Norm Cooper

Royal Rangers Night with the Atlanta Braves Norm Cooper

Preserving history is important. This book is created with the hopes of preserving a unique part of Royal Rangers history, especially that part which involved Johnnie Barnes and Fred Deaver. The events involves something other than camping and conferences, proclaiming the name Royal Rangers to many tens of thousands of people in the public arena. Johnnie Barnes founded Royal Rangers in 1962. Royal Rangers found its way to a church in the shadow of Atlanta in the state of Georgia in 1964. One of the charter members of that group was a skinny, shy boy named Norm, befriended and mentored by good leaders who made a great impression on his life. Their leadership inspired him to become a leader. The Braves major league baseball team moved to Atlanta in 1966. That skinny kid became an avid Braves fan, listening to the team's games on a small transistor radio. He became and remains a baseball fan. Fast forward two decades. Norm had become a Royal Rangers leader serving as Aide-de-Camp for the Georgia District. He was writing sports as a career and attended many Braves games. While watching many groups on the major league baseball field before games, he thought, "Why not have the Royal Rangers doing the same thing?" After one meeting with a Braves' representative, Norm had found a way to join two passions together - the Royal Rangers and the Atlanta Braves - thus was created "Royal Rangers Night with the Atlanta Braves."