The next two weeks found the BWGs exceptionally busy. Letters were sent, phone lines were abuzz, the Internet was in constant use, and every day the group would share their progress during lunch.

Brian and Jim were the first to report in. After meeting with Mr. Adriano, they created the questionnaire the rest of the Bob-Whites used. In addition, Mr. Adriano provided them with a business plan template. Unfortunately, the template was also the occasion of the first major dilemma.

Trixie sat dejectedly at the lunch table. “I had no idea it was going to be this hard coming up with a name.”

Mart straightened the lapels of his shirt and assumed a professorial air. “Sadly, my venerated kinswoman has suffered needless cerebral tempests when she could have easily consulted … moi.”

Trixie shot a withering glare in his direction. “Gee, thanks. We want people to actually know what we’re offering. If we use something too, too, … wordy, nobody is going to understand it and that means no one will come.”

Seeing that Mart was ready to launch yet another verbal sally in the continuing saga of the Bickering Beldens, Diana reached out to gently touch his hand. “Trixie does have a point, Mart. Our group already has a reputation of being exclusive. If we use something too fancy or pretentious, the other kids will just figure we’re doing something “snobby”. You know…country club stuff. The name we use needs to be catchy, but it needs to appeal to regular kids at the same time.”

Diana’s eyes started to twinkle. “Now, if you could harness that marvelous vocabulary of yours and ratchet it down a notch or two…” Seeing the other Bob-Whites rolling their eyes. “Okay, maybe three or four…”

Mart, momentarily diverted, offered a conciliatory smile to Trixie. “Sorry sis, sometimes I experience these relapses and the old Mart comes out. I’ll behave.”

“Thanks Mart, you too Di. I really could use some help. These other groups have such clever names and I haven’t been able to think of anything. Everything I’ve come up with either sounds too corny or sounds like I’m being a copy cat. Ugh. Regan would probably want to roast me, my stuff is so bad.”

“Oh?” Dan, who had been sitting quietly up till now, looked curiously at Trixie. “Like what?”

Trixie shook her head ruefully as she consulted a heavily scribbled page in her notebook. “Well, let’s just get the awful out of the way first. How about -- Just Horse Around?"

The boys started to quietly snicker. Honey and Di immediately sprang to defend the name.

"I like that name!" Di said. "It makes it sound like kids can have a good time!" Honey nodded her head enthusiastically.

Dan rolled his eyes and looked questioningly at the rest of the male Bob-Whites. "I don't suppose any of the rest of you would be willing to tackle this one?"

"Oh no, Daniel," Jim waved his hand to encourage Dan to go on. "I think that since you brought up the topic, you go right on ahead and continue."

"Oh, very well," Dan grumbled. "You see… it's like this… A good time can also mean..." Slowly, but surely, a red line of blush started to creep up his face.

"I don't believe it!" Di stared, fascinated at Dan's face. "Our Danny is actually blushing!"

Trixie quickly interrupted. “If it’s anything like the suggestions I got from my Lucy friends online...” A similar blush started to creep up Trixie’s neckline. “If you think Regan would get upset with my first idea, I know he would be livid over those,” she stared fixedly at the lunch table. “I won’t mention all of them, but, well, the nicest of them was, well, um, Easy Riders.”

A chorus of laughs circulated through the group.

Unexpectedly, a half-hearted smirk started to develop on Trixie’s face and she looked hesitatingly at the boys. “After that the ideas really started going down hill.” Looking quickly back down, Trixie whispered, “How about The Galloping Studs?”

Honey and Di whooped with laughter as the boys looked uncomfortably at each other. When the laughter died out enough for anyone to be heard, Jim cleared his throat.

“Ahem! On that note, I think we can safely say that we can do better. Why don’t we take a few minutes for everyone to brainstorm some ideas. Madame Secretary,” Jim glanced at Honey, “will you please write down the suggestions?”

“Of course, if I can have some paper from Trixie’s notebook. It is lunchtime after all. I don’t normally bring my stuff with me.”

Trixie grinned as she handed a sheet and a pen to Honey. “Well, this is a first. I can’t think of when anyone has ever borrowed paper from me!”

“Humph,” muttered Mart. “And I won’t hold my breath waiting for it to happen again.”

Trixie kicked Mart under the table. “Oh, hush and start thinking. You said you’d behave.”

Honey hurriedly waved the paper in the air. “Come now, let’s all start thinking and give me something to write down. And, I think that we should say the first thing that comes to mind and no one," the normally tactful Honey glanced pointedly at Mart, "should make any comments till we’re done. Starting... now!”

Silence blanketed the table as everyone grabbed a quick bite of their lunches and tried to think at the same time. Meanwhile, Honey copied down the ideas that had been on Trixie’s list.

Brian was the first to volunteer an idea. He looked up and blurted out, “Saddle Up and Ride?” Honey quickly wrote it down.

