In 1971, I was elected president of our service club in high school – the Junior Jaycees. We had formed the club a year earlier when I was a junior. Like most schools, “service club” was code for “party club.” The only service projects actually being done was cleaning up after the parties!
There was a gang of us in high school who did not drink plus we actually wanted to do service projects. So we formed a new club with a major rule. You could not use alcohol or drugs – at any time or at any place. Students responded.
Service clubs were limited to 50 students. We quickly had 50 students. Also, we were the only club that had a long waiting list of students who wanted in. Our club was soon the “cool” group to be part of. Athletes, preppies, band members, smart students… we attracted all kinds. We even accepted some of the nerds! (I think that is how I got in.) The teachers and school administration respected us and appreciated our stance.
Our nickname was the wombats. Why? I have no idea. A wombat is a small Australian bear that we assumed was vicious… but I don’t think so. I saw one while in Australia a few years ago – not too impressed.
There were times we had to confront guys in our group… we even had to remove a few. But for the most part, all the guys enjoyed the accountability and appreciated being a part of a safe group of guys.
There was one thing that did make us like all the other clubs, we had initiation week. We would choose our allotted students… then we would… well, let’s just say that we made sure they earned the right to be a part of our group. The last night of initiation week was on Friday. There were various names for this night… none that I can share. We were out most of the night. It was usually more talk than action. We would cover the guys in a bunch of yucky, smelly, homemade stuff… make them do stupid things… made them do things for us… but other than that it was pretty mild. We soon got bored of the pranks and just sat around a fire-pit and laughed.
The night was over and we headed home. As I pulled up to my house (remember this was long before cell phones) my mother was waiting at the door. She said, “One of your guys is hurt and is at the hospital. You need to get over there.” I could tell she was worried.
As I arrived at the ER I saw a dad that I knew. He came up to me and asked what happened. I said, “I’m totally in the dark, but I will find out.” He told me that his son had 3rd degree burns on his back. My heart sunk and my mind raced.
I talked to some of the guys who were in the waiting room. They told me that a few of our guys had taken three of the pledges to the lake. They decided to have their own little initiation separate from the rest of the group. They poured some really smelly, homemade concoction on the students and then had them get into the lake to wash off. When one of the students hit the water, he began to scream. “My back is burning! My back is burning!!”
They rushed him to the hospital. The physician found that he had 3rd degree burns about the size of a grapefruit on his back. It was not good. He would later have plastic surgery and a skin graft to repair the area.
The dad said, “Don, I don’t blame you because you were not there.” I said, “But I am responsible because I am the leader of the group. I will find out who did this and what they did.”
I got our guys together who were at the scene. I asked them what happen. Everyone told the same story. It seemed that one of the guys brought some stuff from home, he poured it on this one particular pledge. We later found out that he didn’t like the pledge and had singled him out. “Do you know what you put into it?” I asked. “No.” he said. “Well let’s go to your house and you show me.” When we went to his house, he began pulling out all this stuff he had put together… then he pulled out one container that I couldn’t believe. “This is Drano! You put this in?” “Yes,” he said. I could not believe it! I don’t remember all the names I called him, but somewhere in that process I said, “Don’t you know that Drano is activated with water?” The original Drano was made up of small crystals. You would put the crystals into a clogged drain then add water to active the solution. The smell was horrible. When the pledge got into the lake, the water activated the Drano and began burning him. The more he washed it off, the more it burned.
An ill-conceived, stupid, practical joke gone very bad. No charges were brought by the parents. They were very forgiving towards the club and me. They realized it was a single student who perpetrated the attack on their son. The conversation that would take place would be between the two sets of parents.
But our High School principal was a different story. He held me responsible and pulled the charter of our club for a year. I could appreciate his position, but I did try to convince him he should not punish an entire group because of one individual. In reality he was probably trying to avoid a lawsuit. He did the right thing in order to protect the school.
Funny thing though… we were stubborn. We decided to continue as a club just not at school and not school sponsored. The principal agreed that he could not stop us. We continued to do community projects. That next spring, the unofficial Junior Jaycees Wombats received the “Service Club of the Year” award by the High School Student Council.
Just a few years ago, I got a phone call. It was the guy who had been burned. He kept up with me over the years through mutual friends. He was in Columbia on business and wanted to visit. We had a great time together. We laughed about High School. We talked about our friends. We talked about his faith. And we talked about that fateful initiation night. He had made a decision to let it motivate him, not defeat him. “Let me see your scar,” I said. He didn’t hesitate. He pulled up his shirt and there it was. It was still the size of a grapefruit. He had more plastic surgery procedures, but it would always be a big, ugly scar.
Funny ending… he works as a fire prevention consultant! And he loves his job. I laugh every time I think about it.
So what did I learn? I learned that when you are the leader… you are responsible. I feel this even more as pastor of Gateway. I know that one day I will stand before a Holy God and give an account of my role as leader of this wonderful church. That’s why I must make sure we are asking ourselves the right question… are we fulfilling God’s purpose and plans for Gateway? In the end, that is all that matters.
