Longest Serving Lodge Chief
Posted in Miscellaneous by John E. Pannell on November 15th, 2009 at 5:11 pm In “modern” times, the Order of the Arrow has a strict policy that its officers must be under 21 for the entirety of their term in office. This includes all offices from the chapter level all the way to the National Chief. It has the effect of restricting the pool of qualified candidates for those offices of greater responsibility. Even so, from time to time, a lodge will have a two term chief. Some section chiefs are re-elected. I have known one three term section chief. In recent years, due to exceptional circumstances, a young man served for more than a full term as a regional officer, though this is normally prohibited by National policy.
This strong tradition of youth leadership at all level was not always the policy of the Order of the Arrow. In earlier years, officers in the Order of the Arrow could be over 21 years of age. In some cases they were *well* past their 21st birthday. Along those lines, Bill Topkis recently asked a trivia question of his friends online:
Who was the longest serving lodge chief?
Of course he knew the answer. Can anyone else take a guess? Until we have had some input, I request that those who were involved in that other conversation withhold the answer for a while.
Popularity: 12% [?]
John,
I vote for:
Chief William A. Stumpp,the chief of Ranachqua Lodge #4 for 28 years from 1921 to 1949. He was one of the first 4 inductees and was the chief Scout Executive of the Bronx at that time.
Make that Lodge Chief from August 1920 to September 1949.
Now who was the second Ranachqua Lodge chief and how long was his term?
[...] Longest Serving Lodge Chief Posted on Sunday, November 15th, 2009 in Miscellaneous – Views: (26) In “modern” times, the Order of the Arrow has a strict policy that its officers must be under 21 for the entirety of their term in office. This includes all offices from the chapter level all the way to the National Chief. It has the effect of restricting the pool of qualified candidates for those offices of greater responsibility. [...]
A recent Chief from Unami I believ served 3 terms. He was the chairman of their 90th Ann. I believe.