Story 46 - Chip, Johnny and Mark
At the heart of NHRI is the relationships created between counselors and their counselees, now called mentors and their mentees. It’s the people you’re with and the friendships that are made that stand the test of time. Johnny Schrunk and his counselors, Chip Winter and Mark Davidson, would all consider each other to be a difference maker in each other’s lives.
Memories from Chip Winter…
Johnny Schrunk and I started the Lakeview project when he was in the second grade and I was a sophomore at UNL. I believe it was Shelly Cannon Stansbury who encouraged me to look into "Foundations." One of the things I first remember about Johnny was when we were supposed to make a poster. We were trying to map it out and what we were writing was not going to fit. But then Johnny suggested "We could use lowercase letters," a phrase I hadn't heard since I, myself, was in second grade.
His family, especially his parents John and Bunny, was so very welcoming. We usually teamed up with Betsy Simmons and later Suzanne Wilder, with Johnny's classmate, Jennifer Klein .
Along with fond memories of our regular evening meetings as counselors (rotating from house to house), and the counselors' retreat we had at Greg Mueller's mom's condominium off of Capital Beach, I remember when we took the entire crew, counselees and counselors, to West Point, Nebraska. My folks hosted the lot, and it was a great time since we also had use of the church's gym and a pretty spacious parsonage (my dad was a pastor there).
Years had passed when somehow Johnny and I got reconnected through social media (Facebook and Instagram). It's been great to share reels (often water skiing, since that's what Johnny and his parents grew up doing and his family still does to this day), to see his business take off, and occasionally chat. When his wife Sarah's biological father passed away, we had a chance to share comfort and encouragement (I, too, am a pastor).
Earlier this summer a woman tried to get in touch with me via Facebook and phone. Her husband was rehabbing a house in South County, St. Louis, and he had run across some boxes in the attic that the homeowner didn't recognize. They opened them and found things that led them to contact me. They were items of mine which I had forgotten to move when we left that home 32 years ago! Among the memorabilia was the school picture Johnny had given me.
Johnny is now at that age when his daughter has invited him to parents' weekend at Mizzou. I would like to say how much I treasure my relationship with Johnny as well as all that was shared with me through Ag. Communications 399, Dr. Galen Dodge, Margaret Bauerle, and the wonderful co-counselors of Lakeview Project.
Johnny’s next mentor became Mark Davidson. In the March 1997 Projections newsletter, Mark shares his memory of his first Lakeview overnight retreat with Johnny. The retreat was at Mark's parent's house in Crete. Mark was the recipient of the 1987 Stuart Award recipient.
“It was one of our best retreats because it brought everything together in our relationship. For one thing, that night I clearly saw one of Johnny’s greatest strengths: that he thought carefully about what he wanted to say before he spoke.”
Memories from Johnny Schrunk …
NHRI! Where do I even start? Now that I’m older and have thought about it from several different perspectives, I have my experiences from Lakeview and those from my adulthood. They are similar yet different. When I was in the Lakeview Project, I was very young, and didn’t fully understand what NHRI was or even what it stood for. I only knew who Chip was. I remember my dad introducing me to him as I was crawling out of our boat that was parked in the driveway. I was hiding inside because I was always shy and didn’t say much. I didn’t know why he was there or what the plan was but trusted my dad. It didn’t take long to realize that everything Chip was doing, and everything he was talking about was positive. I was an introvert, and it was challenging, especially at a young age, to come out of my shell. I was young, so counselors would probably have clearer memories, but I can tell you firsthand, even though I didn’t know fully what was going on, I knew the retreats and all the time spent were a good thing.
As a young kid, that’s cool. The retreats were both challenging and interesting to me. Unlike other times in our lives, where things can be difficult. These situations were not. I think for me, the difference in being challenged to communicate vs. being stressed was significant. What I remember most is talking not only to Chip but also Dr. Dodge. My memories of the 501 building and playing with “hot buttons” are story lines today. I reference these memories and what I learned frequently to my family, as well as in my businesses. I use them as learning tools and objectives to help others find their strengths. I remember Priceless People which I still have to this day. I used this for many school projects and papers throughout the years and in college. I have also used it for developing presentations for business meetings. These are the basic memories; and I find myself, not only talking about them, but putting them to work to help others. And I find myself, thinking about them and using them to work on myself. To also live by what I share with others. Jan, Dodge and the crew…always laughing, smiling, joking…but working on something bigger than all of us. I started to figure things out I would say in Junior High/High School. I was in a unique situation as aforementioned by Chip, to be partnered up with Mark Davidson when Chip left for school. I remember being bummed out about Chip leaving but he introduced Mark and right away we hit it off. He’d pick me up from school and we’d listen to music, talk, go water skiing, play football, eat TCBY yogurt and of course hit all the retreats. Fast forward, we spent a great deal of time together; I ended up in the same fraternity as Mark and he was a groomsman in my wedding; we also engaged in some businesses together and frequently traveled to sales/marketing conferences and mastermind groups. All of which centered around personal and professional development, which is still the focal point of everything I do today, and what I share with my kids. How do we become better versions of ourselves and how can we help others. I think about NHRI daily, and how it’s helped me through challenging times. It’s becoming even more concentrated the older I get. We live in a world where communication has become heavily weighted in the digital world. The value is even greater now. People can be surprised when you want to talk and listen, and help. I know how NHRI has helped me and will be principles I live by forever. I think there are big things in its future and for everyone involved. As the world changes, these will become invaluable and the light will shine even brighter on all the wonderful people involved in NHRI.
One last thought I’d like to share on a personal note. My dad has Alzheimer’s now and it’s been a rough year for me personally. However, just the other day we were talking; sometimes he forgets what he was going to say, which we all do … but out of the blue, he just smiled and said, “hey Johnny, remember Dr. Dodge?”… I said yep dad, sure do! He said “man, what a great guy and group of people”.
