Ittawamba Leaves

This year, Ordeals were better than ever! Lodge officers had worked very hard to get together a fantastic program that really showed the new Ordeal members what the Order of the Arrow is all about! After all the irksome tasks were done, and all ceremonies were completed, the real fun began with our OA Fun Night on Saturday evening. This was an opportunity for those who are new to the OA to see everything our lodge and Order has to offer from; OA High Adventure to American Indian dancing, and even patch trading! The dining hall at Camp Mack Morris was jam packed full of booths from each chapter, ceremonies teams, Ittawamba Lodge's very own dance team at the Pow wow and much more. Sunday morning we had a BRAND NEW training planned for new Arrowmen. This was to teach each new Ordeal member in our lodge all the ways they can personally get involved with the Order of the Arrow and all it has to offer them. All of the new Ordeal members who missed out on it, missed out on a vital part of their experience! As you can see, we worked on a multitude of things to better our new members' first experience with the OA.

In the past, many new Ordeal members have left as soon as they ate their infamous steak dinner, and those who stayed were probably not impressed with the same old boring Saturday evening and straight forward training on Sunday. Lodge officers have all seen a higher vision: a fun and informative end to a very tiresome weekend. It is important that each one of you sees the same vision, because we need all the help we can get to put on a fantastic Ordeal! Always remember that all it takes is the power of ONE to influence a new member in Ittawamba Lodge. And who knows, that new member could possibly be the next chapter chief, event chairman, or even a future National Chief! And we need your help to put on a great Ordeal and spark the fire in these new members, because they are not just new members to our lodge. They are the future of the Order of the Arrow!

Attention all Arrowmen!! The Lodge Executive Council meeting, or LEC, meeting is coming up on April 11 at 2pm at the Scout shop in Jackson!  This meeting is mandatory for all lodge and chapter officers and advisors, but all members of our lodge are welcome to come and see how this meeting works and share your input.  The main items up for discussion are Conclave and Ordeals.  So please come check out the LEC meeting coming up very soon and get involved in your lodge today!  All it takes is ONE comment or idea to change how things work, and you could be that ONE arrowman with new ideas!

 In WWW,

Jacob White

2nd Vice Chief of Fellowship

Dear Lodge Member:

In consultation with the District Camping Chairmen, the Supreme Chief of the Fire, and the Lodge Chief the decision has been made to move one of the Ordeal weekends this year due to schedule conflicts.

The Ordeal weekends have been revised to May 14-16th and May 21-23rd.

This information has already been updated on the Council Calendar and will be reflected in the Ordeal candidate letters that are being prepared for your respective chapter’s call-out ceremonies.

Online registration for the Ordeals will be available next week for Ordeal candidates, Brotherhood candidates, and general members.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

Yours in brotherhood,

Dear Lodge Member:

The next meeting of the Ittawamba Lodge Executive Committee will be held on Saturday – March 13th starting at 4pm at Camp Mack Morris in conjunction with Beaver Day.

An email draft agenda will be sent out on Wednesday of next week to prepare attendees of items of discussion.

Some of the items that will be discussed will be:

1. Updated Ordeal dates
2. 2010 Conclave at Boxwell Scout Reservation
3. Lodge flap design
4. OA Night for Summer Camp

All lodge members are invited to attend the LEC meeting to be aware of the activities of the lodge.

Yours in service,

Clint Beilke

Ittawamba Lodge Chief

Jim Cheatham

Ittawamba Lodge Adviser

Brothers,

In less than 11 months, over 40,000 Boy Scouts will become a part of Jamboree City at the 2010 National Scout Jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill in Caroline County, Virginia. 2010 will mark the 100th anniversary of Scouting and you will want to be a part of this celebration.

The Order of the Arrow needs to recruit 500 youth and adults to be a part of its staff to make its programs a success at the National Scout Jamboree. The Order will run three programs – The OA Service Corps, the Mysterium Compass, and the OA Indian Village.

At the 2010 National Scout Jamboree, the OA will be celebrating its 60th anniversary of the OA Service Corps. The OA Service Corps provides assistance in the many Jamboree program and support areas.

The OA Indian Village will have representations of various tribes of North America, will assist Scouts in earning the Indian Lore Merit Badge, and will have tribal vignettes of dancers and singers traveling throughout the Jamboree.

The Mysterium Compass will offer a patrol based activity that will take Scouts through a series of challenges with special effects and theatrical acting similar to the previous OA shows including 123, Scoutopia, and Odyssey of the Law.

This email provides the necessary information about applying for OA staff. Continue reading and sign up today!

I look forward to seeing you at the 2010 National Scout Jamboree as we celebrate the 100th anniversary of Scouting!

Yours in Service,

Jack O'Neill
National Chief

--Taken from the National Order of the Arrow Website and they reserve all rights. www.oa-bsa.org.

DAVY CROCKETT RESIDENTS PLEASE NOTE:

AT THIS TIME, THERE ARE STILL NO CHAPTER OFFICERS FOR THE DAVY CROCKETT CHAPTER. THIS IS DIRECTLY RELATED TO NO YOUTH ATTENDANCE AT DAVY CROCKETT CHAPTER ROUNDTABLES.

GET INVOLVED!! BRING YOUR FRIENDS TO ROUNDTABLE. YOUTH ARE THE OA!!!

On January 9, 2010, we had our annual Winter Banquet at The First Cumberland Presbyterian Church off of the bypass.

 Like usual, it was a BLAST!!! We had around 100 in attendance and the food was fantastic.

The night started off at about 5:15 with a prayer by our new Second-Vice Chief of Fellowship, Jacob White. After the lovely meal and the 2009 Vigil Recipients, we heard from the excellent Keynote Speaker, our very own, Dr. Paul Caudill from the West Tennessee Area Council Board. 

Chapter Awards were given out as well as Individual Awards before the Founders Award was awarded to Robert Price. 

Afterwards, our now Former Lodge Chief, Owen Lewis, gave his Farewell Address. In his Address, he took a moment to thank all those who have helped him thus far. He also wished all who would come after him good luck. Overall, it was a great speech from one of our great Lodge Chiefs.

 After the 2010 Lodge Officers were sworn in, Clint Beilke, the new Lodge Chief took over the meeting. After a marvelous Incoming Lodge Chief Address, the Chapter Officers were sworn in and the Lodge Adviser gave the Adviser's minutes to wrap the wonderful night up.

Due to the weather, Council of Chiefs was postponed. There were, however, a couple of decisions which could not be postponed. Those topics including who will be Section Chief until Conclave and online registration. It is for those reasons that a Conference Call was conducted among all Lodge Chiefs and Advisers as well as some other Lodge Officers and Order of the Arrow members.

Now some might be asking at this point, why have the Section Chief election now? Why not wait until Conclave?

When Don Combs, our previous Section Chief, became our current Region Chief, he had to step down from his office of Section Chief leaving the position open. Because Conclave is only months away, it was absolutely necessary that we have a chief to continue the planning process. At about 10am Saturday January 30, 2010, Mitchell Saulsbury was elected Section 6 Chief.