The
Final Report
1999 –2000
Mark Stickel
W-4B Section Chief
ORDER OF THE ARROW · BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA
The Trail to
Chief
I have heard many Arrowmen say that their most memorable experience in the OA was their first Ordeal. Although Scouting and the Order of the Arrow have provided me with many memories and have taken me to places I never dreamed I would go, I would say that my most memorable experience is indeed the weekend I spent at Lost Valley Scout Reservation in the middle of April in 1994. It was here that I was inducted into the Order of the Arrow, and of all the experiences I have enjoyed, it is the one that sticks with me the most. And it was at Lost Valley that my journey through the OA began…
Like many, I came into the OA not really knowing what to expect. I would have been happy just to have received my patch and sash and then been on my way. And I would have, except that a friend in my troop had been inducted a year earlier, and he had always made a point of bragging to me about how great the OA was. After I was inducted, we went to chapter meetings together and it was him that encouraged me to strive for Brotherhood. It was his initial support that got me started in the OA.
After I earned my Brotherhood, I decided to take the fast-track to leadership. I ran for chapter chief. Not surprisingly, I lost; it was the first of many defeats for me in an OA election. But as with every other one, it was only temporary. I was elected Vice Chief of Camping Promotion for Crow Chapter.
Later that year, I attended summer camp at Lost Valley and met another friend who has encouraged me and helped me along. He spoke to me about the vacancy in the position for Lodge Vice Chief of Camping Promotions. In December, I was voted into the position. In 1996, I had the privilege of working with him on Archery staff at Lost Valley. Dan, you have no idea how much you’ve helped me along my way; I don’t think I can thank you enough.
On a dare in 1996, I ran for W-4B Section Secretary at my first conclave – and won. And from that day, I have been a section officer, culminating in the responsibility and honor of serving as Chief for the 1999-2000 term. I have learned all sorts of leadership skills, have had the opportunity to serve on training staffs, have learned more than ever I cared to know about balancing a Section W-4B budget (four times!), but it is undoubtedly the friendships that mean the most to me. Many of the friendships I have made over the course of the last six years in the Order of the Arrow will last a lifetime.
The Final Report: Table of
Contents
The Election
I have had quite a time getting to be Section Chief. The first time I was chief, I didn’t really know what I was doing and didn’t feel that I was qualified enough to do it. But when I ran again, I lost, and when I ran the next time I lost as well. I guess the third time was a charm for me. Moral of the story: stick with it, good things come to those who wait.
I was extremely nervous for the election, because I knew it would be my last opportunity to run for section office. I know I wasn’t elected for my speech that I gave – I was so nervous that I was shaking. But by some miracle of god, I was elected.
The Gathering
The Western Region Gathering of Chiefs, held at the Heard Scout Reservation in South Phoenix, was positively one of the coolest, most interesting and fun experiences I had as section chief. Even the purpose of the Gathering is cool: to become more acquainted with the other section chiefs. We didn’t go to the Gathering to get some big training experience, or to compete or anything like that. It was simply to get to know one another better and share ideas.
Events at the Gathering included going to GameWorks and playing video games (part of a team-building experience). On Saturday, we spent the day doing more team-building exercises, went swimming, and went through some training on how to prepare and plan for conclaves. In the afternoon, we went to the region office in Tempe and Don (the Region Staff Adviser) gave us a tour of the facility. We also had a meeting to discuss what to expect at Dallas, and other things. On Sunday, we had an open forum discussion to share ideas about conclaves.
My recommendation for future section chiefs is to “just be yourself” at the Gathering. There were some chiefs there who were quite obviously campaigning and trying to impress others so that they could get votes at Dallas. If you try to do this, trust me, it won’t work. Just be yourself – there is no reason to campaign in the West. You will get to know everybody so well that the next region chief will be obvious even before the vote is taken at Dallas.
