New Name! Same Great Stuff!

It's official!  When the news started circulating that the two districts in Provo were joing to be realigned, we started thinking about our chapter name.  With a mixed group of former Lakota and Sioux chapter members in the new district, and no real geographical tie to either name, we decided to take the name of Lagunas.  The Lagunas were the local Utes who interacted with the earliest mormon settlers in Provo.
Don't expect the new name to mean a change in the way we do things though.  We're still trying to put together the best opportunities for fun, service, and leadership for all of our arrowmen.  We want you to have a bunch of great skills and ideas to take back to your units to make them even better.
Keep an eye on our new blog for more information about upcoming events like our camping promotion extravaganza in November and the movie and game overnighter at the Clyde Lodge in December.

New Chapter Leaders!

Sorry for the late announcement — I've been Hiking in the Uintahs for the last week.
Our chapter has big news: We just held elections and have a completely new Chapter Executive Board.

• Chapter Chief — Ian Frandsen
• Chapter Vice-Chief — David Armond
• Chapter Secretary — Daniel Thurston

Please join me in wishing these fine young men well as they work together to guide the chapter over the next year.
Look for some more information about our Slide Canyon Trail hike, along with more information about chapter activities coming up soon!

Outgoing Lodge Chief

Stephen Ferris is our outgoing lodge chief (in more ways than one, he just got his LDS church mission call to the Tacoma Washington Mission -- Good luck Stephen!) Before he turns over his position, I wanted to post this interview we did with him by email.


Stephen has been a great supporter of our chapter. He's come camping with us at Klondike and been to our Spring Ordeal, where he worked with the candidates to help clean up Camp Jeremiah Johnson.

Thanks Stephen for your support. We appreciate all you've done for us and for the Lodge.

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When were you elected, and what have you done in the OA since then?

I was elected just before I turned 12 or 13. Since then, I originally became an active member of my Chapter's Ordeal Ceremony Team. At that point, I started becoming interested in leadership positions and was able to serve over Activities, Service, Ordeal Master (youth over the Ordeal), and Secretary. I often filled in for people that would assume responsibility, but would have troubles fulfilling them. I did run for Chapter Chief two times and was defeated both times. Never give up. On the Lodge, I have held the position of Secretary for two terms, and currently am serving as Chief. Again, never give up.

What are some of your favorite memories of your time in the Order?

There are so many wonderful memories that I have been able to have as I have served in these positions. I have loved getting to know people, especially knowing that, if it weren't for the positions I've held, I wouldn't have been able to meet and have gotten to know so many amazing people and had such great memories created through that.

I thoroughly enjoy camping, especially when you are at a Tepee Week and there are a bunch of white flakes falling all around you in the middle of June! Snow at Tepee Week, that was an unforgettable camp. We proved that, snow or shine, we were going to have fun, and we did.

I also have enjoyed the times where I have been able to gather around with the Lodge Executive Board (LEB) and make decisions that impact every member of our Lodge. I don't say this because we hold the fate of the Lodge in our hands, but rather, because you can truly see the love and concern that each member of the LEB has for everyone in our Lodge. A lot of thought, prayer, contemplation, hard work, and much more goes into every decision, great or small, that we make. It is an incredible thing to see and to know the love the LEB has for thier brothers in the the Tu-Cubin-Noonie Lodge and for the work they do.

What have been the most important lessons you've learned from the OA?

Brotherhood, Cheerfulness, Service. The three main points. This is what we are about. I have learned to make them a part of me. These three points are so powerful once understood and used correctly. It is amazing how they are all interwoven to the point that one of them being used will build upon the other two points. In other words, when excersizing one of these points, the others will be strengthened as well. There is more power in this organization, when used correctly, than most probably could ever imagine.

If a candidate were to come to you and ask if it was worth it to go through the Ordeal and become a member, what advice would you give him?

If you truly desire to spend yourself in the service of others, then yes, it is more than worth it. Two pieces of advice that I would give him:

First, The more you put into it, the more you will get out of it. In other words, the more active you are and seeking to be active, the more fun and enjoyment you will get out of it, and also, the more you will learn and grow from the experiences you will have.

Second, "He who serves his fellows, is of all his fellows greatest!".

