I have had the pleasure of knowing Vince Salomon for almost 4 years. We met just before his family moved to the Springfield area as he reached out to me to find out about the area before his family moved here. At that time I was leader of a local homeschool group which his family joined after their move to Springfield. Since then, Vince and I have worked together in several volunteer positions.
Vince and I have both been on the committee for American Heritage Girls, and Trail Life USA. I am treasurer for both groups, and leader of the younger group of boys in Trail Life. Vince started the Trail Life chapter and is the troopmaster and a leader of the older group of boys in Trail Life. He was most recently spiritual shepherd in AHG, leads the teen girls in their spiritual award program, and has previously been leader of the teen girls. While he is active in youth activities he also volunteers for adult events, for instance he is on the committee for a local healing conference for adults.
Vince is comfortable making presentations to a group and leading a group. In every volunteer position I have seen him in, he has talked to a large group of a variety of ages. Sometimes this is a group of kids, kids and their parents, or adults of all ages. He always appears comfortable and is clear in his delivery. For instance, he often gives spiritual talks to groups of children ages 5 to 16, and general information talks to these children and their parents. I have seen him a couple of times address a large adult audiences of about 150 people at conferences, thanking them for attending and asking for donations to enable future conferences.
I have worked closely with Vince in starting up a Trail Life USA chapter. Vince took the reins and handled all the tasks necessary to get this new opportunity for young men and boys established in the Springfield area. He handled recruiting, training, running board meetings, leading chapter meetings and he is excellent at applying what he learns from the national organization. Vince sometimes hesitates to ask people for what he needs them to do, but eventually he does ask them. He is very careful to look over the situation before asking people to do a job.
He also is good in working with the small group of boys in Trail Life. He gave the boys direction and makes sure the details are taken care of, but steps back and allows to boys to get the job done on their own. My boys really enjoy being under his leadership and are blossoming in their skills. Recently, the group built a bench out of tree branches and jute that could actually be used. Vince led the boys in completing this project by first practicing the basic techniques that would be required, then planning a design with them, and helping the boys cut the wood. Then Vince stepped back and let the boys build the bench. We used the bench by the campfire during that camping trip and it was surprisingly sturdy and comfortable
https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincesalomon/
