Is It Just Me? (What I Did Last Night, and last month)

[ASM915]

Since there is nothing revealed here, this was posted on the main OA page.

 

Last night I ran the youngest out to camp to help with Call-Outs and Brotherhood Ceremony. I am our Chapter Adviser. Call-Outs ended up being handled in the dining hall due to several tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings, and Brotherhood a few hundred feet away under the Greenbar Pavilion between storms. With 20 going for Brotherhood the first week of summer camp, the ceremony was going to happen one way or the other. No problem there. It worked out well.

 

The one thing that I have noticed, Wednesday evening (for Brotherhood) and last month at Ordeal Weekend and Conclave, as well as in last years ceremonies, is the lack of support by our members, for new members, as well as those sealing their membership by becoming Brotherhood, when they go through their ceremonies.

 

At Conclave there were coinciding events with the Brotherhood Ceremony. Bad planning on the part of the Conclave staff. Hopefully this can be rectified for next year.

 

I feel that if an Ordeal Member is willing to go through Brotherhood, especially at Conclave with strangers from other Lodges, that the people in his Lodge that are allowed to attended the ceremony should be there encouraging and congratulating him or her. Out of 45 (35 were at least Brotherhood), only two scouts and myself were present. As for Ordeal Weekend only myself, one other adult, and three scouts showed up for the Brotherhood Ceremony, and maybe fifteen total for the Ordeal Ceremony.

 

Last night, other then four adults, all from the LEC, and three scouts, no one else bothered to walk over and show support, form the Lodge, or from the home troops during the Brotherhood Ceremony. And we're talking about several hundred people in camp. There had to be at least 40 or more members with Brotherhood or Vigil in camp besides the LEC and Ceremony Teams.

 

Is it just me, or am I just getting more crotchety as I fast approach 50. I do have two other adults that are willing to help get our Chapter people out to camp. At least we have five or six younger ones willing to go out and help, a couple that are Brotherhood, the rest in the next few weeks.

 

Are your Lodges' have the same type of turnouts as our lodge? Do you have a decent group show up? How many of your Chapter Chiefs, Vice Chiefs and or Advisers show up for any of the ceremonies? Or do they just hang around at the OA building, or the dining hall waiting for the social to start after the ceremonies end?

 

 

 

 

(This message has been edited by ASM915)

[Crew21_Adv]

ASM915 and Fellow Arrowmen,

 

 

If I can add my thoughts.

 

If it is outside Summer Camp time frame. Most youth Arrowmen will only attend if an adult Arrowman drives them to the event. So then you not only need to be appealing to youth Arrowmen; but also appealing to the adult Arrowmen aka "the drivers".

 

From my experience, If Arrowmen attend an OA social event, they will go out into the rain, mosquitos, snow, or heat to welcome new Ordeal members and Brotherhood members.

 

The difficult part is getting a decent participation at an OA event. There needs to be something there to draw them out of their homes to OA. Or during Summer camp, there needs to be something appealing that draws them away from their campsite and merit badge homework, to an OA event. (Maybe an OA Ice Cream social).

 

I guess its all in the sales technique. Can you sell OA to an average Arrowmen? Can you make serving your fellow Scout look appealing? Can you get the Arrowmen youth (Lodge and Chapter Chiefs and Lodge officers) to buy into it, and lead others to come to OA events and OA ceremonies?

 

Believe me, I can empathize with you. I call it my 50/50 rule. (of course you've heard, Baden Powell called it a game with a purpose) I say, give me 50 percent hard work, and we will play XBOX Rock Band (or something similar) for the other 50 percent of the weekend. Sometimes that sales, doing a little bit of work and then having fun (pizza, ice cream, video games that the other Scouts don't get to enjoy yet). Plus, there has do be a similar appealing draw for the adult Arrowmen as well.

 

Good Luck!

 

Scouting Forever and Venture On!

Crew21 Adv

[John-in-KC]

I have to agree with what Crew21Adv said. Our Lodge makes special efforts to have good food that kids love during induction weekends. Fall Fellowship always includes steak dinner off the grill (Grilled chicken too).