Other Events
Philmont Staff
I
had the wonderful opportunity to serve on staff at Philmont Scout Ranch during
the summer months of my term. I worked
in the backcountry as a program counselor at French Henry, a mining camp in the
north country of Philmont. Although
this wasn’t very related to anything OA, I did get the opportunity to go to OA
Trail Crew banquets because I was a section chief. I also sat in on part of the National Leadership Seminar put on
by the Western Region at Philmont Training Center, and hung out with some of
the Cahuilla guys who attended it.
Also, I would like to thank Dave Ramos for giving me the low-down on
Philmont staff, and also for providing me with a ride from Albuquerque to
Philmont. Although I am unable to work
on staff at Philmont this year because of school and NOAC, I hope to be back at
Philmont on staff sometime in the near future.
The Summit
While at Philmont, I took six days off to attend the National Leadership Summit in Fort Collins, Colorado. The Summit was a chance for OA leadership to get together and discuss the Strategic Plan, which outlines the goals and policy shifts of the OA over the next five years. I was able to pick up some good information regarding the new policies at the Summit, and also helped out with the Program staff, which put on the TOAD presentation. More than anything, though, it was a chance for me to catch up with my section after being stuck in the woods for ten weeks, and provided me an opportunity to get to know the other section chiefs better.
National Leadership Seminar
I assisted with the Area 4-East National Leadership Seminar in Phoenix in October. Prior to this, I had served on an NLS staff in March, while I was Section Vice Chief. If you have never been to an NLS, MAKE SURE YOU GO!!! It is well worth your time! And although they say you can only go once (unless you come back on staff), it’s even better the second time.
W-4C Conclave
Yet again, I went to Phoenix, this time for the W-4C Conclave, also known as “The Conclave” for political reasons. This is because it is the last conclave before Dallas, and all the section chiefs and national officers try to go. Dave Gregory, the Section 4C Chief at the time, did a great job with the conclave. Although in general, Section W-4C is not as spirited as Section W-4B, they do some good events, such as the Crazy Hat Dinner, to increase spirit. They also had a brand new high school as their conclave site, which made things easy. They have a rather odd way of doing sandpainting: They actually paint their sand with spray paint to color it. I helped out with this event, and my hands were very yellow for about a week afterwards. I like our way of doing it better. Overall, the conclave was really good.
University
of Tennessee NOAC On-site Meeting
Conference Vice Chiefs and region and national leadership attended the On-Site meeting in Knoxville so that we could get an idea of how events would be laid out at NOAC. I attended the meeting along with my adviser, Dan Segersin. The meeting was like a mini-Dallas, minus the politics, which made it quite nice. We walked through the site on Saturday morning, and broke up by committee in the afternoon so that we could see more of the campus facilities. In the evening, I gave a presentation to let the group as a whole know how our committee was doing. A highlight of the weekend was walking around in the pouring rain with Cameron and Dustin, and watching Fight Club at 3AM while waiting for Justin, whose plane had been delayed in Dallas for eight hours.
W-4A Conclave
The W-4A Conclave was held in late March at a high school in Carpinteria, just east of Santa Barbara. I drove up with Ryan Jordan from Tiwahe to attend the event. The site was great, and the weather was good too. One negative aspect of W-4A is that they don’t give discounts for visiting officers from other sections. The conclave had a bouncy-boxing ring, which I suggest we try in the future if the budget permits. I would comment on the food, but since none of the visiting section chiefs paid for registration, we weren’t allowed to eat. On Saturday night, we took a trip to UCSB to check out the scene there and visit one of Hayato’s friends. Overall, the conclave was good, and I highly recommend that future 4B chiefs go to the 4A conclave because it is so close.
