The Evan Childs American Legion Post No. 87 in White Salmon commemorated Veterans Day at The Mt. Adams Elks Lodge with a dinner and a presentation, where they heard speeches by two young adults who recently attended Boys State in Oregon.
Boys State, for the unfamiliar, is an American Legion-sponsored week-long camp that teaches young men how their local and state governments work. According to their website, “at Boys State, participants learn the rights, privileges and responsibilities of franchised citizens. The training is objective and centers on the structure of city, county and state governments. Operated by students elected to various offices, Boys State activities include legislative sessions, court proceedings, law-enforcement presentations, assemblies, bands, choruses and recreational programs.”
Liam Furey
Camden Uffelman
Two young men, Liam Furey and Camden Uffelman, both seniors at Columbia High School, recently attended Boys State in Oregon. Furey and Uffelman shared their experiences with the local Legionnaires.
Furey said politics has fascinated him throughout his life, and the divisiveness in politics at the national level inspired him to give Boys State a try. There he met many young people who think very differently from one another and with different backgrounds. “Despite all these differences ... we were able to all talk to each other, to discourse, and there wasn’t really any fight. It was civil discourse.”
The best thing he learned at Boys State, he said, was that “despite how much the internet may tell us, and how much media may tell us that we cannot talk to each other, we absolutely can. America is still the free, wonderful place and boiling pot of ideologies and ideas, like it once was.”
Uffelman said his teacher Steve Larsen motivated him to attend. Boys State and Girls State were merged this year, which he said contributed to a variety of viewpoints amid mock policy discussions.
He said his favorite part about attending Boys State was that people, despite their differences, were all working towards a common goal.
“I also learned a lot about how my country works, and just how lucky were are,” he said.
Each day they learned about different facets of government and tackled major issues, such as homelessness.
Furey said a bill he wrote was sponsored by the Oregon Boys State to go to the actual House of Representatives for consideration, which they later killed in favor of a legislative amendment that would guarantee medical rights.
Furey hopes to attend Washington State University in the fall to major in Political Science and later go to law school. Uffelman said he is filing applications for the U.S. Air Force Academy.
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