Get a Leg Up came from Dan, followed by Diana’s suggestion of If Wishes Were Horses. Jim offered Horse Connection; Honey wrote down her own of If You Had a Horse. While Honey wrote down several more suggestions from the group, one member of the group was conspicuous by his silence. Mart sat, idly chewing a Crabapple Special, one hand drawing circles on the tabletop. Finally, he too, spoke up.

“How about, Give Free Rein to Your Imagination?” Noticing the looks of skepticism from everyone else, he offered up a sheepish grin. “Hey, it’s not that easy to come up with something innovative and inspired when I can’t use my Brobdingnagian vocabulary.”

This time it was Diana who kicked Mart under the table.

By the end of lunch, the list, including those from Trixie’s original brainstorming session, had grown to 20 entries.* Honey glanced at her watch after writing down Ride of a Lifetime. “My goodness! The bell's about to ring!” She quickly stuffed the list in her pocket and returned the pen to Trixie. “I’ll make copies of the list during Study Hall this afternoon. Do you think we could meet this afternoon to take a vote?”

“Actually, I was just going to suggest that we meet again this afternoon.” said Brian. “We all still need to share the information we collected from our assigned group.” Jim nodded in agreement. “Shall we adjourn until this afternoon at the clubhouse?”

The rest of the Bob-Whites agreed as the end of lunch bell rang. They all scattered to their individual classes.

Later that afternoon, the Bob-Whites gathered at the clubhouse. Each of them came in fairly bristling with excitement. Each member sat down, a completed copy of the questionnaire from their contact placed on the table. Trixie stood up and called for the meeting to begin.

“I do have one suggestion to make before we begin.” Trixie paused and started chewing on her lower lip. “I know that Honey has copies of the list for us to vote with, and I know how much I’d like to vote right now, and I think I know how much you’d all like to vote right now, and...” she paused to take a breath, all the while jiggling impatiently as she sat, “but I think we should hold off on that until the end. I’m afraid that we’ll only get distracted,” she smiled ruefully, “no, I’d get distracted and well, we do have a lot of ground to cover today.”

Oh, woe, why can't I ever say what I mean without sounding like a complete idiot? thought Trixie as she sat down again and nervously shuffled some papers.

Seeing that Trixie's confidence was starting to falter, Honey quickly looked at Jim who was staring with some concern at Trixie. "Jim, didn't you and Brian say something at lunch about some information?"

"What? Oh, uh, yeah," Jim tore his gaze from Trixie. "Let's see, um, I had the Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club." With his concentration firmly re-focused, Jim's voice regained his normal clarity. "It really is very remarkable, what they are doing in Philadelphia. Did you know that their stable is completely surrounded by some of the worst streets imaginable? And yet, these kids are really committed to their horses. I saw a video clip on YouTube and I remember something the older people were saying. If you don't do your homework or you get suspended from school, you can't go the stables. And it's working! The kids respect each other and the stables are a safe zone."

Brian interrupted, "Yes, but how would something like that apply to our community? We don't exactly have the kind of problems that they do in the inner-city."

Jim help up his hands. "Give me a moment, I was just getting to their history. Fletcher Street used to have a lot of stables, but unemployment really took a toll on their area as well as drugs. When I spoke with Mr. Washington over the phone, one thing he said really struck me. He said he only wishes that they had organized themselves sooner instead of letting the crime take over. He says it's really hard to fight back once something like that gets entrenched and that the more options kids have the better."

Jim paused for a moment and looked at everyone. "I think a statement like that is pretty powerful and it's something we might want to include in the presentation. Other than that, the only other thing I have to add is that this group relies pretty heavily on donations and are looking at finding some grants to help finance their situation. They're lucky though, in a way, because they already had the horses and stables just like we do."

Jim suddenly grinned. "Whew, I didn't realize I had that much to say! And so, I'll gladly relinquish the podium to the next victim. Any takers?"

Dan raised his hand and waved it tentatively. "I guess I'll go next, but I'm not sure you're going to like what I have to say."

"What?" "What do you mean?"

Dan visibly winced at the sudden onslaught. "Tell you what, why don't I just read it to you straight from the Police Athletic League main website.

A police department does not inaugurate a recreation program for youth solely to provide recreation. Some viable reasons for a PAL are: 1) a potentially dangerous situation exists which may lead to juvenile crime or violence, 2) an increase in incidents involving youth during non-school hours, and 3) a lack of suitable recreational facilities and equipment for youth in a community. When conditions such as these are present, a police department carries out its functions of crime prevention, preservation of the peace, and protection of life and property by initiating a program such as PAL.**

Looking up from the printout he read from, Dan addressed the group. "So I think I'm safe in saying that we won't be able to start a PAL chapter here in Sleepyside." This time he looked directly at Trixie. "Sorry to let you down, Trix," he said softly.

With a determined shake of her curls, Trixie hastened to reassure Dan. "Don't apologize Dan. This is exactly what we need to know now."

