THE WHETSTONE LAUNCH
Date: Tuesday 8/9/22
Weather: 62 degrees, low humidity, clear skies, perfect weather for disrupting the status quo!
40 PAX: Obi-Wan, EA, Patton (Respect), Big Unit, Lucky Charms, Tater Tot, Muffs, The Plague, Tea Party, Kryptonite, Fine Print, Ozark (respect), Ditty, Boji, Lemu (respect), Old Spice, Bunny Slope, Doubtfire, DaKine, Skidz, Speed Square, Bayside, Vandelay (respect), Gator, Escobar, Buttons, Sweet Sweet, Pit Stop, Hard Hat, Khakis (respect), Armando, Rowdy, Farva, Barbershop, Wait Time (respect), Schnitzel, Steeple, Hei Hei, Chiclets (respect), T-ball
Q: T-Ball
40 PAX arrived to hear the official welcome and launch of our newest AO, The Whetstone. This will be serving additionally as a West Omaha Q source site. YHC welcomed all attending, as well as stating our F3 Core principles, Mission statement, Motto, and Credo. No new FNGs.
Warm-o-rama: In a nod of honor to Khakis, 5 SSH IC were performed in the parking lot, thereby concluding Warm-o-rama.
Pre-Thang: PAX were circled up and we counted off into 3 groups for a coupon chain run from Elkhorn Ridge Middle School down east to Pacific Springs Park. Each group carried a single coupon with the 6 of each group running to the front to take the coupon (supposed to, wasn’t explained well by YHC, so some studs in each group did most of the labor) and continuing this until we reached station 3 located on the east portion of Pacific Springs park. Groups were then instructed to split up to 3 separate stations for the Thang.
The Thang: 3 stations were positioned throughout the park. The first station was located on the far west portion of the park at the soccer field. The second station was in a grove of trees midway through the park with a nice hill for some Bernie Sanders action, and station 3 in the field on the far east end of the park. Each group exercised at their respective station 2nd F style for some great mumble chatter until pushed by YHC to proceed to the next station (appx 8 minutes/station). Exercises for each station listed below:
Station 1: 1 PAX performed Murder Bunnies from group to a cone appx 40’ away and back while group performed first exercise. Switched exercises once PAX switched out
- Burpees, Merkins, Heels to Heaven, Sumo Squats, Carolina Dry Docks, LBCs, Werkins, Alternating Lunges, R&R until station switch
Station 2: 1 PAX performed Bernie Sanders up the hill and crab walked down the hill
- Squat Jumps, Flutter Kicks, Mountain Climbers, SSH, Monkey Humpers, WWI Big Boys, Box Cutters, Bobby Hurleys, R&R until station switch
Station 3: 1 PAX performed 7 blockees, then switched exercises and PAX
- Bonnie Blairs, Big Boys, Apollo Onos, Gator Spears (aka Robin Venturas, aka Nolan Ryans), Knerkins, Heel Touches, Air Squats, Alligator Merkins, R&R until station switch
The PAX in attendance crushed these stations until Omaha was called at 5:45am to allow time to do another coupon run with respective groups back to the shovel flags. 6 MOM was performed with 40American Hammers, Rancid style.
Prayers/Announcements:
Q Source immediately to follow at Pac Springs for burritos from Grease Fire/coffee/water and discussion regarding Disruption (F1)
The Canyon Shovel Flag pass this Saturday
2 Club Conundrum will be happening Saturday Aug 27th at Milts. Details on Slack
Custom mud gear orders available for several AOs, due to expire here in next couple of days
Next Monday, will be formal launch at Boundary Line (Aspen Creek Elementary-Smurph/Murph site), led by Speed Square
Shovel flag pass at the Maize from Barn Door to Obi-Wan next Thursday 8/18
Prayers for Vandelay’s wife who is having eye surgery this am and prayers for Patton’s friend Christian who is recovering from battle with cancer.
Circle of Trust:
Thank you all for coming out to the launch of The Whetstone! I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am for the opportunity to help grow this site and provide yet another opportunity for men of our community who are in F3, as well as those who haven’t experienced this life changing group yet. A special thank you and T-claps need to go to Gator and The Plague! You men have served as the definition of what a true HIM looks like. You have provided me and many others with wisdom, counsel, and were instrumental in getting this site off the ground as well as providing the spark to get this Q source site started for West Omaha, so thank you!
Many of you know what the Q source is, but I personally had not been through more than 2 discussions at coffee about this prior to putting the plans together to form this site. I’m sure there are several of you out there in the same boat as me, or who just started F3 who are working mostly on the first F right now. The Q source is a combination of resources started by the founders of F3 to help us learn and master the art and practice of leadership. As stated in the F3 Q source site, “leadership is a skill that a person must learn and master during their lifetime rather than an attribute of their character with which they are born. As a skill, it is like learning to play the piano.” It continues, “Because it is a skill, a person must commit to learning to lead in the same way that they would learn to play the piano. The degree to which they will ultimately master it will depend both upon their natural ability and their willingness to practice. The decision to become an effective leader is volitional. No one else can make it for you.”
With the launch of this site, and the naming of the Whetstone, this refers to the stone that is used to sharpen knives. As stated in Q1.8, the man and knife are made to cut, but neither is effective until properly honed. As knives are sharpened by Whetstone, so should a man’s leadership, curiosity, fitness, and other areas of our lives. With this site serving as a Q source, we hope to incorporate more than just the first F and give many HIM opportunities to sharpen themselves.
With any new site launch, the first HIM to hold the flag is just that. The start of hopefully a long line of leaders and HIM to come who can impact our community by serving as a model of physical fitness, impacting our neighborhoods, boardrooms/workplaces, and society with our leadership. I am honored and humbled to be one in an extensive line of amazing HIM who have built F3 into what it has become here in Omaha. While I haven’t traveled to many F3 sites across the country, I cannot imagine many more who are as strong as this city has become. I hope we can all use this platform to encourage more men to join this important mission. I genuinely believe that the success and happiness of our families, communities, and country depends on exactly what we are doing every morning in the gloom. EH as many as you can to spread this positive impact. It does not mean you need to complete a murph challenge. It may not take the form of you running a 5 min mile. It is seeing you here, pushing yourselves to be a better version of yourself. To continue to accelerate. To never be satisfied with where you are at, but to continue the journey to daily improvement, despite our setbacks. Thanks for the great honor of allowing me to lead and I appreciate each of you!
The new Whetstone shovel flag was presented to YHC by Tator Tot, which is another beautiful piece of art by Folsom! It also has a real Whetstone embedded into the handle, so it officially takes the prize for best flag in F3 Omaha—way to crush it Folsom! Thanks brother!
YHC,
T-Ball