W-5B Conclave
In early April, I journeyed to Colorado for the 5B conclave. Although it took a large chunk out of my wallet, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I bought my ticket through Priceline.com, and I highly recommend that any future chiefs who want to travel try this as well. It saved me over $80 on airfare. Once in Colorado, Brian, the section chief, and Matt, a former chief from 5A, met Cameron and I at the airport, and we drove from Denver to Basalt, a town near Aspen. The conclave itself was good. The facilities were nice. Section 5B has a strong Indian Affairs program which was highlighted in their show. I think the 4B Indian affairs events are strong, but if a future chief is seeking to improve them, 5B would be an excellent resource.
On Sunday, following the close of the conclave, I snowboarded at Aspen. All I can say is, wow! This in itself made it worth my while to travel all the way to Colorado for a conclave. In the evening, we drove back to Denver, dropped Cameron off at the airport, and hung out at Brian’s house. On Monday, Brian and I drove around Denver, and I flew out in the evening (the only negative part of a Priceline ticket is that you have to travel at weird times, like Monday evenings). Overall, the conclave was a good experience, I met some really interesting people, and I had a great time snowboarding at Aspen.
W-1B Conclave
In my mind, the 2000 W-1B conclave is the best section conclave ever. This conclave would give NOAC a run for its money. The conclave was held in Anchorage, Alaska, near the end of April. I also paid for this one out of my pocket, and it wasn’t cheap. I flew to Anchorage with Justin (4A) on a Thursday, and after arriving, we stayed the night at Brad’s (the section chief for 1B) house. On Friday, we toured Anchorage. There were about eight current and former section chiefs at the conclave, as well as former region chiefs Josh and Hayato.
The conclave itself was held at a brand-new middle school, which looked more like a college building. Participants stayed indoors, and most of the events were inside. There were ample facilities for training, including a computer lab for the class I taught on “OA on the WWW”. The auditorium was a great location for the shows, which were the best shows I’ve seen at a conclave. Food was good. They also had a patch auction, bouncy-boxing, jousting, sumo wrestling, a Velcro bungee run, and Indian affairs competitions. On Saturday night we went to an all-ages club in Anchorage (actually, the all-ages club in Anchorage). It wasn’t that great, and there were too many high school kids there.
On Sunday, the conclave ended, and a group of us drove to Portage Glacier. It was raining, so we didn’t get to see much, but we did eat Reindeer Pizza at a pizza joint near Alyeska Ski Area. Overall, the conclave was excellent. But for most sections, a conclave of this degree is not feasible, strictly because of finances. Section W-1B does a good job at shows and special events – I would recommend that future section chiefs contact their chief to see how they do it, since I think we could improve our conclave in both of these areas.
The
28th annual Section W-4B Conclave was held at Lake O’Neill on USMC
Camp Pendleton from May 5 to May 7, 2000.
Navajo was the service lodge for the conclave. The conclave started at approximately 5 PM with registration, and
the opening show was held at 8:30.
Originally, the plan for the show was to have a punk band, but due to a
lack of electricity, we changed plans and had a simple but effective show in
the middle of the field. For lights, we
circled about 15 cars up and left their headlights running throughout the
show. Features of the show included the
Lodge Chief Olympics, announcements, and a brief welcome message. In the Lodge Chief Olympics, the lodge
chiefs and advisers performed tasks such as lodge chiefs making nachos in a
bowl balanced on the forehead of the lodge adviser, finding things in pies, and
other activities. This provided a
chance for the lodges to show some spirit.
Also, it was announced that the Lakers had won, which made the crowd
even more cheerful. Following the show,
a Council of Chiefs meeting was held at the service lodge headquarters to make
sure the logistics of the following day were going to work. A Bear Facts newsletter was printed for the
following morning.
Overall,
I feel that the conclave went very well.
The site and facilities were the biggest hurdles to overcome, but we did
it with few problems. Attendance was
382 plus about 10 out-of-section guests, and 10 to 20 Arrowmen who visited for
the day. This puts the total attendance
over 400, an increase of 25% over the 1999 conclave. This is slightly more than the attendance at the 1998 and 1997
conclaves as well, but well under the goal of 500, and under the record for
W-4B conclave attendance, set in 1994, of 560.