Trixie looked over at Honey. "Remember one of my New Year's resolutions? I did say I was going to try and stop leaping into situations without thinking. I guess this is just proving to me how important that is." Some of the spark came back in her eyes. "But, gleeps, does it have to be so hard all the time?"

"Well then, perhaps now would be the time for my information?" asked Mart quietly. "I have some bad news and some good news."

With a wearied look on her face, Trixie interrupted him. "Please Mart, no games."

"No games Trix, I promise. Just let me get the bad news out of the way and then I'll share the good news, and it is good news, okay?

"Okay, go ahead."

Mart took a deep breath in preparation. "As you know, I was supposed to get in touch with the organization out in Los Angeles that does the Saddle Up Saturday program. Unfortunately, this is a temporarily funded program that's set to expire at the end of this month."

Gasps were heard around the table.

"Oh no, that's so sad," whispered Di.

"I know," agreed Mart. "Not only that, but because it was a program funded by grant money, it's not something we'd be able to duplicate here."

"You did say there was some good news?" prompted Trixie.

"Yes, there really is." With an innocent look on his face Mart asked, "Would I lie? Never mind, don't answer that.

After I got the email back from a really nice lady by the name of Suzanna Hidalgo explaining the situation I was really bummed. I knew how much you were counting on this information, sis. Anyway, I was kind of moping in my Algebra II class and Mrs. Carter noticed how upset I was. She asked me to stay after class and, well, I poured out the whole story to her. That's when she reminded me that she's the internship program director and that they are always looking for more businesses where they can place students. I couldn't believe it when she asked if we would be interested in working with internship. As a matter of fact, she said that if nothing else panned out to definitely give her a call!"

Trixie suddenly leaped up from her seat, ran around the table, and planted a kiss on Mart's cheek while giving him a huge hug. "Mart, you're a lifesaver! This is perfect!"

"Perfectly perfect!" echoed Honey as Trixie returned to her seat.

Pretending to preen a little, Mart bowed where he sat. "Shucks, do you think I wanted to watch Trixie brood for the rest of the week until she could manage to think a way out of things." With a broad wink at Trixie, Mart continued. "I just made life a little easier for the rest of the Bob-Whites. All for one..." he stood up.

The rest of the Bob-Whites of the Glen stood and echoed back. "And one for all!"

After everyone sat back down again, Trixie excitedly brought the meeting back to order. "Mart, since you have Mrs. Carter for Algebra, I think it would be best if you're the contact for us. You can find out from Mrs. Carter what we need to do, what kind of paperwork we'll need, what kind of adult supervision, gosh, I'm sure there's tons of things we need to know. After all, students get a grade for internship work don't they?"

"They do," said Jim. "I was thinking of taking internship next year. The other thing we'll have to think of is how to persuade students that they will want to intern at a stable."

"And how many students Regan will be willing to supervise," added Dan.

Di sat with a puzzled look on her face. "But I thought we were trying to get a lot of kids out here to ride? Not just students looking for work."

Silence filled the clubhouse.

"Do you..." Trixie paused, with a look of uncertainty on her face, then started again. "Do you think it would be too much to try and do both? I know-- I know it's crazy, but just think. If we invite students out here on organized trips from school, once a month, or once every couple of months, what better advertising could we get for the internship program?" She looked pleadingly at everyone.

Jim snapped his fingers. "You know, crazy as she sounds, I think Trixie might be on to something here."

"It wouldn't have to be school sponsored, would it?" asked Brian. "I think that's asking a bit much from the school." Always practical, Brian liked to look at things logically. "After all, it might be a liability issue for them."

"And how are we going to determine who gets to come out here?" asked Dan. "If we invite everyone, there won't be enough horses to go around. If we wear out the horses, Regan will skin us alive."

Honey had been sitting and trying to think of something constructive to add. "Maybe, if someone were to talk to Mr. Stratton, we could ask him if he has any suggestions. Even though it doesn't have to be school sponsored I've always found Mr. Stratton to very helpful and he's always been 100% behind the Bob-Whites. He might have some good ideas. I think the more adults we consult, the better off our presentation will be for Mommy and Daddy."

"That's a good idea, Honey." A wicked gleam started to shine in Trixie's eyes. "So good, that I think you should be the one to talk to him. Don't you agree everyone?"

"Oh, yes." "Absolutely." "I totally concur."

"Good." Always happier with positive motion, Trixie recapped. "So, we have Mart talking with Mrs. Carter about partnering with internship and Honey talking to Mr. Stratton about a possible school connection. Is there anything I've left out?"

When nothing was said, Trixie prepared to call a close to the meeting. "If there is no further business, I..."

"Wait!" squealed Honey. "I almost forgot, the vote, for our business name!" Honey quickly handed out the sheets of paper. "Don't anyone dare leave till this is done!" she said with a mock glare.

The Bob-Whites carefully mulled over the choices, made their mark, folded and handed back their paper to Honey to tally.

"And the winner is..."