Talligewi Lodge 62 - Lodge Blog

As the contingent leader it is my hope that every youth and adult that went to NOAC would come home with more than good memories and a few extra patches. Looking back at my past five NOACs (’00, ’02, ’04, ’06, and ’09) I would like to think that everyone came back feeling excited, full of new ideas and a will to make a change for the better. It has been a long hard summer in the lodge; six weeks of rushing from work to camp for callouts, putting together what has been called the most exciting (and in my book, most successful) NOAC to date, and on top of that keeping the lodge running as smooth as possible.

So, let’s take a few minutes to look at what we as a lodge accomplished at NOAC. Once more our website www.talligewi62.org bought home the esteemed honor site award placing second in the nation (as a side note if you would be willing to help with the site let us know), we also bought home an honor award for our newsletter in the first NOAC newsletter competition held since 2000. Along with these awards we also brought home a new found spirit, a large jolt of energy and a renewed wiliness to serve our fellow brothers. In talking with each youth I found that not only did they have a good time, and perhaps more root beer then they should have safely consumed with the restrooms being back at the dorms, I found that each and every one felt that the past troubles and missteps in the lodge were not something to be upset or depressed about but challenges to avoid or improve upon.

In closing I would like to say that the power of one is indeed that most powerful force in the world, for it only takes one person to make a difference. However, as the contingent leader I would like to say that without the power of all of the youth and adults who went to NOAC we would not have had such a great time; so my thanks to you for all you did. This past week has been full of fun, surprises, and pizza (must place order at Mother Bears for pick-up in 2015) but just because we are home now does not mean it’s over. I ask, no I beg you to keep the power of one strong inside of you. You may only be one person, yet together we are many 1+1+1+1+1+…..= WWW.

Today was by far the most unusual day at NOAC yet.

When the alarm went off this morning, it was raining heavily outside - the first time it had rained all week. I plowed through my normal struggle of waking my roommate and myself up for breakfast, and the storm soon abated, but only temporarily…

Vault was out of order at the fountain machine in the breakfast line this morning, so I was forced to settle for Cherry Coke in addition to my coffee and chocolate milk. I had an ominous feeling about the absence of my full morning dose of caffeine, considering the fact that I haven’t been getting a whole lot of sleep this week. My fears proved true as I slept through about a third of my class on OA High Adventure and attempted to absorb the other two-thirds in a zombie-ish state of mind. Not the best game plan,  but I’m sure I picked up all the important stuff about the different OA service crew opportunities and the resources and promotional materials that I can use to get the word out about these programs.

After class I was sure that the next item on my schedule said, “Naptime for Koprucki,” but instead it turned out to be the equally pleasing lunch break. A buddy and I took a shuttle bus down to the famous Mother Bear’s Pizza (voted “Best Pizza in Bloomington” by IU people 4 years in a row!) on the south side of campus. We enjoyed a great - but somewhat expensive for a broke Boy Scout! - lunch. Right as we were about to leave, a storm struck. Not just any old storm - the storm of the year, a storm that turned rain gutters into raging creeks, drove stalwart men to cringe at the sheer volume of its thunder, and drenched people to the bone faster than you could say, “The Power of One!”

My buddy and I had places to go and things to do, and we weren’t going to let any old storm stop us, not even the storm of the decade. So of course we followed through with our bright idea of trekking all the way across campus back to our dorm in the midst of the sheeting rain. Let’s just say we survived, but it remains to be seen if our clothes did.

Arriving at the dorm, we discovered that power had been knocked out for our dorm complex and programs were temporarily shut down everywhere because of the weather. Terrific. The rest of the afternoon was spent moping around the 5th floor common room, playing cards, bagging Derby dirt for our Founder’s Day booth, and even taking a brief nap before dinner. The electricity came back on shortly before the latter, and there was much rejoicing (yay…).

After dinner came the evening festivities. First, NOAC as a whole successfully set the world record for the largest kazoo band in history - over 7000 people! Our on-key-ness was awful, our timing even worse, but we did it, and we’ll have an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records to show for it! Next there were the regional gatherings (Talligewi Lodge is a member of the Southern Region) and the regional dodgeball tournament (or should we say, battle?). Imagine a dodgeball team composed of 400 excited, yelling, jostling Southern boys pegging the daylights out of the equally large but not nearly as awesome opposing team, and you have a perfect idea of the melee. In an incredibly ironic but universally popular turn of events, the South took on the North (well, Northeast) in the championship game… and utterly defeated them. SOUTHERN REGION IS THE 2009 NOAC REGIONAL DODGEBALL TOURNAMENT CHAMPION! The South rose again, and boy did it feel good to kick those Yankees’ sorry little behinds.

