4 out of 4 stars
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Our 351 Sons is written from both John Gillespie and his wife, Jan’s perspective of their life’s mission running the Rawhide Boys Ranch. It all started with providing a loving home for one troubled boy that sparked John and Jan’s interest to begin having a foster home for up to eight troubled teen-aged boys at a time. This grew into having the Rawhide Boys Ranch that could house up to 50 boys at a time, with many more house parents involved. The Rawhide Boys Ranch was (and still is today) a non-profit, faith-based program that captured so many aspects of helping boys who were in trouble with the law, who had problems at school, and who came from abusive or dysfunctional homes. It is one of the most successful youth rehabilitation programs in the United States.
I enjoyed reading about John and Jan’s love and firm, no-nonsense discipline they had for the boys who were in their care, while also caring for their own two sons. The famous Green Bay Packer’s quarterback, football player, Bart Starr and his wife Cherry, have been involved with supporting the ranch for over 50 years. Even the famous Coach Lombardi helped the ranch make contacts for donations. Many other famous people have donated time and money. The Rawhide Boys Ranch’s success was made possible by countless people who donated money, time, talent, skills, cars, building materials, and much more.
The Rawhide Boys Ranch had a lot of features to help develop life skills, work ethics, and self-confidence in the boys, while at the same time providing encouragement, discipline, and adventure for them. There was always a variety of work to do on the ranch. There were house chores, taking care of the horses and other animals, building homes and other structures, working on cars, welding, and giving tours of the ranch. The boys also experienced outdoor activities of horseback riding, camping, swimming, fishing, boating, and firefighting. The ranch helped in their education and job interviews as well.
I was impressed with the statistics that for the boys who stayed at least three months or more at the ranch, 85% of them never got into trouble with the law again. I liked John and Jan’s motto of “Praised in public; correct in private.” I also liked their life verse (Proverbs 3:5-6), “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths.” Perhaps the most moving motto to me was Jan’s motto: “Those who deserve love least, need it the most.” Though there were so many things that I liked about the book, I best liked how miracles would happen in just the right time to provide either the money or just the thing that the ranch and the boys needed. My favorite “miracle” was when John and Jan only had five dollars to spend on each of the boys for Christmas, and then someone made a donation, and they all had the best Christmas ever. I won’t tell you all the details about this so you can read it for yourself. Another favorite part of the book was Jan’s way to deal with the boys not picking up after themselves. What a GREAT idea!
Though the book was mostly upbeat and not dwelling on the boys’ problems, there was a very sad thing that happened to Bart and Cherry Starr’s son, Bret. This was the part I least liked about the book if I had to think of something that I did not like.
The book is very well edited and written in an interesting way that held my attention all through the book. I rate Our 351 Sons 4 out of 4 stars. In a day where we hear about so many fake and false claims and frauds going on in the world, it was so refreshing and good to hear about the Rawhide Boys Ranch being an authentic, wonderful, well-rounded program to truly help troubled teens. The people who would enjoy this book the most are professional youth workers, parents with troubled teens, counselors, and people working in youth rehabilitation programs. If you like to read about heart-warming stories about people who have made a big impact on lives, you would also love to read this book. People who do not like memoirs and non-fictional stories may like this book the least.
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Our 351 Sons
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