Spring 2009 Ordeal Recap

We had a great Ordeal down at Camp Jeremiah Johnson this weekend. Before things got started, the elangomats met together for a training session and to look over the camp and service projects we would be working on. We kicked things off for the whole group with a welcome dinner and spent some time playing games as clans before we started Ordeal itself.
22 candidates participated in the ordeal along with 8 elangomats and were inducted into the Order on Saturday evening. The arrowmen on site were able to do a lot of work and got the camp nearly ready for the wave of cub scouts that will pour over it this summer. After the Ordeal, we enjoyed a feast of stew, salad, rolls, Philmont peach cobbler, and ice cream with the arrowmen and their families..
It was also great to have our Lodge chief join us in service during the afternoon, and then to have him welcome our new members at the feast. Thanks for coming out Stephen.
I'd like to thank Steve Bunker and Bob Walsh who helped oversee the activity; the Ceremony Team from the Nez Pierce chapter for providing our ceremonies; Glen Westbroek, Greg Gibson, Larry Hall, Matt Hornback, and 'Woody' Woodward who all gave up part of their weekend to help recognize our newest members.
We owe a special thanks to Ann Shumway and KC Clark, the Camp Directors at Jeremiah Johnson, who were gracious enough to let us come out and hold our ordeal at their camp.
We can't wait to see all of Lakota arrowmen at our next activity, don't miss out on the food and fun.

Donuts

Ok, since some folks have asked (and Mr B even dropped a comment about it), here's the recipe:

In a gallon sized zip bag, mix
4 1/4 cups flour
4 Tbs sugar
3 Tbs dry milk
1 tsp salt
2 tsp active dry yeast
1/4 tsp mace

Then put the first bag into a second gallon sized bag (double-bagging keeps the dry ingredients from making too much of a mess).

About 1 hour before you're ready to cook the donuts, mix 1 1/4 cups water and 2 Tbs oil into the dry ingredients. Mix well. You can add up to 1/4 cup additional water if needed. The dough should be smooth, not sticky, and should be stretchy. Cover the dough and let it rise. You can leave it in the bags to rise or put it in a bowl.

Heat vegetable oil in a dutch oven. You need about 2 inches of oil to fry the donuts in. The oil is hot enough (350-400 deg) when a bit of dough dropped into it bubbles and floats.

Shape donuts (cut them, tear them, whatever works for you and your scouts), then fry them in the hot oil, turning occasionally. When they are golden brown, pull them out and let them drain/cool. Tossing them in cinnamon sugar or powdered sugar adds a nice touch.

Show and Do Camporee, Spring 2009

Four members of the Lakota chapter went to the Cascade District's Spring Camporee at Simpson Springs to camp as a chapter. Two more youth arrowmen were there with their units. We also found that we had seven adults members of the Order there — now we need to recruit them into the chapter.
While we were there, we had four goals:

1. To provide on-site support for the camporee
2. To perform our call-out ceremony
3. To take part in the Show and Do activity
4. To have a good time camping as a chapter

Our chapter was the first unit on site. We split up, so that we could get our campsite set up and set up people at the entrance and the camping area to great incoming scout units and direct them to where they needed to be. It was good to see arrowmen serving the district like this.

The call-out ceremony went very well. We had about a dozen candidates called out, and the rest of the scouts and scouters in attendance seemed impressed with the whole thing. The candidates and members portion of the ceremony was held in a blind draw out of sight of the rest of camp, and was a great introduction and invitation to the Ordeal (without violating its mystery).

For the show and do, our chapter made donuts. It seemed like we had a pretty long line of scouts waiting to get a fresh donut. Hopefully, it showed everyon that there are some great breakfast options for a camp-out. I really enjoyed hearing the pro-OA buzz that it created among the other campers.
I think the best part of heading to the camporee as a chapter was just being able to hang out together. We had a good time camping out, and everyone enjoyed a 'quick' post-camporee run to the geode beds. (OK, so it was more like a half hour drive than a quick trip, but we all had fun anyway.)
Good luck to all of the candidates who were called out, we can't wait to see you at one of the upcoming ordeals. Maybe in the fall, you can be part of the call out team.

Elections, Ordeals, and More

Elections dropped off in March, but we're anxious to get out and finish strong. If you'd like to schedule elections for your unit, please contact lakota.steve@gmail.com.
The reason that we're focusing on elections right now is that we're building up for our Fellowship on May 22-23. We're going to be helping get Camp Jerimiah Johnson ready for another summer of Cub Scout Day Camp, holding an Ordeal for our new candidates, and closing things up with a chapter feast to welcome all of our new arrowmen. If you'd like to help as staff at the Ordeal or at the feast, please contact lakotasecretary@gmail.com.
Our Call Out team is nearly ready too. They're practicing hard for the Call Out they'll conduct at the District Camporee on May 8-9 (there's more info here). This is an exciting time to be an Arrowman in the Lakota Chapter.

