Article published Wednesday, August 5, 2009 2 students at Boys Nation in Washington H.S. seniors were delegates representing Ohio By JENNIFER FEEHAN BLADE STAFF WRITER
As two of 1,200 or so high school juniors at Buckeye Boys State this summer, Tyler Carson and Jonathan Elder never met during the week-long mock government program at Bowling Green State University.
A month later, the two Wood County 17-year-olds' paths crossed when they boarded a plane for Washington to represent Ohio as delegates to Boys Nation.
"Before I went to Boys State, I didn't even know there was a Boys Nation," said Jonathan, who will be a senior at Perrysburg High School this fall. "I heard about it and found out two people would be going and I remember thinking that would be very cool."
Tyler, a senior at Otsego High School, also applied, and for the first time ever Ohio's two delegates were both Wood County boys.
Mid-week, at the inauguration of the Boys Nation president, they met another Wood County "boy," Alan Lance, a federal appeals court judge who presided over the inauguration. Mr. Lance grew up near Custar and served as the national American Legion commander in 1999.
"He took John and me aside and told us about being from Ohio," Tyler said. "I live in Tontogany, and his brother-in-law lives in Tontogany."
Jonathan, a self-desribed political junkie, said he loved the week in the nation's capitol.
"Boys State was more about the functions of government like the governor can do this and state government has this responsibility, and it was really campaign-intensive whereas at Boys Nation it was more politics," he said. "We did more with parties and people's feelings came out. On the Senate floor, we were debating topics current today. It was definitely more politically charged."
As Ohio's two senators, Tyler was assigned to the Federalist party, Jonathan to the Nationalist party. The boys said the mock parties didn't exactly mirror the Republican and Democrat parties.
"We decide on our own party platform. We get to make it up," Tyler said, adding that the Federalists were "definitely more right-leaning."
Jonathan said the same.
"The vast majority of boys at Boys Nation were conservative with a handful of liberals and quite a few moderates," he said. "The party platforms usually lined up a little more with the Republicans, but there were defintely some curve balls on both sides with social issues."
Each state, with the exception of Hawaii, sends two delegates to Boys Nation, which is held each July at Marymount University in Arlington, Va. The week's schedule includes trips to national monuments and memorials, to Arlington Cemetery, to the Smithsonian American History Museum, the state department, the Supreme Court, Capitol Hill, and the White House.
Tyler and Jonathan met with U.S. Sen. George Voinovich (R., Ohio) and U.S. Rep. Bob Latta (R., Bowling Green). They did not get to meet - or even catch a glimpse of - President Obama.
Tyler said President George W. Bush had met with seven of the eight previous Boys Nation groups, and President Clinton, himself a Boys Nation alumnus, also was faithful about meeting the boys.
"That was probably the biggest disappointment," he said. "I was looking forward to seeing him. Everyone was."
Jonathan, who is captain of the varsity swim team at Perrysburg and active with Boy Scouts, said the events of the day they visited the White House made up for not seeing the President.
"That was the same day we went to Capitol Hill," he said. "We put all our energy into exploring Capitol Hill. It was a great experience that day. Looking back, I have no regrets. It was an awesome experience."
Tyler, who is senior class president at Otsego and involved in drama, music, baseball, and golf, said he enjoyed meeting his peers from across the country.
"Everyone was very, very knowledgable in politics and government," he said. "Everyone was a great speaker and great writer. The quality of delegates at Boys Nation is just so high."
Contact Jennifer Feehan at: jfeehan@theblade.com or 419-724-6129. Permanent Link
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