Finally everyone came together for the enigmatically-named Grand Hodag (Question of the Week: What’s a Hodag? Answer: We have no idea.). Potatoes were baking, root beer was pouring, and music was blaring as all of NOAC descended upon the arena parking lot for a big party. Activities ranged from car-bashing to branding to hillbilly golf to horseshoes to cornhole to ping-pong to root-beer pong to who-knows-what-else, and a great time was had by all.

Back at the dorm, Talligewi Lodge wound down and celebrated with mind-blowing quantities of pizza and soft drinks. Lively conversation filled the 5th-floor commons, and patch-trading was much in evidence (as it is everywhere at NOAC). At last everyone went off to bed one-by-one, the hardcore Wii-players being the last to go. It was a fitting end to a day full of surprises.

- Michael Koprucki

   Lodge Treasurer     

Today i had a class in making a lodge show, a.k.a. a powerpoint of what went down at the event. This sent my mind whirling and scheming as to how to apply it to the lodge. First up we will start having a show for every event we have, most likely shown off at dinner when people can watch them and eat. In order to do this we will need some youth volunteers. We need two or three youth volunteers who will be at every event to run around and gather pictures of what is happening. If you are further interested in helping increasing the quality of our lodge events contact me at: lodgesecretary@talligewi62.org.

I dont know if I have ever been anymore excited about a day then I am for tomorrow. Tomorrow me and a fellow arrowman get to be large and in charge of the official radio station for NOAC- 101.1 fm the power of one radio. Sadly those who are reading this from the comfort of your house wont be able to hear the radiobrodcast because you are to far away. You will be missing out on a good time. This is a dream come true to me because I always wanted to live the of a DJ, disk Jockey, and learn how this equipment works. songs are still up in the air as to what we will play if you have any suggestons plz leave a comment.

yours in brotherhood,

Tyler Ault                                                                                                                                                        

Lodge Secretary

My first NOAC and all I can say is “WOW!”  The opening show left us to ponder “The Power of One”.  One What? Individual, idea, purpose, group.  It is easy see this could be as open as you allow it.  Lord Baden-Powell had the purpose of “World Peace”, he felt that if we all knew one another and understood the cultural differences that seperate us that we could achieve a more peacefull world.

The idea of one man who’s vison grew out of seeing a World Jamboree.  I am sure that Baden-Powell did not invision this a he started scouting in the UK.  But his original idea sparked a program that has thrived for over 100 years.  Think of the number of lives this one individual has influenced out of scouting.

I look at the youth in our program today and wonder what they will accomplish in thier lifetimes, that we would dismiss as impossible.  But must remind myself as phrase that haunts my days past “If not me,  then who?  If not now, then when?”  What are you waiting to accomplish, remember, it only takes “THE POWER OF ONE”

The National Order of the Arrow Conference (”NOAC”) is one of the finest events your son can participate in. He will spend a week immersed in an environment focused on the best that Scouting and the Order of the Arrow has to offer. The conference provided top-notch training, exciting activities, and outstanding shows.
Scouts who attend NOAC get a chance to meet and interact with other Scouts from across the country, and to work with great adult leaders. The conference, held on the campus of a major university, provides a safe and healthy environment for a young man to learn about leadership, brotherhood, and service, in an atmosphere of fun and excitement.
-    National Order of the Arrow
http://www.oa-bsa.org

Only a select few members have received the opportunity to attend NOAC and this year we are taking a record breaking 46 (36 Delegates, 10 Staff) lodge members to NOAC. This year NOAC will take place August 1 – 6, 2009 at the pristine University of Indiana, Bloomington campus. But don’t worry if you did not receive the chance to attend NOAC, those of us who are attending are going to give you the next best thing. Starting on the first day of NOAC delegate members will be posting daily status updates, thoughts and other information about our experiences at NOAC right here on the lodge blog: www.talligewi62.org/blog.

So don’t miss out, check back here daily for news and information about your fellow lodge members at one of Scouting’s biggest and best moments of leadership training and adventure.