Section Information Report
Section Conclave Transmittal
Financial Statement
Standard Section Award
The Lodges of Section W-4B
Wiatava
Overview of the Lodge
Wiatava Lodge #13, based in Costa Mesa, California provides a well-rounded program and excellent leadership training opportunities. The lodge has well-trained leaders and advisers at every level, including the section, region, and national. Current membership of Wiatava Lodge is around 1200 Arrowmen, making Wiatava the largest lodge in the section. Wiatava will continue to have a huge influence in the section in the future.
Pow Wow
I attended the 27th annual Wiatava Lodge Pow Wow in September. As always the cooking staff, under the direction of Tim Ritchey, did a great job. There was tremendous spirit from all the chapters. Attendance was good but probably could have been a little bit better. I had the honor of assisting with the Vigil call-out. Congratulations to the 23 new Vigil Honor members of Wiatava Lodge. The event was a great success, with lots of spirit. My only suggestion and challenge is to bring the spirit from the Pow Wow to Conclave and win the Spirit Award.
Lodge Meetings
I attended a few Wiatava Lodge meetings throughout the year. If possible, I recommend that future section officers attend meetings if for no other reason than to get in a quick word about the conclave. Plus, it’s always nice to see how things are running at the lodge level.
Lodge Banquet
The Wiatava Lodge banquet was really good this year. With four serving lines and ample food, Arrowmen were served quickly. This gave more time for program. The dancers were… interesting. Given the circumstances however, Lodge Vice Chief Leo Gutierrez did an excellent job of planning. I had the privilege of being the master of ceremonies for the event. Congratulations to the Arrowmen of the Year and the new recipients of the Founders Award.
Tiwahe
Overview of the Lodge
Tiwahe Lodge #45, out of San Diego, California, is definitely the up-and-coming lodge in the section. Tiwahe witnessed a tremendous growth in membership over the past couple of years, with a current membership of just under 1000 members. The lodge has strong, experienced youth leaders and capable adult advisers. Tiwahe Lodge is more than ready to serve as service lodge for the section conclave next year.
Lodge Banquet
I had the privilege of attending the annual Tiwahe Lodge banquet in January. The banquet was well organized, and the food was excellent. Congratulations to the Arrowmen who earned the various awards that Tiwahe Lodge presents, and also to the outgoing lodge officers, and the recipients of the Founders Award.
Spring Fellowship
I visited the Spring Encampment for part of the day at the Scout office in San Diego and had a good time. The food was excellent. The lodge provided service to the camp, and also had sports competitions for the youth. I believe Tiwahe Lodge is the only lodge in the section that does a spring event other than an Ordeal; I suggest that the other lodges check into the possibility of doing something like this as well. It gives active Arrowmen an opportunity to enjoy fellowship without having to do service or eat scant food. Also, in Tiwahe’s case, it also saves Arrowmen from driving a much longer distance to get to the council camp.
Navajo
Overview
of the Lodge
Navajo Lodge #98, based out of Ontario, California, was the service lodge for the 2000 Conclave. In terms of membership, the other three lodges in the section dwarf them. In spite of this, they had a tremendous showing at the conclave and did an excellent job handling the duties of service lodge. Unfortunately, I was unable to make it to any of their lodge events.
Cahuilla
Overview of the Lodge
Cahuilla Lodge #127, based in Redlands, California, has a tremendous service program, and explosive lodge spirit. Although they are not as large as Tiwahe or Wiatava Lodges, they always make their presence felt at section events. Members take great pride in being Cahuilla Arrowmen, and this is reflected in their lodge spirit. The lodge is led by experienced youth leadership and is guided by capable adult advisers. Lodge membership for last year was around 650. Cahuilla has a special challenge because it covers a large geographic area, which can result in low attendance at its events from the outlying chapters.
