2021 PreCamp Fellowship

Greetings, Fellow Wearers of the Arrow!

We hope this message finds you well, staying safe, and ready for “Pre-Camp”!!!

In less than two weeks we will gather once again, together, as a whole Lodge. No one is more excited than I am about being able to serve, share fellowship, and celebrate as the Northeast Georgia Council’s honor society with all of you. And as we prepare for this event, we need to remind ourselves of our commitment to our values and ideals as well as the respect we need to show for all of our members, especially the Ordeal Candidates that are being sent to us from both members and non-members of our Order.

The Spring Induction event in March was very successful thanks to great planning and execution by our lodge leadership. All of you that are new Ordeal members of Mowogo Lodge, we hope you will join us so you can meet all of our members. Our annual Pre-Camp Fellowship is an important opportunity for us to share fellowship as we prepare Rainey Mountain for another standout summer camp season. This summer will be special indeed as things open back up and people are ready to back outside! Mowogo Lodge plays an integral role in preparing the camp for each summer camp season. There will also be other opportunities to explore and engage in. Please consider joining us for this event. We are proud to have you in our fold and we appreciative of those that sent you to us!

While things are opening up and the Governor of Georgia has lifted many restrictions concerning the public health concern, we need to be respectful of everyone that will join us in just a couple of weekends. Mowogo Lodge participated in our annual Section Conclave a few weeks ago. One of the expectations that I think was thoughtful and appropriate was that we were asked to be respectful and kind to those that felt the need to follow more restrictive protocols. I agree and would ask all of you to do the same. There will be opportunities for gathering and those that will wear a mask will be given every courtesy and respect for their feelings, actions, and concerns. As Scouts and Scouters, it is the least we could do. As honor campers it is what is expected. We will eat our meals in the Dining Hall with appropriate protocols in place, however, the Dining Hall will not be a place to gather for socializing and Cracker barrels, those will be held in the TNT shelters on Saturday night.

There will also be a change in our Dining Hall operations during Pre-Camp. Brotherhood member Josh Sewell has accepted the new role as our Food Services Chair and Brotherhood member Frank Eberhart has stepped into the Lodge Food Services Adviser role. They have been planning and working on some new ideas and opportunities for more involvement from each chapter in this part of our operations. The changes have been shared with the Lodge Executive Committee so please check with your Chapter Chief to make sure you understand the changes and are there to serve at the appropriate meal. Thanks to both of these brothers for taking on these important leadership roles.

Since we did not have a Winter Banquet to end 2020, we will be celebrating and recognizing some of our members on Saturday night of Pre-Camp that would have been recognized at the banquet. While somewhat different since we are in the middle of our current year, it will be appropriate for all to see these recognitions and pay an overdue thanks for service and leadership by those who give and commit themselves to be examples and guiding lights for all of us to admire and emulate. This will be in the Stewart Amphitheater. There will also be other recognitions during this program as well.

This Pre-Camp Fellowship is a great opportunity for Mowogo Lodge to get back on the tracks without losing a beat. Thank you all for the sacrifices you have made over the past year-plus. It makes me proud to know that you, members of Mowogo Lodge and the Northeast Georgia Council, set and example of respect and courtesy for all to see and follow. If you haven’t signed up yet, please follow this link and register:

Member Registration for PreCamp Fellowship

See you in a couple of weeks!

Yours in Cheerfulness,

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

Due Recognition...

As I looked at the email I just sent out and read it, again, I realized an omission on my part that needs to be corrected.

We are most fortunate to have so many wonderful pictures of our members at Lodge function. Just about all of these are taken by our own Miss Suzi Wiggs. Being the picture taker by necessity means that there are few if any pictures of you, but that should in no way be misunderstood. Thank you, Miss Suzi! Thanks for recording these memories for us to have.

So the next time you see one of these great pictures, remember there is someone who sacrifices having their picture taken so that yours can be taken.

Thanks, Suzi!

Rusty

SR-9 Conclave 2021

Greetings, fellow wears of the Arrow!

We hope this finds you well, staying safe, and finding a way to serve others.

Mowogo Lodge participated in the 2021 Section SR-9 Conclave this past weekend at Camp Patten in Lakeland, Georgia. For our newest members, Mowogo Lodge is one of eleven Order of the Arrow lodges that make up our section, SR-9, which covers large parts of Alabama and Georgia. The Conclave is an annual gathering where many of the aspects of the Order of the Arrow are celebrated and shared with brothers and sisters from around our region.

Competitions and evaluations are a tradition at Conclaves and Mowogo Lodge came ready to compete. The Pre-Ordeal Ceremony from our Jutaculla Chapter was recognized as an “Honor Ceremony Team” for their excellent performance. Our members demonstrated some athletic prowess by winning the Ultimate Frisbee and Volleyball tournaments. And, Brothers J.J. Murray and Parker Scott showed their skill in Native American events including specialized dancing.

Special shout-out to Mr. Kevin Jones, our Lodge Memorabilia Adviser, for developing a “Kim’s Game” for all of the adult advisers from all lodges represented to participate in. Using pieces from his own collection, Mr. Jones demonstrated in a fun way the importance of history expressed through patches, uniforms, and other forms of memorabilia. It was a hit and was well visited. The buttons he made to distribute for those that played the game also were a big item of desire as well. Many thanks to Mr. Jones and all those that worked with him to make this a big part of Mowogo’s presence at the Conclave.

Thanks to all of our members that served as event coordinators, evaluators, and judges including Alex Foster, Jackson Francis, Elaine Foster, William White, Jason Stribling, Britt Bramblett, Steve Back, John Hanes, Victor Keils, and so many others (if I missed someone, please excuse any omission). Special thanks to our Host Lodge, Withlacoochee, for their service. And much appreciation for our Section Leadership who had to do double duty to prepare for a Conclave after a difficult year.

Something historic also happened at this Conclave. Each Order of the Arrow section is run by youth leadership just as each Chapter and Lodge is. Two of our youth leaders stepped up to run for two of the three offices at the Section level and both won! Our Lodge Chief, James Chalmers, and our Lodge Vice Chief of Membership, Jacob Ball, now serve as the Section SR-9 Vice Chief and Secretary, respectively. There have not been many members of Mowogo Lodge that have been elected to a Section office. And there has been only one other time when there were two youth from Mowogo Lodge serving as Section leaders at the same time. That was in 1978 when Jimmy Camp served as the Area (instead of “Section”) Chief and Hubert Harper served as the Area Vice Chief (thanks to Frank Harper for the history!). These outstanding young men will represent Mowogo Lodge at a level beyond our community in Northeast Georgia. I have no doubt they will represent us very well indeed.

Thanks to all of members that participated and to all of our adult advisers for helping get everyone there and back safe. We can take this very positive event and use it to make our Pre-Camp Fellowship experience for our Ordeal Candidates something meaningful and purposeful. Our lodge leadership is planning to make that goal a reality!

Yours in Cheerfulness,

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

BSA Medical Form - Conclave 2021

Good afternoon.

If you are planning to come to the Conclave this coming weekend, you will need to have a current (within one year) BSA Medical Form. If you participated in the Spring Induction Event either as an Ordeal Candidate or as a Member working the event, then we should have your form there with us and you do not need to bring one. If you did not participate in the Spring Induction Event, then you will need to bring a completed BSA Medical Form, Parts A, B1 & B2, with you. A blank form is attached for you.

Thanks, and I look forward to seeing those of you who are going to be there.

Yours in Service,

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