On April 12-14, 2013, the members of T'Kope Kwiskwis Lodge completed their biggest and longest project in recent memory. The members of the lodge dedicated their new S. Edmond Packard Memorial Longhouse, their primary ceremony site and lodge building at Camp Pigott in Snohomish, Washington.
"The longhouse is an enduring symbol of our lodge," said Reuben Steelquist, the T'Kope Kwiskwis Lodge chief. "We tried to make this fact a focal point."
The new longhouse is actually a reconstruction of the original longhouse, which was completed in 1962. That house was constructed out of cedar and was completely local, so it was not designed to last more than fifty years. In 1998, the local county declared it structurally unsafe and in 2002, the lodge opted to have it taken down. The project to build a replacement began almost immediately afterwards with the formation of a longhouse committee.
"This has been the focus of a lot of people in our lodge," Steelquist said. "Every lodge chief from 2002 to the present said that they would rebuild the longhouse."
It had proved difficult, though: things cost more today than they did in the early 1960s, and building codes are different. The lodge was able to raise most of the money through patch sales and private donations.
"We had a lot of private donors, many of whom had very personal ties to the old longhouse," Steelquist said.
After years of trying, the lodge finally got construction started and, ultimately, the building got to a point where it was inhabitable. The longhouse is noticeably larger than the old one and features internal heating and several classrooms for summer camp. Even with the new features, the project is not yet complete.
"We have some more landscaping work we want to do," Steelquist commented, "and some internal things need to happen."
Even with the final touches still left to put on, lodge members were recently able to use the new building for their ordeal.
"The effect that it had on the candidates was magical. As they entered, their eyes got bigger and bigger and bigger," said Steelquist.
Afterwards, the lodge invited the newest Arrowmen to the dedication weekend and it was one that the lodge will never forget, as it united old and new generations of Arrowmen.
"One of the things that was awesome was the way that it brought the older and newer members together," Steelquist said. "We had about 27 past lodge chiefs attend. It was cool to be able to talk to them and talk about issues with the lodge, and one of the things we learned is that they aren't new issues. They are the same issues that keep cropping up in new ways."
This allowed for a truly unique experience for younger Arrowmen to be inspired by what it means to be a member of the Order of the Arrow.
"I think it was an eye-opening event at least for a lot of the new Arrowmen," Steelquist said. "We had a lot of brand-new, week-old Arrowmen come up for it. It was a great experience to just get them talking. Just the energy about it was almost like being at a NOAC - not the same scale, but the same energy. It was a really cool weekend."
Though the longhouse may be completely new, there are still remnants of the old one, specifically on the front face of the longhouse, which features the siding from the original.
Josh Donahue Lodge Ledger