The Foundations of OBYB VOL
oundations
2 Old Vets and a Young(er) Buck
Back in 2020 I had retired from the Army and my family decided it was time for that move out of California that we had always wanted. After a few trips we decided that it was Idaho that we wanted to plant roots and raise our daughter on solid values that Idaho represents. We made out move to Star Idaho in late 2020 to a small house we were to rent until we found a house to buy. While we did our move in the middle of all the COVID scare we were certain that this was the right call. When we arrived and settled in we found out that every other family in the country had the same idea and found houses being built on top of houses and the population of Star exploding. That was ok…..I guess, what the hell do I know, I am an old retired fart that is mostly grumpy but still a loving father and husband.
So what do you need when you move into a new place? Internet of course! Must stay up with social media and the news, right? NO, it was not about getting in porn! Well, we called an internet company and low and behold this country looking fucker showed up and said, “Hi I’m Chris and I am with Sparklight” Me being the skeptical and cautious old dude though this is going to be quick and I can get back to my grumpy day. Well as Chris was installing, we started talking about me being a Vet and how Chris’s dad and uncle were also Vets from the Vietnam time frame. My wife is in the bedroom and told me later that it sounded like two buddies hanging out and was wondering if anything was getting done to get her internet up and running. AAs it turned out Chris would take Veterans out hunting and fishing as a way to thank them for their service and a way to honor his dad and uncle. He invited us to come over for Christmas dinner as we had nowhere to go and the house was yet to be unpacked with boxes everywhere. I have to admit I was a little reluctant to say yes but in the long run it was a good thing.
Along came Christmas day and with all the present opening done and the house looking like a disaster we headed out to Chris’s house. As we arrived at his place in Caldwell, I was surprised to see a large house sitting on numerous acres and thought this was an awesome place to hang out if Chris didn’t turn into a crazy person living out in Caldwell. We went to the door and meet Chris’s awesome wife, Tara and his two dogs. Later we got to meet the other family members, his two horses and one very cool donkey! As it turned out it was an awesome night with good food and drink. Chris invited me to go duck hunting with him and we talked more about what he wanted with his helping veterans’ endeavors. Chris is very committed to helping veterans and I could see that it ran deep in his veins, and I wanted to help. He said he had a vision of setting up a non-profit company that he could run that would go further in getting veterans out into nature hunting shit and teaching them the outdoors life. It was at that point that my little brain went into action, and I told him to give me a few days and I could help out with his quest. Little did I know that this would be a quest that we both would start, and we would drag in out now Secretary Brad who retired at the same time I did, but he lives in California, so he is kind of like that step brother that is being beaten by his mom (aka California). We always show him pity but believed he had a purpose in this being he is as concerned for veterans as we were.
I went home that night with several good thoughts on what to do, and over the next several days we formed the 501c non-profit Old Bones Young Blood Veterans Outdoor Life before any of knew anything about running a non-profit. I went from being a free retired Disabled Vet to having my plate full of shit so much that it was falling off the sides. I knew it was for a good reason and we had a great cause to do this. Oh, and even though this was more Chris’s idea that I helped push into the legally challenged world he decided I should be president because I was old and a Vet. Ok that’s true I guess but shit do I have to be the old man in the group. Chris set up a Facebook account for the group and it exploded. We did give away's of items like face shields, beanies and more on the page found it growing to over 630 members today from all over the U.S. I worked on a web page that looks like it was made by a 12-year-old….wait that’s a lie….a 12 year old would have done better, however we had roots on the internet now and I had my second claim to fame, not sure I had a first but sounds good. ….hahahaha.
So let me tell you about the first time Chris took me duck hunting. I met at Chris’s house was to fucking early!!, I think it was like 4 am and after only really talking and hanging with Chris a few times this seemed like a meeting to “get rid” of the California dude. It dark, I was tired, and we had guns that were taking out to the middle of nowhere! What would you envision? We loaded up Chris’s truck and off we went. Chris drove and I sat wondering what the fuck I was doing. As we drove down some sketchy roads, not really, but sounds good, we meet up with his buddy Robbie Ellison who would take us out to the lake. Well, I have to admit that during this whole time I had the song from Deliverance in my head as I only meet Chris once before and now, we are on a lake early in the morning with shotguns and I was the crazy Californian vet who moved into Idaho. Well, it all went well when I got my first duck and from that point on I was hooked. Needless to say that first duck was a 3 curl mallard that I never di get stuffed for my wall, but that’s another story…LoL.
Since those days back in 2021 we have moved forward with the group building up to 630+ members and have done some good work with and for Veterans. We hope to keep this going for a long time and look forward to meeting each and every one of the group’s members.
Take care all, stay safe and please reach out of you have questions on the group or need assistance.
No Go Away!