Elgixin Chapter / O-Shot-Caw Lodge 265
Lighthouse District in S. Fl Council BSA
Editor: Nathan Olonoff February 2005
OA ScoutReach Mentoring Program
The OA ScoutReach Program is one of the newest Order of Arrow National Programs. So what is ScoutReach? ScoutReach is a mentoring program for both troops and packs who would like mentoring in anything scouting related. It can be anything from outdoor pioneering skills, to PLC training. The Elgixin Chapter has officially started its ScoutReach program and is ready for any SPL, Scoutmaster, or Cubmaster to have us to mentor their troop/pack. We have chapter ScoutReach mentors but as always are still looking for more. A mentor can be either a youth or adult, all help is appreciated. This is yet another chance for the OA to give back to troops and packs.
Lodge Banquet
Coming up, March 4-6, 2005 is one of the most important events of the year for both our lodge and chapter. LODGE BANQUET. Those who have been to lodge banquet know that it is a great time. Those who haven’t been before let me give you a brief overview. Friday night our lodge offers the opportunity for an Arrowmen to receive your seal your ties in the Order of the Arrow and become a brotherhood member. If you have been in the OA for 10 months you are eligible to seal your ties and become a member.
On Saturday, we will be competing as a chapter against other chapters in many competitions such as tug-o-war, volleyball, Seminole run, and many other fun events. All the competitions have to do with competing to win the Quest for the Golden Arrow. This leads to the next part of the day.
Saturday night, there is a “Banquet” dinner for all lodge members and their friends and family. At this dinner many awards and recognitions are given out including First Year Arrowmen, the Golden Pumpkin, the Quest for the Golden Arrow, etc. Our lodge’s Vigil nominees are also named.
The Lodge Banquet will be a great time, so be sure to sign up and attend this once a year event. If you have not yet signed up you can print a form at:
www.o-shot-caw.org/forms/lodgebanquet05.pdf
Section Conference
April 8-10, is the date of the upcoming Section S4-S Conference. At this event around 1300 Arrowmen from across the state will be coming to Camp Seminole. Reason being, each year one of the eight lodges in our section hosts this conference. As you may have guessed this year is O-Shot-Caw’s year. We are going to host this year’s Section Conference. We, The Elgixin Chapter are responsible for all the food. We will need everyone to attend this event, so that we show the other lodges that the Mighty O-Shot-Caw lodge has the best Section Conferences. The Section Conference Trading Post is currently online at
www.meritbadgecollege.org/oaconference/orderform.asp Hosting the Section Conference is something that does not happen every year. The last time we hosted the Conference it was 1996. So, be sure to attend this fun-filled weekend.
O/A Workday One
On February 12 th, 2005, we had the first of many O/A workdays to get ready for Section Conference. On that day, most of the youth were working on fixing up the Amphitheater while some others worked on the Main Latrine. I personally was part of the group working on the Amphitheater. We cut down some of the trees close to the benches, tightened the benches and also cut off the excess metal that was poking up. We also started breaking off all of the plastic covering the concrete blocks holding up the benches.
On the main latrine, there was a lot of painting being done. And though I wasn’t a part of the project, it looked like they got a good deal of work done. And I’m sure that the latrine will be like new once it’s done. For lunch we had pizza, and it was nice to take some time off to have friendly conversation but soon after it was back to work. And luckily we only had one injury. Our chief Geoffery, managed to cut his fingers while cutting some plastic. He survived, though all we kept hearing was ‘don’t take me to the hospital yet, I want my pizza first!’
Winter Ordeal
I was one of many Ordeal candidates whose ordeal took place in the lovely month of January. Now personally, I love cold weather, so I was looking forward to this ordeal. But what I don’t like is being soaking wet and cold. On the Friday night that we all spent out in the wilderness, at around maybe midnight, it started raining. The rain didn’t stop for hours. I know a lot of us didn’t get any sleep that night due to water soaked sleeping bags. I personally was somewhat lucky. Only ¾ of my sleeping bag got wet. So I got to sleep curled up in a ball on a 2”x2” square of dry sleeping bag, using my shoes as a pillow. Definitely something that I personally will never forget. I woke up after a few hours of sleep to start the day. And those pieces of bread were probably the best bread I’ve ever had. After that, the work started. My clan went over to the O/A shed to remove some of the Haunted Forest stuff to make room for some doors they were going to make. But soon after we finished removing the Haunted Forest stuff, some of us got pulled away to join the rest of the people desperately trying to fix the main road into the camp. The rest of the day was spent packing more and more mulch onto the main road, and the more mulch we put on, the worse the road got. It was hard to stay quiet when cars would drive on it and start bottoming out. It was hard not to laugh at the people trying to get through. Especially when these huge trucks that should of gotten through without any problem, almost got stuck. That’s just not something that you see everyday. Overall, the weekend was a lot of fun. Granted at times it was annoying, and depressing. But in the end, becoming a member of the Order of the Arrow, it was so worth it. Yours in Brotherhood – Nathan O.
REMINDERS!
T-SHIRTS – $10 - GET YOUR NEW ELGIXIN SHIRT!
JACKETS - NO MONEY AS OF NOW, JUST TAKING NAMES. WE NEED AT LEAST 25.
UPCOMING EVENTS
March 4-6 – Lodge Banquet
March 28 – Elgixin Meeting
April 8-10 – Section Conference
April 25 – Elgixin Meeting
Also, March 12 – Pinewood Derby, Boy Scout help needed. See district calendar for details.
Elgixin Journal
Editor – Nathan Olonoff
Chapter Chief – Geoffrey Landau
Chapter Advisor – Brett Fernon
