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.

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Just in time for the beginning of Spring, the Winter 2008 issue of the Florida Collectors’ Newsletter is now available. This issue has the 2007 Florida checklist of known issues from the lodges and councils of Florida, and some smack talking about all of the chapter patches from Florida in the last year.

You can pick up your copy easily, just go to http://floridacsp.com/fcn/. And if you have missed any of the issues for the last two years, they are there as well.

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No patch to display, just an announcement that the newest issue of the Florida Collectors’ Newsletter is now available at http://www.floridacsp.com/fcn/.   See the latest of what Florida has to offer the patch world.

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July 16, 1915. The first Order of the Arrow induction ceremony was held on this date at Treasure Island.     From that humble beginning comes the Order of the Arrow as we know it today.

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I was particularly bored earlier tonight.   While wasting time wandering about the internet I ran into a picture of Seth Green at Wizard World Philadelphia.     This apparently was a comic convention held in 2005.    Green is probably best known for his portrayal of Scotty Evil, Dr. Evil’s son, in the Austin Powers films.

What caught me was  his rather unexpected wardrobe choice:   A Cub Scout uniform shirt!

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At the SC TOR, I bought a copy of the The Kekeenowin of the Wimachtendienk, by Terry Grove (groveagle@cfl.rr.com).     It is an history of the ceremonies of the Order of the Arrow from 1915 through 1948.   I have slowly started to read through the book and find it very interesting on several levels.

Though the structure of the Order of the Arrow and its ceremonies are vastly different, the roots of what we know as the Order today can be plainly seen.     Any serious student of the ceremonies or OA historian should own a copy of this work.

In the book Terry Grove gives the text from the “Report of Committee on Ordeals and Ritual 1921″.     It was this committee that decided upon the name of Unami lodge.   There was also another problem to be deal with.  During the Summer of 1920 interlopers  had access to the Ritual.     This report piqued my curiosity on a few levels.

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For those, like me, who are too young to remember and for those who are not adequately taught American  history today in our schools here is what President Franklin Roosevelt said 63 years ago today.     Imagine the reaction if any national leader gave this same speech today!

Update: Hear FDR in his own words.

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It’s been quiet around here the last day or so, so I’ll pass along some observations that seem to be making the rounds of email inboxes lately .

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“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure ” — Thomas Jefferson, letter (November 13, 1787)

Let  us not forget, on this hallowed day,  those men and women whose ultimate sacrifices have secured our freedom and propserity.

Memorial Day was first observed in the aftermath of the Civil War to pay homage to those  Union soldiers who died during the course of that war.     A separate memorial day was observed in many states — and still is — for those who died in service to the Confederate States of America.

First officially proclaimed as a day of remembrance in 168 by Gen. John  A. Logan,  the proclamation for Memorial Day read thusly: Continue Reading »

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… You never know who will see it.

Articles have been written about folks who send out emails that they later regret.     Either the writer is intemperate in his comments, sends the email to the wrong person, includes unintended recipients, finds it later forwarded to people he didn’t want to see it, or all of the above.     I, personally, have felt this regret.

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