By Philip Zeng
Have you ever been to a council of chiefs (CoC) meeting at a water park resort? If you have, then you are probably a part of Section C-7!
Section C-7 is made up of eleven lodges that reside in southern Wisconsin and the Chicago area in the Central Region. Arrowmen in the section are preparing for the centennial year of the Order of the Arrow, including Section C-7 Conclave in April, the theme of which is “The Centennial Spark”.
But how is Section C-7 prepping for its conclave and NOAC?
Section Chief Sam Gartzman, Section Vice Chief Tyler Harris and Section Secretary Matthew Koch have been implementing a touch of innovation into their CoC meetings in order to attract more Arrowmen to take part in conclave and NOAC planning. Their terms started back at the conclave last April. They met in the following months in order to plan out their year and goals and to think on what the section can do better with them in charge.
“We wanted to avoid Arrowmen saying, ‘We’ve been to one of those before!’ when planning out the CoC planning meetings,” said Koch. “We wanted to be as innovative as possible in order to keep the youth engaged, and not just through discussion either.”
And innovation did come to these CoC meetings. From service projects to a TED-style talk, Arrowmen were reminded that they were not just leaders when wearing their sash or uniform. Being a leader is a constant, which is what Sam, Tyler and Matt strived to remind everyone. In terms of planning, they were able to split up responsibilities among the section positions. The chief took care of conclave and NOAC preparation, vice chief the marketing and communications between the lodges and secretary the service projects, a new addition, to implement in the CoC meetings.
The fall CoC meeting was held on September 28th, at the Holiday Inn conference room in Platine, IL. There was much inter-lodge communication and fellowship, with a service project in the morning. Afterwards, discussion was held among the youth and led by senior Arrowmen before wrapping up the day on deciding the conclave theme and planning preparations. Section C-7’s winter CoC will be held on January 24th, 2015 at the Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin, where Arrowmen have the chance not only to receive promotional materials and news on conclave and NOAC, but also experience a very interactive environment in the water park.