March 2022 Update
Kittatinny Lodge News
March 2022 Update
Coming Up on the Calendar
March 12 – Camp Maintenance Day – 8am-4pm
March 20 – LEC Meeting @ Kittatinny Room – 2pm
March 26 – LLD (Lodge Leadership Development) – 8am-5pm
April 2 – Lodge Appalachian Trail Service Project
April 9 – Camp Maintenance Day – 8am-4pm
April 22-24 – Ordeal/Service Weekend – HMSR
May 13-15 – Ordeal/Service Weekend – HMSR
June 3-5 – Section E11 Conclave – Hidden Valley S.R.
June 11 – Camp Maintenance Day – 8am-4pm
July 25-30 – NOAC – University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Camp Maintenance Days – 2nd Saturdays – 8am
Camp Maintenance Days are typically held on the 2nd Saturday of each month (not in July and December). Camp maintenance days are an important part of our duty as Arrowman to support our Council and Camp. As you can all imagine, there is never a shortage of things that need to be done to keep camp in shape and operational. Every task we can do as volunteers reduces the cost to the council, keeping expenses down for all the Scouts that benefit from using our facilities. You don’t have to be at every maintenance weekend. Come as you are able. Bring your own lunch and appropriate tools and gear for the week’s project list. While traditionally Maintenance Days have been mostly adults, we are looking at expanding this to encourage more youth participation. If you would like to be added to the maintenance weekend reminder list, please contact Kevin Huneke or Glenn Lesher.
LEC (Lodge Executive Committee) Meeting – Sun. March 20 – 2pm – HMSR Kittatinny Room
The LEC meetings are where all lodge business decisions are made. While the primary participants at the LEC are the Officers, Committee Chairmen, and Advisers, ALL Lodge members may attend if you are interested in getting involved. The meetings are typically held the 3rd Sunday of each month at 2pm in the Kittatinny Room. If you are interested in getting involved in one of the lodge committees, this is a great place to hear what they are working on in the coming months. All Chairmen and Committee Advisers should plan to attend. If you can not, please contact the Lodge Chief (youth) or Lodge Adviser (adults).
LLD (Lodge Leadership Development) – Sat. March 26 – 8am – 5pm – HMSR STEM Building
Registration: https://scoutingevent.com/528-OA_LLD
Lodge Leadership Development is where you can hone your skills as a leader. Topics are picked based on the needs of our lodge. Lodge leaders present a no cost, day-long course, with LUNCH PROVIDED. If you are in a lodge leadership position, want to grow into a leadership position, or want to improve your skills in a leadership position in your unit or other organizations, the skills taught are useful no matter where you serve. This year we will be holding sessions on OA Fundamentals and Terminology; Council and District Relations; How to Plan; Goal Setting and Time Management; Leadership vs. Serving; Where to Find Good Resources; Membership Retention; Group Communications; The Role of Adults in the Eyes of the Youth; Cheerful Community Service; and Successful OA Conversions (from Election to Brotherhood).
Lodge Appalachian Trail Service Project – Sat. April 2 – 9am-4pm – Meet at A.T. & PA Rt 501
Registration: https://scoutingevent.com/528-OA_AT_Project
Did you know Kittatinny Lodge is one of only a handful of OA Lodges with regular service in supporting the Appalachian Trail? This year we will again be working with the Blue Mountain Eagle Climbing Club (https://www.bmecc.org, section maintainers on the A.T. in our area) on a dis-assembly (not destruction) project on the Lundgren Property, near the junction of the A.T. and PA Rt 501. Because of the location, we’ll need hand tools and battery operated tools. Three parts of the project include: Move a replacement wood stove; dis-assemble a 5-sided deck and stack lumber which will later be moved to a new location in NY; and remove decking boards from tent platforms and replace with new deck boards, and stack old boards for later pickup. Tools needed for the day will be pry bars, claw hammers, sockets and ratchet wrenches, gloves, cordless drills (R1, R2, star & phillips bits); cordless circular saw with ripping blade, vice grips, tape measures, chalk line, combination squares, pencils. As you can see, this is more technical than some of our previous projects. Project will be BYOL (Bring Your Own Lunch) in a small backpack. BSA Medical Form A-B required to participate. Please bring with you. Please register early so we can plan which projects we will be able to tackle and coordinate tools being brought.