Fall Fellowship
I had a great time at the Cahuilla Fall Fellowship, held at Camp Emerson in September. Arrowmen participated in sports competitions between the chapters, and also in ceremonies and dance competitions. Elections were held in the afternoon, with Vinney Williams getting elected to a third term as lodge chief. I assisted with the Vigil ceremony on Friday night.
Lodge Banquet
The lodge banquet was at an
excellent location (CSUSB). Food was
good, and attendance was good as well.
I didn’t really like the speaker – it seemed like he was talking too much
about his campaign and didn’t really know what the OA was about. Also, I thought awards went kind of
long. You guys really have a lot of
awards! Congratulations to those who
received awards, including the Founders Award.
Post-Conclave Thoughts and Recommendations
Promotion
Promotion is the key to getting a high turnout at conclave. I felt that this past year, we did more promotion than in the past, although I don’t really think we got many more people out to conclave. The key promotion needs to occur at the chapter and lodge level, because these are the meetings that Timmy Arrowman attends. Also, I think a key place to promote is at the Ordeals, so that we can get the new Arrowmen interested.
Conclave Vice Chiefs
I think CVCs worked out well this year, although they could have been implemented better. Perhaps the number of CVCs can be reduced from 8 to 5 or 6. Also, try to select your CVCs as soon as possible so that things are easier to coordinate. This also makes it easier on communication.
Communication
The web page worked well last year – we had over 2000 hits. I recommend finding somebody who is very familiar with web page design and maintenance so that they can easily update it and change it.
Overall, I could have done much better communicating with the COC last year. One thing that we now use at the region level and for my NOAC committee is a emailing list – this could be very useful for the section as well. Minutes and agendas could be sent out via a mailing list, and files could be posted online for everyone to look at.
Even with all this technology, I still recommend that the section chief give each lodge chief a call once in a while. Also, try to attend as many lodge events as possible.
Conclave Site
This is a rather difficult subject, because there simply aren’t many suitable sites out there that could hold a group of 400+ Arrowmen. Here are the things that I’ve found to be important in selecting a conclave location:
· All areas of the conclave must be easily accessible and within walking distance
· Make sure there are enough enclosed buildings for the trading post, section headquarters, patch auctions, etc.
· Electricity must be easily accessible
· Provide sheltered areas for training classes – people do not want to sit out in the hot sun
· Numerous back-up sites are important! In 1998, Wiatava used its 7th choice as the conclave site
If the service lodge does not have a location selected prior to one year before the conclave, the COC should vote to approve or reject any possible sites prior to their being selected.
Recognition
Order recognition items early! Don’t wait until right before (or after) the conclave.
Bear Facts
Organize a committee to work on the Bear Facts. If the section chief has other out-of-section chiefs visiting, he will most likely not have time to stay up all night writing the Bear Facts. I suggest that either the CVC of Communications or Section Secretary head up this committee. Also, have the first edition printed prior to the conclave.
Shows
Set up a committee for this as well. It’s a lot of work for just one person. Perhaps a group could be put together to write a script and perform a show of some sort. I also recommend getting some sort of entertainment in the future. The Taiko Drummers were excellent this year, and got the crowd involved.
Training
Training didn’t go too well at this year’s conclave because there weren’t good facilities or enough time for it. In the future, I recommend that we focus more on providing quality training, instead of just going through the motions. The CVC of Training should seek to find the best trainers from around the region and within the section. Section chiefs that are visiting the conclave are an excellent resource for this. As far as the university training goes, I think we should continue this. A recommendation for the future is to give out nicer recognition, such as Section W-1B does.
Section Fundraiser Flaps
The flaps raised almost $4000 for the section. In the future, I would recommend selling some sort of pre-order patches similar to the flaps as a way to raise money for special events and reducing the cost of conclave fees.
Long Beach
A future section chief might want to look into the possibility of starting an OA lodge in Long Beach Area Council. If they had a lodge, they would likely be in our section.
Area W-4 Conference
A lot of people don’t like the idea of having an area conference, but we have had one before, and I think it would be a good idea to do it again. This could be a project for a future chief, as well.
