Ghanbari speaks on leadership

COLUMBUS, Ohio – State Rep. Haraz Ghanbari, R-Perrysburg, delivered the keynote address during the American Legion Department of Ohio’s Buckeye Boys State ceremony Wednesday on the campus of Miami University in Oxford.

The eight-day experience allows high school juniors to learn about city, county and state government through a non-partisan and objective education approach.

“It was a great evening as my family joined me to witness the election and inauguration of the Boys State governor, lieutenant governor, and other elected officials,” Ghanbari said. “Wood County is represented by several delegates this year, and as I told those in attendance that although this may be their last foray into state and local government it does not relieve them of their leadership responsibilities in their communities. The principles they learn this week will position them for continued success in the future regardless of the journey they pursue.”

Ghanbari, the chairman of the Ohio House Armed Services and Veterans Affairs Committee and a lieutenant commander in the Navy Reserve, gave the address with over 600 Boys State delegates and more than 125 staff in attendance. Over 500 high schools in Ohio were represented, including delegates in Wood County from North Baltimore, Bradner, Pemberville, Luckey, Bowling Green, Weston and Perrysburg.
 
Founded in 1936, Buckeye Boys State is the largest Boys State program in the nation with an attendance of over 1,200 young men annually. The program includes students from Ohio high schools, several online high schools and the home-schooled community.

A lifetime member of the American Legion and the former post commander of American Legion Post 28 in Perrysburg, Ghanbari challenged the delegates to live out the founding principles of the American Legion through exercising the four pillars of Americanism, Children and Youth, National Security, and Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation.

The American Legion Buckeye Boys State program is sponsored by the Department of Ohio American Legion, the largest veterans organization in the state.