Submitted by Lloyd Brown, Post 0032 Commander
The Dillon American Legion, Post 0032 had invited the boys who had participated in the Palmetto Boys State program last June, from Dillon High School, Dillon Christian School, and Latta High School along with their parents and school Counselors to a dinner at the American Legion Post which was held on Thursday, February 01, 2018.
The dinner was held to honor the young men who had been selected to attend the Palmetto Boys State program, which was held on the Campus of Anderson University in Anderson, South Carolina.
This program is considered to be one of the best of its kind for helping young men become more aware of the functions of our government while developing leadership skills and building self confidence in those who attend. The emphasis of the program for the week was on Patriotism, Duty, Honor, God and Country. It also serves to educate the Citizen about the price of freedom and the sacrifice that the men and women of our armed forces have made.
The young men were selected by a committee from the Dillon, American legion Post 0032. The committee judged the participants on how well they recited the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag and how accurately they answered 10 questions each on our local, state and federal government.
During the week these young men were at Anderson University they got to meet a lot of new friends and learn about our governmental system. They had the opportunity to run for and get elected to offices in a mock government from local to state government levels. They soon found out that running for any public office is a lot of hard work, and most of these young men stated that they had no desire to run for any office.
After the dinner these young men got to tell the members of the American Legion, the Ladies Auxiliary, their parents and the Dillon Christian School Counselor, Kimberly Rice and Dillon High School Counselor, Chris Ray about their week at Anderson University and answer questions from the audience.
Most of them expressed concern about being away from home for the first time and if they would fit in with boys they had never met before. Out of those new meetings were forged new friendships that will last a long time. Most of the boys stated that they got very little sleep from working on their run for a public office at night and just staying up late talking with their new friends.
All of them considered this to be one of the best weeks they could remember and are really please that they made the decision to participate in the Palmetto Boys State program. Lloyd Brown, the Post Commander of Dillon, American Legion’s Boys State Committee presented each of the boys with a Certificate of Appreciation for their participation in the Citizenship Training Program at Anderson University which is sponsored by The American Legion.