Recommendations for the Region
Section Chiefs on the Region Committee
This came up as a topic of discussion between several past section chiefs. There are several reasons why I feel the section chiefs should be added to the region committee:
1) The Order of the Arrow is for the youth. As such, the youth should be responsible for more at the region and national levels. At the region level, there are fourteen highly qualified youth section chiefs and a region chief that have plenty of capability to decide how things in the region should be run
2) The youth in the Western Region basically already do run many aspects of the region. They plan the Region Gathering in October, provide staff for the National Leadership Seminars, and organize region events at the National Conference.
3) The Western Region has always had an advantage over the other regions. We are innovators; the other regions are followers. We were the first region to have a gathering; now all the regions have gatherings. We were the first region to have Hawaiian print shirts; now the Northeast has Hawaiian-print shirts “because Puerto Rico is in their region.” Go figure. We need to stay in the forefront of things. Already, the section chiefs of the Western Region are the closest-knit group of any of the regions. This gives an advantage to us at Dallas because we know each other well already, whereas other regions aren’t as close and don’t trust each other as much. If the section chiefs were on the region committee, this would make the group even closer, and would provide an even greater advantage for the Western Region.
Of course, this does bring up the problem of how to get the fourteen new members to region committee meetings…
Inviting Out-of-Region Section Chiefs to Western Region Events
This is tremendously important to the success of the West at the National Planning Meeting in Dallas each year. As it stood this past year, other regions block-voted against the West simply because we had had too many national chiefs in the 90’s. The most qualified candidates for both National Chief and National Vice Chief came from the West; but none were elected due to the anti-West sentiment. If you haven’t been to Dallas and are reading this, you’re probably laughing, but this is a real problem for section chiefs who are aspiring to be national officers.
The problem is that other regions perceive the West as being elitist and better than them (the latter of which, in my humble opinion, is quite true). To get around this, the West needs to be friendlier to the other regions and reach out to them. One way of doing this is inviting section chiefs from the other regions to Western (and 4B) conclaves. Whether they actually come or not is a different story, but in the future, the section chiefs need to try to be friendlier to the other regions.
Recommendations for the National Committee
Something needs to be done about the elections. Will and Andy were on the right track when they assigned seats so that regions couldn’t sit together. However, this didn’t stop people from immediately flocking to one of the four corners of the room after each round to plan out how they would vote in the following round.
I’ve seen the National Committee in action, but they still seem like a secret society. I think more information on what they do, who they are, and how to get on the National Committee should be made available.
NOAC Planning Committee
I was fortunate to have been able to serve as CVC for the Camping and High Adventure Committee for NOAC 2000. Members of the committee include Matt Dukeman (W-3B), Rob Wong (W-3A), Ben Janke (S-1), and Ben Pharr (S-?), as well as my advisers Dan, Bob, Marty, Marc, Mike, and others who have been helping out.
NOAC Committees are unique in the OA, in that they only meet twice: once at Dallas, and of course, at NOAC. This makes it challenging for communication, but we hold conference calls about once a month, and have an email list going.
The committee is in charge of the
Outdoor Adventure Place, the Extreme High Adventure, and the High Adventure
Expo events at NOAC, as well as some outdoor-related training courses. I can’t really elaborate on how well we did
as a committee yet because NOAC is in a couple of months, still. But so far, things are going really well,
and all areas of the committee are on task and on schedule.
Many Thanks
·
To my family
- Mom, Dad, Kate, and Grandma and Grandpa, for always being there for me and
offering support and encouragement.
·
To Andy, my
dog, for being one of my best friends
·
To my COC and CVCs - Vinney, Troy, Paul,
Bobby, Ryan, Mike, CJ, Brandon, Leo, and Steve. You guys were instrumental in putting on the conclave. Thank you for your dedication, time and
effort.
