Above, Cadets Ben Smith and Harry Donahue. At left, Cadet Katie Starr. Read BHP's earlier story about our Brentwood cadets by clicking here.

With so many friends taking kids back to college or dropping them off for the first time in the past few weeks, I thought it would be a great time to check back in with our three Brentwood teens among the U.S. Military Academy’s Class of 2015.

Earlier this summer while most of our college-age kids were lounging around, Harry Donahue, Ben Smith and Katie Starr were taking part in the infamous “Beast” training at West Point. All incoming cadets at West Point must complete Beast in order to take part in A Day – Acceptance Day – parade and ceremony where they are officially accepted into the Corps of Cadets.

Susan Smith, Ben’s mom, tells me all three made it through. She also shares that there are THREE Ben Smiths at the academy.

And here’s some news that Kevin Keidel and his staff at Brentwood High School will love to hear: “Ben finished his first academic week last week and I cannot say enough about the Brentwood schools and how well prepared he is!,” his mom shared.

Ben and Katie are BHS grads, while Harry graduated from RHS. No doubt he is just as prepared.

Katie is pulling double duty at the academy. She’s a cadet and a goalkeeper of the women’s soccer team. She traveled with the team to North Carolina earlier this month when Army played Duke (0-2 loss) and Appalachian State (1-0 win).

Congratulations to all three for surviving “Beast.” Better them than me, I say. Our country is in good hands.

Make it a Good Day!
The late Dr. J. Howard Olds inspired lots of people who never stepped foot in Brentwood United Methodist Church and his earlier pastoral appointments in Kentucky. In fact, many of those he inspired never even met the larger-than-life minister in person. They got to “know” him through his 30-second Faith Breaks heard on local radio stations as they commuted to work.

Now those Faith Breaks can be heard and read again. His widow Sandy has created a website, www.faithbreaks.org with links to the audio. She has also recently republished Faith Breaks: Thoughts on Making it a Good Day (WordStream Publishing, LLC, $14.95) that can be purchased online from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

With chapters on such topics as perseverance, life lessons, relationships, success and work, wisdom and prudence, and faith, hope and joy among many others, I think most of us would do well to take a little “Break” and tune in or take in the messages again or for the first time.

Raffle update
My new best friend Phocian Sampson emailed that he and his other best friends from Church of the Advent will be selling tickets for a chance to win a new Honda Fit, iPad or $250 cash at Brentwood’s Harris Teeter on Saturday, Sept. 17 – the day before the drawing. Tickets are only $50 each and only 1000 are being sold.

Of course, as I mentioned in BrentWord earlier this week, I’m sure I have already purchased the winning ticket for the car, but an iPad or cash would be a nice prize for you…

Susan Leathers is editor of Brentwood Home Page. Click here to read previous columns. Email her at susan@brentwoodhomepage.com