Fall Fellowship
Greetings, Sisters and Brothers!
We hope this finds each of you well enjoying the crisp seasonal weather and readying yourselves for Fall Fellowship this weekend at Scoutland on Lake Lanier!
This weekend we will leave a lasting mark on one of the Northeast Georgia Council’s most important properties. Scoutland has served Scouting in our council for many decades. It serves as the staging environment for several programs and events including camporees, council jamborees, family camping, unit camping, youth and adult leader training programs: National Youth Leadership Training, Outdoor Leadership training, Baloo, Wood Badge, and many more. As an example, lead volunteers for council-level programs will be meeting in Cleveland Hall to discuss plans and status for each of their programs together as they have for many years this Saturday from 10:00AM to 1:00PM while we provide cheerful service and share fellowship. They have also been invited to share lunch with us as well.
This opportunity has brought many memories from the times I have enjoyed Scouting and learned many lessons at Scoutland over the past 46 years. My first experience there was as a First Class Scout during a camporee in the spring of 1977. The patch from that event stayed sewn on my uniform for many years (shown below). My unit camped in what is now the parking lot above the admin building. There are too many other programs and events I have participated in at Scoutland to mention.
Scoutland is a beautiful property on Lake Lanier geographically located near the center of our council. Mowogo Lodge has provided service there in the past. In 1992, the Lodge Chief Kevin Jones led the first service and Ordeal weekend there. In 1999, Mowogo Lodge held a Pre-Camp Fellowship there. And many of our Chapters have held service events there as well throughout the years. Last December, the Lodge Executive Committee voted unanimously to begin holding an annual Fall Fellowship at Scoutland beginning this year in 2023. Building on the work that began in 1992, Mowogo Lodge will now have a regular presence at Scoutland. We now have the opportunity to share the cheerful service tradition that Mowogo Lodge is known for (both in our council and nationally) to a place that provides the unique experiential learning that Scouting, and specifically Scouting in Northeast Georgia, offers.
Service projects have been lined up and materials for completing them are there or are on their way. To begin this service, we will inform all participants at breakfast Saturday morning where and what needs to be accomplished. If you have the following items and equipment, please consider brining them so that we can complete as much as possible this weekend:
- Battery-powered (charged) hand drills
- Socket sets
- Framing squares
- Impact wrenches
- 7/16” metal and wood drill bits
- Other hand tools
- Hand gloves
As this setting is somewhat new for Mowogo Lodge, please be patient and flexible as we learn together how to accomplish our tasks and goals at Scoutland. The Lodge leadership has been preparing for this new event all year. Our food services team has been working to prepare the kitchen for this event. I salute them for their vision in bringing this opportunity to reality. Their vision for Fall Fellowship is in part based on the time and experiences they have had there and they know the importance of Scoutland in providing the same chance for others to have their own learning experiences there.
As of this morning, almost 160 have registered for Fall Fellowship with more than 30 of those preparing for their Ordeal experience. Please remember that the most important task before us is creating a meaningful Ordeal experience for those sent to us from their home units. That experience serves the Lodge, the Order, and, most importantly, Scouting by recognizing those that their fellow Scouts, Venturers, and Scouters have honored by sending them to us.
Thank you for what you do and represent. And thank you for doing your part to make this first annual Fall Fellowship a success.
See you this weekend!
Yours in Cheerfulness,
Rusty Royston
Lodge Adviser, Mowogo Lodge
Northeast Georgia Council, BSA