·
To Pack
1232, Troop 1232, and Sea Scout Ship 314 – my Scouting units over the years,
with which I have been able to enjoy some of the greatest experiences of my
life.
·
To Eugene
"Buddha" Kim, Dan Perez, and the adult advisers in Crow Chapter – you
guys inspired me to become active in the OA, and it is because of your encouragement
and guidance that I am where I am today.
·
Tony Fiori –
for giving me the low-down on Dallas, UCSD politics and elections, and for
offering advice and knowledge to me
·
Hayato
Nakawatase – for being an excellent competitor in lodge elections, but more
importantly, for being a great lodge chief, region chief, and close friend
·
Justin Boren
– for answering many of the questions I had about being section chief and CVC.
·
Brian Barth
– for putting on a great conclave, for letting me stay at your place, and for
giving me the grand tour of Denver.
·
Tracy
Schultze – for your infinite sarcasm and remarks that help me to realize that
it’s just a conclave, and also for your honest advice and opinions.
·
·
Steve Scott
– for giving me timely advice and criticism regarding the conclave, and for
giving me something to laugh about (USC).
Just kidding, Steve!
·
To my
advisers - Mike Stanton, Bob Graves, Robert Wright, Lawrence Moore, Steve
Bradley, Bill Scarberry, Steve Adams, Mike Philbrook, Bob Westmyer, Dave Ramos,
and Dan Segersin. You guys do a great
thing for the Order of the Arrow, and you have influenced my life in more ways
than you can imagine. Thanks for
providing me with guidance, allowing me to screw up once in a while, and for
being there for me when the going gets tough.
·
To all the
1999 and 2000 Western Region Section Chiefs – Cameron, Paul, Andrew, Brad,
Josh, Dustin, Will, Rob, Greg, Matt, Jayson, Justin, Dave, Gabe, Brock, Matt,
Brian B., and Brian L. – who would have ever known that all of us, each from
different areas of the country, would ever be assembled into one group? Thank you for everything – the suggestions
for conclave, the good memories, fun and fellowship. I know I will remain friends with you for many years to come.
·
To my
friends and roommates not in Scouting who put up with me, especially Mike,
Deena, Liz, Matt, Dana and Swetha, who have spent lots of hours driving to and
from the San Diego airport picking me up and dropping me off
· To the Arrowmen of Section W-4B – you make our section and lodges among the greatest in the nation. Thank you for everything you do.
Memories
·
Ditching the 98
conclave (when I was section chief) for prom
·
4 AM Kinkos
runs at the 99 conclave
·
2-day road trip
to the June section meeting
·
Larry Dylina's
RV at Philmont
·
Section spirit
& 26-inch pizzas at the Summit
·
One region's
(region shall remain nameless) section conclaves also double as family reunions
·
Cahuilla
Fellowship & Wiatava Pow Wow
·
Good food, good
lodge banquets
·
Being a
Forward, “Si, Se Puede” & spray-painting sand (4C Conclave)
·
Hearts at the
National Planning Meeting with Uncle Clint - oh yeah, NOAC planning, too
·
"Polartec
fleece jackets. Just what we'll need at
NOAC in the humid and hot Tennessee weather!"
·
"You are
the chief, and chief = God"
·
The
thunderstorm, “I am Jack’s raging bile duct”, and bowling at the on-site
meeting
·
Snowboarding at
Aspen for free (5B Conclave)
·
“It’s not a
motel, it’s a coffin!”, trip to UCSB (4A)
·
Reindeer Pizza,
clubbing in Anchorage (1B)
·
Using car
headlights for the Friday night show at the conclave, lodge chief Olympics
·
Taiko Drummers
Future Plans
In the future, I plan to concentrate on my studies here at the University of California at San Diego. I am majoring in Computer Engineering, and I’ll probably graduate sometime into my 5th year here. But in order to make that happen, I have to study harder. I would also like to stay involved with leadership. Recently, I was elected to a term on the college council. I’d like to go snowboarding more often, which is now infinitely more possible since my parents have graciously granted me access to a car.
