Brothers, We Are Ready!!! Well, almost… It’s show time in the Heart of Virginia Council and we are a mere seven months from the biggest Conclave in our Sections history. In reality, we are also less than four months away from yet another big milestone in our Lodge’s history.
In February 2019, we will start our journey on a new path in our Lodge by not only extending our membership to our Venture and Sea Scout programs, but also welcoming in female youth members under the age of 21.
This is truly an exciting time and we are ready to begin this journey together and broaden our membership in the Order of the Arrow bringing a whole new dimension to our obligation and our admonition. I look forward to working with each of our members to prepare our Lodge, our Chapters and our members for this exciting opportunity.
In addition, we are now just seven short months from the 2019 Section SR-7A Conclave and welcoming our Brother Lodges to the Heart of Virginia Council Camps in Goochland as we prepare to be the Service Lodge and welcome our Section Brothers and guests from all over the region in recognition of over 100 years of Scouting in Virginia.
In 2019, our Lodge will celebrate our 100 years of service to the Central Virginia area and will serve as the Service
Lodge for the 2019 Conclave. This is a HUGE responsibility for our Lodge as we are not only responsible for fielding a well-rounded Lodge contingent with more than 250 Arrowmen participating in Conclave events, we will need to staff the Service Lodge side of Conclave by providing well over 300 members serving our Lodge and the Section as staff members responsible for overseeing all aspects of the Conclave mechanics; Registration, Transportation, Trading Post, Facilities, Shows, Ceremonies, American Indian Affairs, Food Service, Health and Safety, to name just a few areas as well as support for each of the Conclave Vice Chief’s as they prepare and facilitate the program side of the Section Conclave. We will need EVERY Arrowman in our Lodge to participate in one of the two areas; as either a Conclave Delegate or as a Service Lodge Staff member.
We finished the 2017 Lodge year with over 1,100 members who were dues paying members of the Lodge. We are currently sitting at just below that number, 1,023 as of this writing. We would like to CHALLENGE EVERY DUES PAYING MEMBER OF OUR
LODGE to consider registering for this Centennial year Conclave and make this the biggest Conclave in our Nation’s history!! Taking into consideration, over the course of the last 5 years, our Section has put on some of the biggest Conclaves across the nation. We are averaging over 1,000 participants each year. If our Lodge could have every dues paying member register and attend, our Lodge would match the 5-year average all by ourselves; add to that the expected 700-800 members from our other Section SR-7A Lodges and we could easily surpass the largest recorded Conclave in Virginia, which by the way was Nawakwa Lodges 75th anniversary!!! We have precedence and I know we have the most dedicated Scouters and Arrowmen right here in the Heart of Virginia Council and as members of Nawakwa Lodge…Who Are We? NAWAKWA 3!!!
Registration for the 2019 Section Conclave is right around the corner and actually should be active by the time the Tom-Tom is published for your reading enjoyment. https://sr7a.conclaveregistration.org/ I would also like to extend a huge thank you to the Lodge membership, especially our Lodge members responsible for the Fall Service Weekend, which was unfortunately cancelled due to Hurricane Florence that hit our area in September. We are grateful for those members who offered help with taking down tents at Brady Saunders and helping our Rangers with much needed service to our camps. We will be modifying our normal Fall Fellowship schedule and activities to allow us to complete taking camp down and preparing it for the winter months ahead.
Your service is greatly needed and I hope you will register for the event and help me and the Lodge Offices and Executive Committee members welcome our newest Induction Candidates, those members completing their ordeal journey to Brotherhood and all our other members in giving cheerful service to our Council Camps, which serve as our Lodge home. As always, our Lodge continues its journey to excellence by improving our program, membership and funding. This is only possible because we are able to stand firmly on the solid foundations our brothers before us have provided through their unselfish dedication, hard work and cheerful spirit…our future is bright because of this
legacy and I look forward to working with each of you to ensure we build a lasting legacy for the next generations of our Brothers. Be sure to volunteer to help at one of the upcoming events; your service is greatly needed!! I’m looking forward to seeing our members at the upcoming Fall Induction, Service and Fellowship weekend. and DON'T FORGET TO REGISTER FOR CONCLAVE!!!
Yours in Brotherhood,
Michael Lynch
Lodge Adviser ORDER OF THE ARROW
Nawakwa Lodge 3
4015 Fitzhugh Ave.
P.O. Box 6809
Richmond, Virginia 23230
C: 804-512-7194
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