The broadcast had been a weekly spark of information and inspiration to open up new avenues of teaching and learning experience and contacts with parents who lived through the joy of new concepts of nature's grand jury and the opportunities for pupils. I could go on and on. I hadn't even used your vision and inspiration in dealing with the Sunday school class. I found I could teach the majesty of God with a magnifying glass. I am trying to give you an idea of what you have done to one life. Multiply that by thousands and I am sure the Great Spirit will put an additional sunshine into your heart. And here's a letter from a trailhead whose mother this mother wrote about something her grown up son had one thread about Ranger Mack. Here's part of her

letter. When my son wrote me about the meeting one thing he mentioned was a picture thrown on the screen showing Ranger Mack with children of different nationalities gathered about him commenting on it he said. You don't know Mom how much that man means to me. I think that if I were ever tempted to do something wrong and his face came to my mind I'd have to do what I knew to be right.