As far as Scouting goes, I’ll probably take a step back from it for a little while so that I can concentrate more on getting good grades. I’d still like to stay involved though, and I’ll continue to go to conclaves and lodge events. I would also like to go back to Philmont on staff, and to more NOACs as well. Aside from the OA, I am also involved with Sea Scouting (UCSD Ship 314 Dauntless), and I’d like to get some sailing and advancement in this summer.
After college… well, I don’t really know what my plans are. Possibilities include the Air Force, Navy, working in the technology sector for a few years and then getting an MBA, working in the technology sector for many years without a graduate degree, professional Scouting, or possibly engineering grad school.
Final Remarks
A common saying that you might have heard your little league or
soccer coach tell you back in the day is "practice makes
perfect." I think of the Order of
the Arrow as a sort of practice - a practice for what is to come. In the OA, we are allowed to make
mistakes. We can practice and hone our
skills in the OA without much fear of any serious consequences if we mess
up. If we do screw up - well, we have
advisers to help us out and advise us on what we should do to improve or
correct what went wrong. I can't say
enough about the advisers I've had - they've had a bigger role in my life than
they can ever possibly imagine. They
have allowed me to screw up and have corrected me where I went wrong, and
sometimes allowed me to make mistakes and suffer the consequences to teach me a
lesson. But the experience I've got
from the OA is great practice for what is to come for me in a few years.
The OA teaches more lessons to youth than its founders could have
ever imagined. Among other things, it
teaches how to plan for events, how to become a great leader, gives practice in
public speaking and "people skills", teaches us about Native American
heritage, and gives us friends and brothers that we will keep for life.
Some of these skills are not as important as others, but in some
form or another, each one of us that is committed to the organization will put
a skill we learned in the OA to use in our everyday lives, whether it be
tomorrow, or ten years down the road.
When I originally got tapped into the OA, I planned on getting my
sash and patch and maybe going to a few chapter meetings, but that was it. I first became more involved after seeing
what the OA could do for my peers. I
saw Arrowmen, just like me who were active and having a great time in the
OA. I decided to join them and see what
that was like. After getting Eagle, I
thought about calling it quits, but concluded that I would not be able to do
that because of everything that I had got out of the OA and Scouting. So I continued to stay involved so that I
could give back.
What I have been realizing more and more lately is that there is
an imbalance in what I have given and what I have received. Every time I try to give back more, I end up
getting more than I gave back. When I
thought I knew just about everything there was to know, something new and
exciting came up and I took it in and learned from it. In my Scouting
experience, I have received far more than what I have given.
It seems like a dilemna.
I'm only 20, so I don't really know what to do about it. All I can say, is stay involved and don't
quit, even when you think you've got nothing left to give. In my six years as a youth in the OA, I lost
at least eight elections, including chapter chief, lodge chief, section chief,
and region chief. But I stuck with
it. If you find yourself in the same
situation as me, I urge you to stick with it!
Good things come to those who wait and those who persevere.
My experience as an active member of the OA has been one of the
most, if not THE most rewarding experiences in my life. Take advantage of your situation - become
active in your chapter or lodge or section, give back to Scouting, pick up some
nifty skills that will help you later on, and get in some good practice!
Sincerely Yours in WWW,
Mark Stickel
1998, 1999-2000 Chief
Section W4B Machquigen
Order of the Arrow
“As the warrior draws the
arrow
must trustworthy from the
quiver,
you were drawn from many
others,
for the first shaft of the
hunter
must be straightest, must be
surest.
If through many moons unflinching
you hold fast to Scouting
pledges,
straight and true you each
will travel
as an arrow driven skyward,
as an eagle soaring sunward.
He who follows such a
pathway
in unwavering cheerful
service
will be seen by many others
And, by inspiration, lead
them.”
- Kichkinet
from the Ordeal Ceremony