There was a gang of us in high school who did not drink plus we actually wanted to do service projects. So we formed a new club with a major rule. You could not use alcohol or drugs – at any time or at any place. Students responded.
Service clubs were limited to 50 students. We quickly had 50 students. Also, we were the only club that had a long waiting list of students who wanted in. Our club was soon the “cool” group to be part of. Athletes, preppies, band members, smart students… we attracted all kinds. We even accepted some of the nerds! (I think that is how I got in.) The teachers and school administration respected us and appreciated our stance.
Our nickname was the wombats. Why? I have no idea. A wombat is a small Australian bear that we assumed was vicious… but I don’t think so. I saw one while in Australia a few years ago – not too impressed.
There were times we had to confront guys in our group… we even had to remove a few. But for the most part, all the guys enjoyed the accountability and appreciated being a part of a safe group of guys.
There was one thing that did make us like all the other clubs, we had initiation week. We would choose our allotted students… then we would… well, let’s just say that we made sure they earned the right to be a part of our group. The last night of initiation week was on Friday. There were various names for this night… none that I can share. We were out most of the night. It was usually more talk than action. We would cover the guys in a bunch of yucky, smelly, homemade stuff… make them do stupid things… made them do things for us… but other than that it was pretty mild. We soon got bored of the pranks and just sat around a fire-pit and laughed.
The night was over and we headed home. As I pulled up to my house (remember this was long before cell phones) my mother was waiting at the door. She said, “One of your guys is hurt and is at the hospital. You need to get over there.” I could tell she was worried.
As I arrived at the ER I saw a dad that I knew. He came up to me and asked what happened. I said, “I’m totally in the dark, but I will find out.” He told me that his son had 3rd degree burns on his back. My heart sunk and my mind raced.
I talked to some of the guys who were in the waiting room. They told me that a few of our guys had taken three of the pledges to the lake. They decided to have their own little initiation separate from the rest of the group. They poured some really smelly, homemade concoction on the students and then had them get into the lake to wash off. When one of the students hit the water, he began to scream. “My back is burning! My back is burning!!”
They rushed him to the hospital. The physician found that he had 3rd degree burns about the size of a grapefruit on his back. It was not good. He would later have plastic surgery and a skin graft to repair the area.
The dad said, “Don, I don’t blame you because you were not there.” I said, “But I am responsible because I am the leader of the group. I will find out who did this and what they did.”
I got our guys together who were at the scene. I asked them what happen. Everyone told the same story. It seemed that one of the guys brought some stuff from home, he poured it on this one particular pledge. We later found out that he didn’t like the pledge and had singled him out. “Do you know what you put into it?” I asked. “No.” he said. “Well let’s go to your house and you show me.” When we went to his house, he began pulling out all this stuff he had put together… then he pulled out one container that I couldn’t believe. “This is Drano! You put this in?” “Yes,” he said. I could not believe it! I don’t remember all the names I called him, but somewhere in that process I said, “Don’t you know that Drano is activated with water?” The original Drano was made up of small crystals. You would put the crystals into a clogged drain then add water to active the solution. The smell was horrible. When the pledge got into the lake, the water activated the Drano and began burning him. The more he washed it off, the more it burned.
An ill-conceived, stupid, practical joke gone very bad. No charges were brought by the parents. They were very forgiving towards the club and me. They realized it was a single student who perpetrated the attack on their son. The conversation that would take place would be between the two sets of parents.
But our High School principal was a different story. He held me responsible and pulled the charter of our club for a year. I could appreciate his position, but I did try to convince him he should not punish an entire group because of one individual. In reality he was probably trying to avoid a lawsuit. He did the right thing in order to protect the school.
Funny thing though… we were stubborn. We decided to continue as a club just not at school and not school sponsored. The principal agreed that he could not stop us. We continued to do community projects. That next spring, the unofficial Junior Jaycees Wombats received the “Service Club of the Year” award by the High School Student Council.
Just a few years ago, I got a phone call. It was the guy who had been burned. He kept up with me over the years through mutual friends. He was in Columbia on business and wanted to visit. We had a great time together. We laughed about High School. We talked about our friends. We talked about his faith. And we talked about that fateful initiation night. He had made a decision to let it motivate him, not defeat him. “Let me see your scar,” I said. He didn’t hesitate. He pulled up his shirt and there it was. It was still the size of a grapefruit. He had more plastic surgery procedures, but it would always be a big, ugly scar.
Funny ending… he works as a fire prevention consultant! And he loves his job. I laugh every time I think about it.
So what did I learn? I learned that when you are the leader… you are responsible. I feel this even more as pastor of Gateway. I know that one day I will stand before a Holy God and give an account of my role as leader of this wonderful church. That’s why I must make sure we are asking ourselves the right question… are we fulfilling God’s purpose and plans for Gateway? In the end, that is all that matters.