 

Fellowship has lots of FUN things, to include a late night at the dining hall.

 

We're trying to inculcate the lifetime of service ethic into the youth. It goes lots better when there are carrots for the work, and very few sticks.

 

Eventually, the carrot (for us) becomes that huge smile on a boys' face!

[ASM915]

21 & John,

On Wednesday's during summer camp, there are ice cream socials, on in the afternoon after the Brotherhood project for Brotherhood candidates and higher, an again that evening after the ceremony and Call-Outs for all OA members, with ice cream and pop. The Lodge also runs a Lodge vs Staff competion in the afternoon. As I stated in the original post, people will come walking in for the social, but not for the BC which is right after dinner and retreat.

 

Ordeal Weekends and Fellowships, we have a COOK CREW, and do I mean a cook crew. How he does it on a $15 weekend budget, I have no idea. Back in March, we had shrimp scampi for crackerbarrel. You know, the ones the size of a Captain Nemo monster. We're talking marinated pork loins for dinner, etc. I like the staek idea, maybe for Fellowship. After the Ordeal Ceremony, there is an all night party at the dining hall with ice cream, pizza, snacks, you name it. The last one was a Monte Carlo night. Easy way to get rid of old Lodge stuff that doesn't sale any more. The newbies see it as winning a prize. One Ordeal had Red Neck Games for the party.

 

So, I think the Lodge has the food, and offers the deversity at the non-summer camp events, at least for the youth. The numbers show up for Ordeal, and occassionally for Fellowship. The problem is getting them to gather for the ceremonies.

 

Again, we may have 50-70 Ordeal candidates, and upwards of another 30-50 people at the weekend, especially on Saturday, but few taking the time to come to the ceremonies. It doesn't say a whole lot to the new Ordeals or Brotherhood candidates.

 

I KNOW, a ban on PATCH TRADING from 4:00PM until the ceremony party. Bring the rubber wall padding, VALIUM & ATIVAN. I can just see the adults going into instant withdrawl, LOL. Maybe there is a member Shrink that might be willing to stand by, and run PTA (Patch Traders Anonymous) meeting. Just kidding. Well maybe.

 

21,

What does your Lodge do to draw in the adult membership, so the youth that do not usually show because of transportation issues, can snag a ride? How about you John?

[scoutldr]

I'll be 55 in Sept, and officially a "codger". Right now, I'm just "crotchety", I guess.

 

When I was a young Arrowman (circa 1968-70), it was up to me and my parents to get me to OA events, which were considered "extracurricular". They couldn't wait till I turned 16 and could drive myself. We had WAY better participation then (same Lodge). When did it become a Unit responsibility to make sure OA members get to OA events?

[ASM915]

Hey Codger, (oops, I mean Scoutldr),

Unfortunately with the generation of parents that came along just after us. "Camps an hour away!!! And you want to be there every Wednesday evening!!! NOT!!! Find another way to get there." That is how the Chapter became stratled with getting their youth out to camp if they want them there.

[John-in-KC]

We're blessed to have two honor camping societies in our Council, the Order and the Tribe of Mic-o-Say. We're blessed to have a huge core of adults who love Scouting, period, and will do anything for the youth.

 

Troops know that if a Scout needs to piggyback for whatever reason, one SM-SM call takes care of the preliminaries, then the youth makes his call to the SM and the SPL to fall in.

 

We also have meaningful adult service projects at our OA reservation. Ranger in his day was a Chief of our Lodge. He is Vigil Honor from his youth. There is less and less token "weed-whipping" on induction weekends and more and more major labor. Adults who are Candidates are surveyed in advance on useful skills. Trust me, Ranger has access to heavy dump trucks and earthmoving gear with one phone call if he needs/desires it.

 

We've had adult Candidates trench, conduit and lay fiber. We've had adult Candidates evaluate a foundation needing rework, make a recommendation on technique, and prep the project for further execution.

 

That's our secret.

[ASM915]

John,

That takes care of the adult canidates. How about the adult members? Does your Lodge offer other meaningful adult activities besides the project? After working all day, do they really make an effort to attend the ceremonies?