Sharing our Experiences
The following page is a place for Men to share their experiences. Lalo Vargas, our Mentor Coordinator shares his experience staffing a Boys-to-Men initiation weekend in Minnesota. In addition, Bill Takacs shares his profound experience with his brothers and staffing in San Diego.
What a powerful Boys to men weekend I had. I went to be a witness of a loving Minnesota community and 14 boys getting free of shame, rage, lies, pain...I was part of a new environment, where my challenge was to be present as a man, to open myself to those men and boys, to grow and to learn. After staffing Boys to men-Minnesota, I realize how much I can help boys in our community and also how much I can understand and heal my own wounds by being in their lives. I want Boys to men weekends to happen in Arizona; It works! Let's invite our brothers to be open for this new challenge...The weekend design is awesome and for me it is a privilege to have the chance to be a real man for some boy who at this time needs to hear that he is not alone. Thank you brothers for your support and encouragement.
With love & hope,
Lalo Vargas (Courageous Tiger)
My experience in San Diego was just as powerful. I drove my brothers Max and Matt through the night to the San Diego site. Max was my navigator as we wound the roads to the mountain where all this began. We slept in the van after arriving in the night. Upon sunrise Max and I awoke to a view so incredible I had step into the cold morning air to be blessed by the awesome beauty. Max called the view of low swirling clouds in the valley below Solarus. I began viewing the site and was embraced by Craig McClain, one of the leaders of the Boys to Men Organization. I was also meet by Charlie Borden, the Minnesota Coordinator of Boys to Men, and was happy to share our joy with Lalo's experience in Minnesota. The magic that I felt in this, the starting place of Boys to Men, came from many places. It came from the basic enviroment of nature and it came from the men. There was an engraved monument/bench that had been created for Herb Sigurdson, the true founder of Boys to Men and Father of Joe Sigurdson, who was now a Co-leader with Craig McClain. The vision that Herb began was here and powerfully alive. It was alive in all the men that were preparing for the next set of boys. It was also brought by intiated boys from Minnesota that had been chosen to participate as guides along with initiated San Diego boys. Just as initiated Men are asked to staff, so are initiated boys asked to staff Boys to Men weekends. I could not believe the energy and support these initiated boys had for the boys that were experiencing the weekend for the first time. They were as much a part of the experience that was being created as the mentors and staff men. I saw Matt, Max, and myself open ourselves to boys carpet work, learn about the imagination that created the processes, and take in the gold of all that Boys to Men creates during the weekend. The return drive home stirred my heart hearing Matt and Max talk about the power of Arizona and the vision that is possible to create. I look forward to the power of Arizona men being brought together as the Boys to Men weekend is created in the year ahead.
I bless you men of Arizona that share the energy of the Boys to Men vision and goals.-Bill Takacs (Father Wolf Spider)
If you have a Boys-to-Men experience that you would like to share, please contact Joel McCormick: jmccormick@cox.net
