Do I really need a Big Brother? "It turned out to be a really good thing, John was never somebody I had to confide in, it was just that positive influence, that role model."

Joe Robertson was matched to John Manuel after he and his mother, brother and sister moved to Prescott in 1975. His parents were newly divorced and his dad wasn't around.

John turned out to be more than a Big Brother and friend to Joe, he provided an outlet for Joe to do all the things he loved to do.

"The cool thing about Big Brothers Big Sisters is they line up people with the same interests, John was Native American, raised in this area, was a lot like me and loved the outdoors; hunting, fishing and just being out in the mountains, that was actually the first thing we ever did, walked around in the woods for awhile near Groom Creek, just above Goldwater Lake."

Joe recalled some of their bigger adventures together, explaining those times were the ones he will never forget.

"I have visions of John and me quail hunting and the mud was 6-inches deep and we're slogging around in this stuff and all of the sudden there was a rattlesnake!"

Though Joe always had a great time with John, he remembers worrying as a Little Brother if he was betraying his father.

"The stuff John and I did was also what my dad and I did, but my dad wasn't really around, he was in the Verde Valley, being a realtor and living his life, but also looking from my mother's perspective, she couldn't take me out to do all of these outdoor adventures, hunting once a week, or going for drives in the mountains, she was busy, she was raising two other kids so it was a relief for her and a positive influence for me."

John made Joe a part of his life for a good 4 years or so.

"My relationship with John instilled in me a lot of who I see myself as, now."

Joe, now a well-known Western artist in the Prescott area, later became a Big Brother to a boy named Ray, a friendship still intact after 15 years. Joe and Ray still have dinner together about once a week and are best friends.