Conclave...in Paradise!

Good evening, Fellow Wearers of the Arrow!

The 2024 Section E6 Conclave is now upon us. For the first time ever, Mowogo Lodge will provide the Section youth leadership for one of our Conclaves for two consecutive years…that’s right, back-to-back! Historic. To add to the Mowogo connection, the Lodge Adviser of the host/service lodge is an alum of Mowogo with his own Mowogo record having served as Lodge Chief for three consecutive years…back-to-back-to-back! We also claim Miss Emma Wright as a distant member of the Mowogo family too!

To demonstrate the sense of Cheerful Spirit from honor Scouts and Scouters from Northeast Georgia for this Conclave, I am very proud to share with you that, besides the host lodge, Mowogo has the largest lodge contingent registered for the event. Many thanks to our Lodge Chief and Lodge Executive Committee who worked very hard to promote our participation in this Conclave. In addition, our Mowogo Lodge Food Services Team will be leading the food service at Conclave in support of the host lodge and section. Among the usual reasons to enjoy a Conclave experience, the connection to this Conclave, this weekend, is deep, active, engaged, and…well…’all in,’ for this weekend. Thank you to all who are participating, have promoted, and are serving this weekend. Many firsts, sounds like the Mowogo I know!

For those not able to make it, you will be missed but not forgotten. For those of you attending, be prepared to engage, seek out and learn, be open to learning, and, if necessary, be prepared to serve when asked. It is a Scouting event and one should always be prepared to serve. With so many Mowogo firsts and connections, what an honor to participate and serve if asked for this territorial event.

Be safe in your travels.

Yours in Brotherhood,

Rusty Royston
Lodge Adviser, Mowogo Lodge
Northeast Georgia Council, BSA

Big Grill for Conclave

Good afternoon, fellow wearers of the Arrow!

We hope this finds you well and enjoying this beautiful weekend. Next weekend is Conclave and, as of now, the weather is looking great for it!

Our amazing food services team has agreed to take on the task for organizing the food for Conclave and tackling the Saturday evening Luau feast. They are in need of a large charcoal grill to meet the growing need. If you have access to one and can bring it, please let Brother Frank Eberhart know by email to foodservices.adviser@mowogo.org so he can discuss with you the logistics.

Thanks and looking forward to some great fellowship and another one of own leading the event!

Yours in Brotherhood,

Rusty Royston
Lodge Adviser, Mowogo Lodge
Northeast Georgia Council, BSA

Brother George "Bud" Dyer

Greetings, Sisters and Brothers.

I reach out to you to share the news of the passing of Brother George “Bud” Dyer just this past Easter Sunday. Uncle Bud, as I would come to know him, was Scoutmaster, among many other roles, of Troop 406 in Hiawassee for several years in the 1970’s and 1980’s and was chosen for the honor of membership into the Order of the Arrow from that Troop. Troop 406 attended Rainey Mountain for many summer camps and Uncle Bud became friends with Carnell Gullett who was the Ranger during that time. He also served for a time on the Executive Board of the Northeast Georgia Council and started the Young Harris College Merit Badge Clinic in 1986. My connection to him was based on Scouting, but our relationship developed outside of Scouting.

I worked for three and half years after graduating high school and was very involved in Scouting as what Lodgemaster categorizes as a ‘YA’ (Young Adult). I then decided to go back to school and chose Young Harris College, a small residential private institution an hour west of Rainey Mountain. Uncle Bud was the Director of Admissions and worked with me to get enrolled. Our shared love of and belief in Scouting was an instrumental first discovery in our relationship.

I joined a fraternity my first quarter at Young Harris College (YHC) and Uncle Bud was the fraternity’s advisor. This combined with his knowledge of our Scouting connection led to his recruiting me to help him get the Merit Badge Clinic program started. My time at YHC was some of best I’ve enjoyed and I still have many friends today that I made while there. But I learned and continue to learn that there was much more to the education I experienced there than just attending classes and completing a course of study.As a small residential college, we were in close contact with others and there was a special quality of community.Not just in the formal sense, but in learning to live in community. And while there are many I still love, admire, and appreciate from that time, Uncle Bud was special and he knew how to make one feel cared for, loved. He emulated for me not just what, but how, I believe Scouting impacts our world, and not at Scouting functions or events, but in another community.He had a very developed skill of empathy and knew how to connect with people, how to place himself in their world.

There has been a major outpouring from the many lives he impacted and influenced recruiting students, as a long-time administrator, as the Lead Volunteer Fireman in Young Harris, and as a committed member of his church and his community. He served for almost three decades as the advisor to our fraternity and this news spread like wildfire Sunday evening and Monday morning.In each of these roles he made a positive impact on those he lived in community with. Bud hired my wife and was her first supervisor at YHC almost 30 years ago. He made an indelible impact on us both.

He always seemed to live, as best that anyone can, the Ideals and Spirit of Scouting. His life was an example to me and many others of seeking what’s best in others and our world by his daily approach and interactions. His ties to his community were deep because he committed himself to it. He was always calm and knew how to work as part and as a leader of a team, a community.

I believe that he lived as a servant leader and it is good to know that he shared the values we share and aspire to today. He was a role model I needed. It’s good to know they are out there. Thank one of yours if get the chance.

Thank you for being role models and all that you do to make our world better. Bud's life example is proof that it can happen. He didn't wait for the community to come to him. Neither should we.

Please lift up the Dyer Family during this time of transition. You can view his obituary here.

Yours in Brotherhood,

Rusty Royston
Lodge Advisor, Mowogo Lodge
Northeast Georgia Council, BSA

NOAC 2024

Greetings, Fellow Wearers of the Arrow!

It was announced today that all available slots for the 2024 National Order of the Arrow Conference at the University of Colorado at Boulder have been secured. Mowogo Lodge has secured slots for our contingent. Registration and additional information will be forthcoming. Please be on the lookout for this.

Including those that are serving on the staff for the event and delegates is limited to less than 9000. It should be an amazing experience!

Yours in Cheerfulness,

Rusty Royston
Lodge Adviser, Mowogo Lodge
Northeast Georgia Council, BSA