LodgeChief

I have been to two NOACs, the one in 2004 and the one in 2006. In 2006 I served on staff working in the Radio doing the morning shows and the Pre-Show Shows in front of the Breslin Center at MSU. I had a blast both times. It is truly one of the highlights of my Scouting career. There is something to do for everyone there. I dont think that there is anyone who goes to a NOAC and is miserable the whole and wanting to come home. The next NOAC is at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. The rooms are air-condidtioned, which is a plus over the non A/C rooms at MSU. I am looking forward to it and I cant wait.

For those in favor of having Lodge Position patches for youth officers, I think we may have some ammo. Venturing has recently put out a Council Venturing President position patch. If they can have one, so can we. Here is the link where I found it. http://srventuring-bsa.org/newsite/

I am having a very difficult time getting people to attend the Lodge Executive Committee (LEC) meetings. We have tried different attendance policies and they are either not followed or they are taken advantage of. Does anyone have any thoughts as to what I should do to get people there. I am starting to get some pressure from the Lodge Adviser to get them there and I dont know what to do. I am going to discuss it with the LEC members as to what they think but I would like some input from people outside of the Lodge. Thanks.

You do not have to be present to be elected. Since there is no campaigning allowed there is no real reason to be there. The boys who are eligible should be known to the troop anyway since there is a rank and camping requirement. Most of the time they do not find out that they are elected until they are at the call out ceremony anyways. Secondly, the SM decides who is on the ballot because one of the eligibility requirements is that they have SM approval and then they may be voted upon. These are all National Policies and Lodges cannot override them with there own rules on this matter. Everyone in the country who is an OA member that are youths have to meet the same requirements. This all can be found in the Order of the Arrow Guide to Inductions.

As it has been previously mentioned, a unit must have at least 50% of the registered active youth present. As long as they are registered they get a vote but may abstain. From working with and knowing members of the National Committee, the official definition of registered active youth are those youth who are on the troop's charter and dues paid. Hope this helps. Lodge Chief

I concur, it is 18. I know this from working at camp. All of the instructors on staff must have the blue merit badge card signed by someone 18 and over. This summer I remember signing quite a few as I am 19.

To answer the question, it is ultimately the Scoutmaster's decision as to whether or not the troop has OA elections. I highly recommend that you let the boys decide though, kinda get their input on it. Like many people have already said, if the boys do not want to do it, they're not going to. The OA is Scouting's National Honor Society and from what I have seen in my council, the program is diminishing more and more within the troops. If you have interested boys that want to do some OA functions and possibly bring back good information about the Lodge, then by God, SEND THEM!!! I cannot stress this enough. I know plenty of people within the council that would love to get the OA experience but, their Scoutmasters do not want to have any elections and some just flat out refuse to talk about. What I have found that sometimes motivates the Scouts within the unit about the OA is to invite the Lodge Chief to your meeting to talk about the OA. They should have a pretty exciting presentation if they do it right. As a Lodge Chief, I go to meetings and program previews within the council all of the time. It has a great impact. From being on Summer Camp staff and talking to some of the leaders that had just gone through their Ordeal said that the OA had a very positive impact on their life and the lives of their boys and that it rejuvenated and revived the troop. That made me feel very good inside. The OA is a program that promotes training of our future leaders, offers positions of great responsibilty to our young leaders now, and provides some recognition to the boys who sometimes can use this positive attention. The boys need this program more than ever now. It's that next big step that some of the older boys in your units may need. I'm talking about those who have done the leadership positions such as SPL and been on the same old campouts. This will put the spirit back into your boys who will then put it back into their units. This is not limited to those previously mentioned and is wonderful for all those eligible. The only thing that the Leaders need to do to accomplish all of these awesome things is to provide the opportunity.

Kichkinet, What I think he meant in saying "rolled out" is that they started that particular program. It is just a phrase used to say get started and such.

The answer to the question would be no. Crews are not permitted to hold OA elections. It wasn't until the late 80's or early 90's that women who were ASM's were allowed to be in the OA. I know some people who sit on the National Committee and we were talking about youth female venturers be allowed into the OA. They said that it had been brought up at a Committee Meeting and it was shot down immediatly. I do not think that youth female venturers would be a good addition to the OA mainly because of the point that Old Grey Eagle brought up. They would eventually be the youth leadership and the OA is a BOY scout program. I think that this would take away from the production and maybe add more drama to something that already has enough in each lodge.

It is up to the SM to determine who is eligible for the OA at the time of the election. That means that if he thinks someone has qualified for the camping requirement for instance, then they have met it. In my troop, camping is under the stars or in a tent. From the definition from webster's, i do not think that a cabin is a temporary shelter. Again, it is the SM to tell the OA election team who has met the requirements and who is eligible. The OA doesn't go any further than that. They take the SM's word for it. Hope this helps.

Thanks, I hope it works out. It is going to be fun. If there is anyone from Lincoln Heritage Council that wants to go, we have about 20 seats left.

The SR6N Conclave is in a little under 3 weeks away. It is going to be at Camp Currier in Eudora, MS of the Chickasaw Council, based out of Memphis, TN. I am going to run for Section Chief and I have been out politicing. I hope it goes well. I am also the Quest for the Golden Arrow Chairman. It is for sure going to be a fun time.

I don't think that he is trying to add more honor to the Vigil. Every Vigil Honor member receives a triangle device upon completion of their vigil. I think that what he wants to do is eliminate the device and change it into a knot. The only knot that the OA has is for those members that have earned the DSA award. I see nothing wrong with changing the device into a knot. It's so that egos are boosted, because you are already wearing the device to signify you are a vigil member. You're not creating "more" persay because the device is already there. That's just what i think. Maybe you should write to the National Office, maybe include a petition or something, and see what happens from there.

In my Lodge, and in most Lodges that I know of, a unit must have an election team present to have an election. The reason being that the election team is trained in National Policy concerning elections and also that there is no conflict of interest with troops doing their on elections. There is also a video from National that you are supposed to show when you do an election. Also, an election report must be turned in so that the Unit Election Committee can update their records and be ready for the call-outs and the Ordeal so that we can be sure that the people going through their Ordeal were properly elected. In my Lodge and most Lodges that I know of, if an election team doesn't do the election the election is void and the scouts cannot complete their Ordeal. We try to catch this at call-outs or even before then. But I have to agree with Ma Scout, I think that this is National Policy. So, in my opinion the elction would be void, and would have to be redone. ~Lodge Chief

That is correct. Once someone has gone through their Ordeal and they are registered with a unit of any kind or with the council or district, they are still members as long as their dues are paid to the lodge.