Interview with our Section Chief

Some time ago I asked David Petersen, our section chief, if he would answer a few questions in an interview by email. I thought his answers might help encourage our candidates and newer Ordeal members. Read on to see what David had to say, and look for more interviews in the future.

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When were you elected, and what have you done since then?
David I got started in the Order of the Arrow when I was just over 11 years old. At the time I didn't know much about it. I just knew that I loved Scouting and that I wanted to continue it throughout my life. It sounded like a lot of fun. It was.
Why don't you start by telling us a little bit about your experience in the OA.
David The Order of the Arrow has been one of the best experiences of my life. It is really a life-changing program. My favorite times in the OA have been when I have been able to meet others. I love being able to get to know awesome guys. Some of the best people in the world are in the Order.
What are some of your favorite memories of your time in the Order?
David I have had some awesome memories in the Order of the Arrow. A few that come to mind include swinging off of a massive Zipline at Beaver High Adventure base, building catupults that launched water ballons for miles, and jumping out of a boat in rapids on a rafting trip (it was safe, but fun) with a bunch of fellow arrowmen and having a water fight. The OA is a ton of fun, excitement, mystery, and friendship. It's all good, clean fun. That's the best part.
What have been the most important lessons you've learned from the OA?
David The Order of the Arrow has taught me the true meaning of Leadership in Service. The most meaningful part of this lesson is the power that comes to your life from caring for others more than you care about yourself.
If a candidate were to come to you and ask if it was worth it to go through the Ordeal and become a member, what advice would you give him?
David I would tell him that if you take the stand to become a servant leader by experiencing the Ordeal that he will look back on it as one of the best decisions he has ever made. The Ordeal is not something to be afraid of. It is a really cool experience that binds us even closer as brothers. Go!Go!Go!

Lakota Chapter Trail Crew

I wanted to take a few minutes to tell you about a pair of related opportunities that we're working on for arrowmen in the Lakota Chapter.

We're hoping to adopt a trail (probably the Slide Canyon trail) this summer. In doing so, we'll need to make three hikes along it to perform trail maintenance and general clean-up. At this point, we're planning on going in July, August, and September. To help sweeten the pot, we're going to create a "Lakota Chapter Trail Crew" tee-shirt suitable for use as a Class B or activity uniform shirt. Any Lakota Chapter arrowman going on at least two of the maintenance hikes will get one of these shirts for free.

We need to come up with a design for the shirt though, and that's where the second opportunity comes in. It's time for another contest. Starting today, we're going to accept shirt designs from arrowmen or candidates in the chapter. We'll collect submissions until May 14th (the day before our fellowship weekend). At the fellowship, we'll announce the winning design. The arrowman who's entry is selected will win a free shirt to be awarded at the first maintenance hike.

So there you go, in addition to all the other stuff going on this year, you've got three more service opportunities (open to you and the non-OA scouts and scouters in your home unit), a chance to earn a shirt, and a chance to design the shirt. How much more can an arrowman ask for?

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Don't forget, you have a chance to win a patch by commenting on the entries here at this blog. We ended up not having any comments in March, so we didn't give out any patches. In April, we'll give out two to make up for it. Please add your feedback here — who knows, maybe you'll end up winning one of the patches.

An Alternate to Cell Phones & iPods

Are you having a hard time prying those electronic devices—cell phones, GameBoys and iPods—out the hands of your scouts? Try replacing their tech-toys with the latest generation of land navigation tools, a GPS receiver. GPS units will enhance the map and compass skills you want your scouts to master and may become that killer device that will get your scouts hiking, exploring and navingating the outdoors rather than texting each other in their tents.

Considering cell phone users may easily drop hundreds of dollars for a phone and service, or an iPod, a GPS unit is relatively inexpensive. They start at $90. They're even user friendly. I'll bet you if you place one in a scout's hand in the morning, he'll be teaching you how to use it that afternoon.

Now ratchet it up to the next level. Introduce you scouts to Geocaching and you have involved internet and social networking. Geocaching may sound hokey until you have your scouts go treasure hunting for one. It's exciting to see your scouts practice scout skills, teamwork and leadership to locate a cache. Then they get to open it and exchange trinkets and leave a message in the log book.

