Time to Pow Wow...Mowogo Style!!!

Greetings, Fellow wearers of the Arrow!

We hope this finds you well and getting excited about our Pow Wow event next weekend. Current registration for the event has exceeded total registrations for this event in 2021 and 2020. If you haven’t registered yet, please do so and join us in fellowship as we prepare for 2023 by choosing our youth leadership for next year. If you have already registered for Pow Wow, thank you and we look forward to sharing fellowship together!

For those who are our newest members that joined us this year, Pow Wow is our time to share training in Order of the Arrow operations as well as other important aspects of Scouting as we continue to prepare for new members and celebrate the achievements of our youth. It is also a time for fellowship as our Chapters compete in the Quest for the Black Bear in games and competitions during Saturday afternoon. As a new highlight, our Lodge Chief has arranged for additional opportunities in Shooting Sports for our youth to enjoy!

Because our youth leadership continue to reach inward to make our lodge and our council better, they have also shown the strength and talent that we have enjoyed to a broader reach beyond our borders. At Pow Wow will welcome youth leadership from some of our fellow lodges in our Section. We will also enjoy having another Lodge Adviser from our section (in addition to being a Mowogo alum!) join us as well. It is an honor to have them join with us and share in our fellowship as honored Scouts. In addition, we have invited leaders from our districts and our council in Northeast Georgia to join us as well to say thank you for the support they provided in 2022 to help us reach a record percentage of units with Ordeal elections! We also want to let them see and experience what the largest youth-led program in the Northeast Georgia Council has to offer. Please take a chance and thank them for joining with us when you see them at lunch on Saturday.

Thank you also to those of you who have already submitted your letter of intent to run for a lodge office. The quality of Mowogo Lodge is centered on the foundation of the outstanding quality of our youth leadership which continues to reach new heights in service and leadership in our council and in our section and region. We encourage all of our youth to stretch yourselves and serve in a leadership role in Mowogo Lodge for 2023 and become a part of this legacy of exceptional leadership. The Letter of Intent (to run for a lodge office) and the Lodge Officer Expectations forms are attached to this article for you. If you have questions about being a lodge officer, we encourage you to reach out to our youth leadership, our lodge advisers, and your Chapter leadership to learn more.

Mowogo Lodge is the honor society for the Northeast Georgia Council. Thank you for continuing to show why this is true and for being role models for our Scouts and Scouters. Your presence and example will help Mowogo Lodge continue to grow as well as provide service and leadership unparalleled to our units and communities.

See you at Pow Wow!

Yours in Brotherhood, Cheerfulness, and Service,

Rusty Royston
Lodge Adviser, Mowogo Lodge
Northeast Georgia Council, BSA
P.S. Please to a moment to remember all those affected by the 9/11 tragedies that occurred 21 years ago today.

2023 Mowogo Lodge Leadership

Greetings, Fellow Wearers of the Arrow!

I hope this finds you looking forward to seeing each other in fellowship and in our shared sense of purpose soon. Pow Wow is not far off and your Lodge Executive Committee (LEC) is planning a full event for you to come and join in the fellowship with training, games, and ceremony. Pow Wow is the traditional event where our youth choose our Lodge Officers and leadership for the upcoming year. The importance of this process cannot be overstated. Our youth leadership continue to demonstrate the wisdom and foresight of the founders of the Order of the Arrow in providing youth opportunities for leadership as an important crucible of experience and potential for service.

Attached to this blog post is the 2023 Letter of Intent to Run for a Lodge Office. The Order of the Arrow is Scouting’s National Honor Society. Leadership in the Order of the Arrow is truly unique and special. Those that have served as youth leaders in the Order continue to serve as leaders in their communities around our nation and have for more than a century. Those that have served as leaders of Mowogo Lodge continue to serve as leaders in our communities and beyond including past Presidents of the Northeast Georgia Council, BSA.

Being a Lodge Officer is not an easy role. Nor is becoming an Eagle Scout. But the reward of both, as well as all other endeavors in Scouting, provide unique prospects to gain in understanding for self and others. Being a Lodge Officer in the Order of the Arrow provides experience and opportunities to learn organizational dynamics, to work with peers and people of shared passion and purpose, and to create opportunities for others to learn and grow. And that experience offers those that serve through leadership a lifetime of benefits. I still draw on my experience as a youth leader in Mowogo in my involvements in and out of Scouting.

If you are a person of commitment and have a vision that might improve our lodge, our members, our council and, most importantly, the Ordeal Candidates sent to us from their home units then please consider this opportunity to serve in the most unique way that only the Order of the Arrow offers. Please review the attached Letter of Intent to Run for a Lodge Office and the Lodge Officer Expectations document. If you have any questions, please let any of our current Lodge Officers, our Lodge Advisers, and I know and we will be glad to speak with you. A completely signed 2023 Letter of Intent and 2023 Lodge Officer Expectations document must be submitted to me by Monday, September 12 (the Monday before Pow Wow). You must submit the Letter of Intent to me by email: lodge.adviser@mowogo,org.

Thank you for all you do as honored Scouts!

Yours in Service,
Rusty Royston, Lodge Adviser
Mowogo Lodge, Northeast Georgia Council, BSA

Contragulations Marcia Bettich

Good evening, Mowogo Lodge.

I learned that our Sister Marcia Bettich will also be recognized with the BSA International Scouter Award at the Council Recognition Reception on August 13. So many good things happening because of so much dedication. So much to celebrate. Please consider joining in the celebration.

Congrats, Marcia!

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

Celebrate Our Brothers!

Good morning, Mowogo Lodge!
I hope this finds you well.

On Saturday, August 13, the Northeast Georgia Council will recognize volunteers in our council who have given much of themselves in service to Scouting. At this event, Scouters who have served in District and Council level roles will be recognized for being selected for the District Award of Merit and for the Silver Beaver awards for 2022. Another volunteer in our council will be recognized for his service to Scouting on the national level and was chosen by the Boy Scouts of America to receive the Silver Buffalo award.

As you may know, Vigil Honor Brother Jason Stribling of Demorest, Georgia was chosen earlier this year by the National Order of the Arrow Committee to receive the Distinguished Service Award for his many years of dedicated service to the Order of the Arrow beyond the service and contributions to Mowogo Lodge. Jason will also be recognized for the achievement at the Council Recognition Event on Saturday, August 13.

In addition to recognizing Jason, some of our active members will be recognized for being selected the Silver Beaver award including Jake Magahee, Christopher Ball, and John Hanes. And the very first Lodge Chief of Mowogo Lodge, Brother Abit Massey, will be recognized for his selection for the Silver Beaver award as well.

As you can see, the service of our members and many others that give so much to the betterment of all of the Scouting programs in our council are being duly recognized for their service. Each of you are invited to celebrate these outstanding individuals. Please consider joining with the rest of the Northeast Georgia Council in this celebration and let's show our brothers our appreciation!

Download the Council Recognition Event flyer

Yours in Brotherhood,

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