Our first Ordeal Induction Weekend of the year is fast approaching and we are going to need everyone’s help to ensure a successful weekend. The Ordeal Weekend will be the weekend of May 15th-17th, 2009 at Camp Crooked Creek. This weekend will also be the first opportunity of the year for all of our Brothers who have not already done so to seal their membership in the Brotherhood. Registration for this event will be on Friday night, May 15th, from 6:30-8:30 PM at the Administration Building. The cost for the weekend will be $30 for everyone who is going through their Ordeal or sealing their membership in the Brotherhood, $15 for members and for those completing their Brotherhood who currently hold a Talligicard. The event is included in the price of the Talligicard, so those members currently holding one will only need to check in at the Administration Building upon arrival. The weekend will conclude on Sunday morning at approximately 11:00 AM.

If you are aware of anyone who needs to complete their Ordeal, please encourage them to participate in this event and become a member of the Order of the Arrow. Remind them to please download, fill out and bring with them with the proper signatures, the candidate registration form that can be found at our lodge website. Also, please be aware that we are now able to take pre-registrations via the lodge website for all candidates, members, and those who need to seal their membership in the Brotherhood.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact our Lodge Chief, Michael Eaton, at lodgechief@talligewi62.org

Calling all Lodge members:

As many of you know March 28th is the Council’s annual Scout-O-Rama at historic Churchill Downs. The Lodge will be heavily involved in this year’s Scout-O-Rama and needs your help to make all of our activities a success.

Among the items we will be doing is setting up an Indian Village near the information booth. At this area Scouts will be able to see one of the Lodge Teepee and sample the various types of regalia that are used by our Ceremony and Dance Teams. Also, as part of this event the teams will be touring the infield in full regalia, in order to spark an interest in the OA in the younger Scouts.

The Lodge is also once again sponsoring the annual Chili Cook-off. Each unit at Scout-O-Rama is encouraged to participate in this event, by brining one gallon of any chili style to the information booth by 5:00pm for judging. This event has proven to be a popular in the past, with heated competition most years.

The Lodge, will also be manning the information booth this year and could use a few members who have free time to stop by and help us direct the visitors on where they can find the many attractions that Scout-O-Rama has to offer, in addition to paying your Lodge dues and shopping at the Lodge Trading Post.

Finally, after the movie on Saturday night we will be conducting the OA Callout Ceremony. Why everyone is welcome to come to this ceremony, we are in need of torch bearers and we also need for any units wishing their members to be called out to contact us at the information booth before 4:00PM on Saturday. We look forward to seeing everyone again this year and of being a valuable service to our Council and its members.

On January 3, 2009 at the Holiday Inn in Clarksville, Indiana, just off of I-65, we will once again be having our annual Lodge Winter Banquet, and as the title suggest this year’s dinner movie has something to do with a quest for a certain arrow. For those of you new to the Winter Banquet experience, the banquet is the Lodge’s annual time to come together over a dinner of fried chicken, baked ham and side dishes to recognize those Arrowmen who have made valuable contributions to the Lodge and Scouting over the past year, to welcome our new officer for the upcoming year and a chance to celebrate with our fellow Arrowmen all that we have accomplished over the last twelve months. In addition the Winter Banquet, has become known for its dinner movie and year end review picture slide show, which are crowd pleasures each year.

For those planning to attend the Winter Banquet the cost is $17.00 per member or guest prior to December 25th after that the price becomes $20.00 a person. Remember, that the Winter banquet is free with the purchase of a 2009 TalligiCard. Also, note that registration will be from 6:00 PM until 7:00 PM, with dinner at 7:00. To make your reservation please either e-mail banquet@talligewi62.org with your name and the number attending, which will allow you to pay at the door or visit the Lodge website at www.talligewi62.org and take advantage of our new online registration and payment system. We look forward to seeing you all at the Winter Banquet and if you have any questions please contact banquet@talligewi62.org.

Well the Loawneu Fall Frolic is underway and is proving to be successful. There are numerous Scouts and Scouters both from Lowaneu Chapter and throughout the Council participating in various board and video games. As of this moment the Nintendo Wii is proving the most popular with the youth taking turns playing Wii Sports and Mario Kart. While the event was heavily attended there are still a few patches left, so if you want one please contact the chapter at lowaneu@talligewi62.org.

As many people have requested we have finally work out an on-line payment system for dues and event fees. By going to http://www.talligewi62.org/pay.php you can use PayPal to pay your dues and event fees; although a PayPal account is not required to complete the process. We offer the following payment options: Master Card, Visa Card, American Express, Discover Card, E-Checks, and PayPal Accounts.