Have I sparked your interest? Check out Geoscouting and the recent articles in Scouting Magazine and Boys' Life about Geocaching.

Chapter Activity Feb 2009

It might have been the last day of February, but the chapter did hold its monthly leadership meeting and activity. Since a number of chapter members didn't make it, we decided to fill everyone in on what happened.
We started the leadership meeting with a review of the goals we'd set.
In our last blog post, we talked about one of these — Unit Elections. Our goal is to hold four elections each month in February, March, and April; so far, we're ahead of our goal.
We also talked about our goal to get the word out about our meetings. We're doing better at this, and thought we might see some benefits from it at the activity later in the evening.
After talking about our goals, we turned our attention to several upcoming events. Key among them is our May Fellowship. We decided not to try to form a brotherhood ceremony team at this point (we just don't have the resources). Instead, we will be working to form a call-out ceremony team.
As our leadership meeting started to wind down, two more chapter members showed up for the Activity. Since we've been hovering around two attendees, this seemed like an indication our publicity efforts have been working. After a quick opening ceremony, we talked about our calendar for March, April, and May.
In March, we're having a special Five Chapters event. One of the other Provo and Orem chapters has put together a game and movie overnighter. We'll meet at the Scout office at 6PM on Friday, March 6 and close things up at noon on Saturday. We'll also be making shirts that can be worn as part of ceremonies. We really want to see everyone possible there.
In April, the Section W2S is holding the 2009 Section Conclave on April 24-26. We're not going to hold a chapter activity this month, and hope that everyone will go to Conclave instead — take some time to register if you'd like to meet us there.
In May, we'll be holding a call out ceremony at the District Camporee on the 8th and 9th. The next week we'll be holding our Fellowship. We will be holding an Ordeal there, and if we can get things worked out, we'll hold a Brotherhood ceremony as well. If that's important to you, let us know.
After previewing the next several months, we organized our ceremony team and held a first practice for the call-out. The team will meet twice a month until the camporee to polish their parts and present the best ceremony that they can.
To close things up, we broke out the pizza and played 'Apples to Apples' while we ate. It was great to see everyone that came, but we missed the Lakota arrowmen that couldn't make it. We sure hope to see you next time.

OA Troop or Team Representative

Does your troop or team have an OA Representative? This position helps build the relationship between the OA Lodge or Chapter and the Unit. It also counts as a leadership position for Scout advancement requirements. If your unit doesn't have an OA representative, or isn't using him effectively, read on to find out more about what this program can do for you.

The Troop or Team OA Representative should be doing several things, chief among them: encouraging year-round camping and resident camping at summer camp, encourage unit service to the community, and providing leadership/mentoring/example to the other scouts in the unit. Remember that arrowmen are elected not just for what they've done but for what they will do — unit OA representatives help all the arrowmen in the unit give back to those that elected them.

During 2009 the Lakota chapter is hoping to provide more information and support to both OA representatives and to unit Leaders. Part of this is finding adult members in each unit to act as advisors. Another part is providing communications channels from the unit reps to the chapter leadership. We'd also like to provide hand-outs and other information for the representatives to take back to their units at each of our chapter activities.

If you're a unit OA representative, make sure you come out to our chapter activities so you can find out what the chapter can do for your unit and the arrowmen in it. If you're an adult leader and don't have a Troop or Team OA Representative yet, this is the time to get one — help us help you and your unit by bringing the spirit of the OA to all of your scouts.

Election Season, a first report

To earn the quality chapter award, one of the things we must do is hold elections for 75% of the units in our district. We have 130 units (Boy Scout Troops and Varsity Scout Teams) in our district, so we would need to visit 98 of them each year. That's a little bit beyond our reach this year, so we're reaching for a goal that helps get us closer — we want to hold at least 4 unit elections in February, March, and April to lead into our May Fellowship. We'll set another (higher) goal in July, August, and September to support out October Fellowship.
It's not really enough to set a goal without reporting on it, so consider this a first report.
In January, we held an election for a Scout Troop at Klondike and elected 5 youth and nominated an adult leader. While it doesn't impact our goal, getting this election done was a good start for us in 2009.
So far in February, we've held three elections (two Scout Troops and one Varsity Team), and nominated three adults. There's also a unit election scheduled for tonight. All of this means that we met our February goal, and are set to move forward into March.
Three of our youth arrowmen and three adults have pitched in to help us meet our goals so far. We'd love to have more youth and adults involved. If you'd like to help out with elections, please send an email to lakota.secretary@gmail.com and we'll get you connected with our election team.