April OA Weekend – April 22-24 – Check-in opens @ 7pm (not before) – HMSR Welcome Center
May OA Weekend – May 13-15 – Check-in opens @ 7pm (not before) – HMSR Welcome Center
Registration: https://scoutingevent.com/528-oaweekend
Please join us as we gather in Brotherhood, Cheerfulness, and Service. No matter if you are a newly elected Candidate for the OA, or a seasoned member, we look forward to seeing you for a full-format regular service weekend. Arrival and check-in begins at 7pm Friday night. The event is over at the conclusion of the Lodge Quarterly Meeting on Sunday around 11am. All camping will be in personal tents, but Candidates will be sleeping under the stars on Friday night. Candidates will receive separate mailings with registration and equipment information. Please consider making the OA Weekend a unit activity for all your unit OA members. If you have Candidates attending, we highly recommend someone from your unit attending also. Please be sure to bring Class-A uniform as well as work clothes for our day of service to camp. More details will be sent out closer to the weekend, but please register early so we can plan a great weekend.
NOTE: April Fund-Raising Auctions – There will be two distinct fund-raising events held during the Saturday-night Cracker Barrel at the April OA Weekend:
1) The regular April auction for NOAC fund-raising, which will include the last of the Centennial beaded sashes that were put up for auction at the Centennial Banquet. Other much more affordable auction items will be available to help build your collections. If you would like to donate items for the NOAC auction, please contact Glenn Piper or Mike Barner.
2) There will also be a special auction item to benefit the “James W. Schlegel Philmont Scholarship Fund,” the beaded sash of the last Lodge Chief of Minsi Lodge, James Harner. If you were at the Centennial banquet, you heard the moving friendship between Jim Harner and Jim Schlegel around the time of the merger which formed Kittatinny in 1971.
Section E11 Conclave – June 3-5 – Hidden Valley Scout Reservation
Registration: https://scoutingevent.com/528-OAConclave
Join us for the inaugural Section E11 Conclave, the first since the OA’s regional re-organization. It’s been three years since we’ve had an in-person Section Conclave, and so much has happened. Since so few people have attended an in-person Conclave, we are promoting participation in this event heavily. Participants will travel to Hidden Valley Scout Reservation in Loysville, PA (west of Harrisburg) for the event hosted by Sasquesahanough Lodge 11, New Birth of Freedom Council. Conclave is known as a favorite among OA members, as members from all five lodges in our section gather for fun, food, training, and fellowship. All play, no work is the order of the day. Kittatinny has reserved 35 spots for this event so let’s fill them so we have to ask for more. Cost is $45.00 and included everything for the weekend, and camping will likely be BYOT (bring your own tent). Also, the Section offers scholarships for those planning on attending OA High Adventure. The requirement is you need to attend Conclave to be eligible. Talk to the Chief or Adviser for more information about the scholarships. You can also follow the link to learn more about OA High Adventure.
