New officers happy to be in Sand Springs

Captains Ben Jr. and Rhonda Walters

Captain Ben Walters continues his family's Salvation Army tradition

There was something very familiar about Captain Ben Walter's ear-to-ear grin when he talked to me recently about his wife and he being the new officers at the Sand Springs Corps and Boys & Girls Club. And then it hit me---it's the same kind of grin my son had after his wife gave birth to their first baby in April! To say Captain Walters is excited about being in Sand Springs is an understatement. He is elated.

I haven't had a chance to talk to Mrs.Walters yet, sadly, she couldn't come to the club that day because she had injured her back during their move. I'm looking forward to meeting her soon. 

The Walters moved from the Muskogee Corps where they managed a Family Store and a Boys & Girls Club which was eventually downsized to a Red Shield Club. They served there for two years.

The Walters family, front row from left,
Bailey, Ben, Raegan, Rorie

Captain Walters has a history of Salvation Army officers in his family. When he was younger, his parents were officers at the Citadel Corps in Oklahoma City where he met his future wife, Rhonda. She is originally from Shawnee and although Captain Walters lived all over the south with parents as Salvation Army officers, he considers Oklahoma home. He and his wife were married for five years before they entered The Salvation Army training college in Atlanta and were commissioned two years after that. They have four children. 

The oldest, Bailey, is 18 and is a lifeguard for the city of Wagoner. She'll go to Connors State College in the fall. Their son, Ben III, is 17 and will attend Sand Springs High School in the fall along with their daughter Raegan, age 15. Rorie, age 12, is currently at the Salvation Army Music Conservatory and she will enter seventh grade in Sand Springs in the fall. 

"I'm looking forward to getting to know the Sand Springs community. It has a hometown kind of feel and I like being surrounded by the beautiful hills and ridges," Captain Walters said. "I love people and I'm looking forward to getting to know people in Sand Springs." 

And I'm sure people in the Sand Springs Corps and Boys & Girls Club are looking forward to getting to know the whole Walters family.

-Sallie