Chapter Members Helping at a Pinewood Derby

Three members of the Chapter were on hand at the Pinewood Derby held by Packs 37 and 747. These young men serve as Den Chiefs, helping the Cub Scouts learn to love Scouting.

"We had a great time and showed a lot of OA spirit!" Said Mike, the Wolf's Den Chief.

Whether they were setting up the track and chairs for the Cubs' families, helping get cars onto the track at the start of the race, or shooting video of race finishes, these OA Den Chiefs were right in the middle of all the fun.

Serving as a Den Chief is a great way to use the leadership skills that you're learning in the OA, and to fulfill leadership requirements for advancement in the Scout and Varsity programs. What are you doing to help Cub Scout Packs, Boy Scout Troops, Varsity Teams, or Venturing Crews?

The Chapter at Klondike 2009

The Lakota Chapter attended the Cascade District Klondike on Jan 23 and 24, 2009. Three youth members and two adults were there — one of the adults was splitting time with his troop, with whom we camped. Our numbers might have been few, but we had a great time and made a difference at the Klondike as well.
We had been asked to provide an activity, so we took up some long bamboo poles to play Giant Pick-up Sticks. Our reach went well beyond that though.
We were able to spend time with some adult members who haven't been as involved with the chapter lately. This was a good chance to talk with them and in a couple of cases explore ways that they can contribute to the chapter going forward.
It was also great to let our members, who were there with their units, see us having fun and serving the district. One of our newer members commented after the Klondike that he thought we ran the funnest game up there — just wait till he sees the fun we have at chapter activities.
One of the biggest benefits of our being up there was that we could conduct a unit election. This was a great kick-off to our spring election drive. The troop elected five scouts and nominated one adult. That puts us at thirteen candidates who are eligible to attend the Ordeal we'll be holding as part of our May Fellowship. I hope you're planning to attend.

Lakota Chapter Officers at District Roundtable

Last night, Chris (our chapter chief) and Mike (our vice chief) both made presentations to the scoutmaster's breakout session at roundtable. Taking on this kind of role in the district is a great way to show the value of the OA.

Chris talked about the upcoming Klondike, and gave an overview of what Scoutmasters can expect there. After this short presentation, he led everyone into an adjacent room and we played a round of giant pick-up sticks. It was a good rehearsal for running the game at Klondike, and the attendees seemed to enjoy it.

Mike taught a 10 minute class on cold weather camping. His slides are below, you can get much more information from the Boy Scout Fieldbook's chapter on Cold Weather Activities.



It was great to have the Pleasant Grove Ranger District come out and do a presentation too. We've been working to build a strong relationship with them, and hope to cooperate with them at our Fellowship this May.

We also passed around a sign-up sheet for unit elections. We had two units request elections this month. I think the presentations helped with the increased level of interest. Let's do what we can to continue to show people that the OA is a valuable asset to individual scouts, scouting units, and the district.

New Year's Road Trip

In December, we heard that the Sahpeech chapter was going to hold a Fellowship with a Brotherhood ceremony in Gunnison on January 2-3. Since we had an Ordeal candidate and a Brotherhood candidate just waiting for the opportunity, we decided to take a road trip.
On Friday afternoon, we packed up our gear (and lots of warm clothes) and dinner to eat on the road, and we headed off. The youth talked about scouting, movies, and the things they'd done over Christmas break, then they settled in to a discussion of the OA and upcoming chapter events.
We weren't the only travellers at the fellowship. There were two young men from the Nez Pierce chapter, two young men and an adult from the Sioux chapter, and one from the Todebeda Cheda Toonle chapter down in St. George. It was pretty cool to see arrowmen and candidates from all over the lodge.
The candidates, elangomats, and other arrowmen present put in a lot of service. We cleaned an elementary school from top to bottom, mounted a bunch of video projectors on classroom ceilings, and shoveled a lot of snow to clear the elementary school and nearby High School. We even retired a flag while we were there.
Before wrapping this up I'd like to welcome Ian, our newest Ordeal member, and congratulate Mike, our newest Brotherhood member. Mike's also the Ordealmaster for our upcoming May Fellowship and he's looking for elangomats to serve there, if you're interested please send an email to lakotasecretary@gmail.com and I'll pass your name and contact information along to him.
Thanks to the Sahpeech arrowmen for all the work and planning you put into this.