In Scouting, we depend on communication to help us retain members and get more members involved. One of the most important aspects of communication is a having an effective newsletter and Toloma Lodge of the Greater Yosemite Council has found success in reviving theirs.
Arrowmen in Toloma Lodge named their newsletter The Missing Lynx, a name that comes from the concept of brotherhood and their lodge’s totem.
This newsletter had been around for some time and gained national recognition in the past but it had not been around for the past couple of years. Recently, the lodge has begun a rebuilding process and has already successfully published one issue this year. Toloma Lodge Chief Kyle Silligman remarked that the centennial anniversary of the Order of the Arrow was the perfect time to revive the newsletter since the purpose of the centennial is to bring history back to life.
As with all newsletters, The Missing Lynx aims to pass along information to all members. The lodge does this by having a team that works on the newsletter. Toloma Lodge’s secretary is in charge of the newsletter and has other Arrowmen assist in the writing, photography and publishing processes.
The lodge secretary decides what the articles should be about. Normally, one article is about the most recent event and there are several others that talk about upcoming events, ranging from their lodge and chapter events, all the way up to section and national events.
In the year of the Order’s centennial, Toloma Lodge is embracing its history and using its past to spark its future. What can your lodge to re-ignite its program and strengthen the bonds of brotherhood?