NOAC (National Order of the Arrow Conference) – July 25-30 – Knoxville, TN
Registration: https://scoutingevent.com/528-noac2022
By far the greatest OA activity you could possibly attend ! NOAC will be held on the campus of University of Tennessee, Knoxville. We’ll travel in style by motor coach, leaving the evening of July 24. Originally we had a full bus of 40 attendees, but more have signed up so we have a bigger bus and now have more seats available we want to fill. Cost for the conference is $625 and includes everything (the lodge pays for youth transportation). The event is like a national Jamboree for OA members, and they are expecting over 7,000 attendees from across the country. Tons of activities to participate in: shows, sports competitions, Native American information, the best OA training available, and (I’ve heard) a lot of patch trading. Participants live in the college dorms, eat in the dining halls, and have use of all the campus amenities. If you’re already signed up, your second payment is now past due and can be paid on the registration link. Please keep up with your payments. We will be holding a NOAC contingent parents meeting soon, so if you have ideas for patch designs, other items for the contingent NOW is the time to get them in so we can put together a pre-order form. If you’re still not sure you can go due to the cost, we will attempt to help those with financial burdens, similar to Scout Camp (personal, unit, and council assistance). Talk to the lodge adviser (Glenn Piper) or Staff Adviser (Ryan Sagnip) for more information.
Lodge Committee Meetings
Committee Chairmen and Advisers: This is a reminder that we have asked all committees to hold a committee meeting prior to the March LEC to plan for the Spring, design a plan for committee recruiting, and proposing your committee budget. If you have not already done so, please hold your meeting with committee members and bring your report to the LEC on March 20.
Thrive Connect
The lodge leadership has entered into an exciting lodge coaching service called “Thrive Connect.” A small team of volunteers from across the country will be meeting regularly with lodge leadership over the next few months to lead a self-discovery of our lodge’s current status and potential. Thrive Connect grew out of the Thrive Conference in 2019, which focused on growing lodges and improving our key metrics (election rate, induction rate, and activation rate), and is meant to help lodges grow into Thriving and High Performing Lodges. Committee leadership may be called in for select discussions as we progress through the program. We’ll keep you informed about this new endeavor.
Summer Camp
It’s not too soon to be thinking about Summer Camp and helping with the OA Summer Camp program. First requirement is you have to be in the OA, and the second is that you have to be signed up to be on camp staff. Lodge Leadership, in collaboration with Camp Leadership, will decide who will hold this position for the 2022 camping season. Even if you aren’t looking to be OA Summer Chief, the camp is still in need of staff for 2022. Our Lodge, with an abundance of experienced Scouts and leadership skills, should be a primary source of Camp Staff members. If interested, please submit your Camp Staff Application ASAP.
Lodge Dues
Membership retention is a key component of our lodge’s success. At the end of last year, we had 491 dues-paid members. So far in 2022, we have only 254 dues-paid members. Dues must be paid to attend any lodge, section, and national OA activities, makes you eligible for lodge awards and honors, and allows you to wear the flap of our lodge on your uniform. If you have not already done so, PLEASE pay your dues at your earliest convenience.
2022 Vigil Selection
We will soon be convening the 2022 Vigil Selection Committee to identify and recognize those members of our lodge for this high honor. The Vigil Honor is a high mark of distinction and recognition reserved for those Arrowmen who, by reason of exceptional service, personal effort, and unselfish interest, have made distinguished contributions beyond the immediate responsibilities of their position of office to one or more of the following: Lodge; Order of the Arrow; Scouting community; Scout Camp. To be considered, you must: be registered in Scouting; be in good standing (dues paid) in the lodge; have been a Brotherhood member for at least 2 years. Based on last year’s membership, we will be able to nominate a maximum of 8 Vigil honorees in 2022. Please start thinking about those around you who are most willing to give of themselves in service to others. A Vigil Recommendation Form is available online.
Kittatinny to host the 2023 Section E11 Conclave
Unless something changes within the Section, Kittatinny Lodge is currently scheduled to host the 2023 Section E11 Conclave. This is a major event requiring a lot of planning and communication, and will be held at Hawk Mountain Scout Reservation on June 2-4, 2023. A planning committee for this event will be put together shortly. Hosting Conclave is a major undertaking, but the first action items are coming up with a theme and a promotion plan for the event, which is made at the close of this year’s Conclave (June 5), so a basic plan needs to be in place before then. If you are interested in serving on the planning committee, please contact Cooper Dunn (youth) or Glenn Piper (adults).