Deep in an area once used primarily by French trappers and voyageurs sits one of the Boy Scouts of America’s four national high adventure bases. On the weekend of September 6 - 8, Section C-1A held its annual Conclave at Charles L. Sommers Canoe Base, more commonly known as Northern Tier. Service lodge Ka’niss Ma’ingan chose this unique venue rather than their council camp. A section’s Conclave should inherently attract a solid audience, but adding a venue like Charles L. Sommers Canoe Base should, in theory, serve to attract even more people and add a special touch that would make this Conclave rise above the rest.
A typical C-1A Section Conclave has three major components: training, fellowship activities, and section officer elections. Training was handled on Saturday morning inside many of the buildings at Charles L. Sommers, and included sessions on lodge finances, lodge leadership development, ceremonies and Arrowpower2014, an inter-sectional event being held by Sections C-1A, C-1B, and C-3A in August of 2014. Fellowship activities included a powwow, a presentation of the new Brotherhood ceremony, a session of capture the flag and, for the youngest of each lodge’s contingent plus each lodge chief, the opportunity to canoe for a few hours in the boundary waters. While not all were able to canoe, everyone was allowed the opportunity to experience Northern Tier in a unique fashion.
The journey to Northern Tier was, for many lodges, part of the adventure. Tetonwana Lodge, serving eastern South Dakota, had a drive of over ten hours to get to the base. Meanwhile, Wahpekute Lodge in the middle of northern Minnesota had a shorter drive of only four hours. No matter the length of the drive to get to one of the most northern points of Minnesota, every lodge was represented well. Section officer elections, overseen by past section chief Dan Kobler and 2013 National Chief Matt Brown, drew the event to a high close. The exciting nature of this section Conclave will rule over the rest.
As the morning dew lifted off of the red pines and blue spruces, the Arrowmen of Section C- 1A drove away having experienced an annual tradition of activities, training, and elections, and also having a new drive for the Order. Our Order functions at many levels, and even though the section does not play the biggest role with inductions or membership, it does provide the membership with an opportunity to involve themselves in something bigger. It gives them an opportunity to find their brothers and themselves within our Order.