Brothers,

   Once again, I open this adviser minute with a simple challenge... Its show time in the Heart of Virginia Council and NAWAKWA LODGE 3 and we are now just a couple months...13 weeks...away from the biggest Conclave in our Sections history as of this adviser minute.

   Our challenge is to get every Lodge member who has paid Lodge dues over the past couple of years to recommit themselves to values of our Lodge and help us celebrate our Centennial year in 2019 by attending Conclave as a delegate or staff volunteer or attending one of the upcoming work weekends prior to Conclave in order to help us prepare our camps for our conclave guests and ensure they are in pristine showcase condition.

   The 2019 SR-7A Section Conclave will be held on April 26-28, 2019 at the Heart of Virginia Council camps in Goochland (Register Here!). Nawakwa Lodge has the privilege and responsibility to serve as 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. 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 2018 Lodge year with 1,123 members who were dues paying members of the Lodge. 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!!

   Registration for the 2019 Section Conclave is now open and more information can be found within the pages of this Tom-Tom for your reading enjoyment, use my link above and on our home page to register.Our Lodge members will also start to finally witness the construction of the Order of the Arrow Pavilion at Camp T. Brady Saunders in early March. Our Lodge fundraising efforts have secured over $500,000.00 for the project and our Lodge leadership is currently working with the HOVC Council and the Executive Board to complete the project by the end of summer 2019. This new facility will provide a significant improvement to the camp and provide enhanced program space for OA, District and Council events for the next century. You can still obtain one of the limited edition Lodge flap sets that was issued to help with the needed funding by visiting www.nawakwa.org/donate. 

   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. We are currently expecting our first female youth members to be joining us at the upcoming March service and Inductions weekend and have undertaken significant planning to ensure their elections and participation are of the same high caliber quality as has been our tradition for 100 years. 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.

   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 Spring Service and Induction weekend as well as the three Conclave work weekends prior to Conclave and DON”T FORGET TO REGISTER FOR CONCLAVE!!!

Yours in Brotherhood,

Michael Lynch | Lodge Adviser