Goodman, Post Professional

In 1951, after 36 years as a professional Scouter and having reached age 60, Goodman retired from the BSA. Never one to stay idle, he immediately took up the leadership of the newly formed United Church Men of the National Council of Churches in Christ.As general director, he had the opportunity to form the national organization at both the executive and volunteer level, with the goal of increasing men’s religious activity in the local church, the community, and the individual. Specific goals included growth of men’s groups in local churches, financial support for church-affiliated colleges, support for missionary work, and fostering ethics in the workplace.

Goodman’s efforts proved successful, and within the first year half the states had organized United Church Men’s departments. After two-and-a-half years, he suffered another attack of tuberculosis, and he retired on September 1, 1954.

1

Goodman Memorial Service

In the late winter of 1980, while visiting his children in New Jersey, Goodman caught a cold, which turned into pneumonia. He went to Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan, where he could have specialists treat him, but he remained in intensive care. He passed away on March 13.

He planned his own funeral to include lots of music. It took place at Penney Farms on March 29. National Chief Jeffrie A. Herrmann and National Executive Secretary William F. Downs eulogized the founder. Downs spoke of his leadership as a member of the professional staff of the BSA, and said he was both a gentleman and a gentle man. Taking his cue from the Order’s ceremonies, he ended with the words, 

May the virtues which he represented glow the brighter in our hearts and consciences.

1, Founders, Goodman, OA, Profile, Scouting

Goodman

Infinity, dear brothers, extends not only outward to the reaches of that clear blue sky… but also inward, to the heart of each human being. E. Urner Goodman 1975 NOAC closing address.

Goodman lived in an era of great change – from horse and buggy days to men on the moon. He also lived a life of great change. He knew much joy – a good childhood with friends and family, a successful career, a loving wife, three wonderful children and the lifelong inspiration of his faith. He also knew much tragedy – the death of his mother and aunt when he was a little boy, months of quarantine for diphtheria, tuberculosis as a young man, and the death of his son George in World War II.

Like the hero of Baden-Powell’s favorite play, Peter Pan, Goodman was one of the many men who sought to put off growing up by engaging in a life’s work consumed with the things of boyhood – outdoor fun among good friends, acting chivalrous by helping others, giving everyone a chance to play, being loud and silly. Thus was the Scouter rewarded in his work with youth.

He had mastered the art of leadership, and had success after success professionally and with the Order of the Arrow, because he gave away to others the opportunity to be in charge, to exercise authority, to be creative, to take responsibility.

He was loved by all because of his self-effacing manner and his desire to do what was best for others, putting his own needs last. Always a peacemaker among Scouters, George’s death convinced him that world brotherhood was a worthy goal.

As he said at the end of his career with BSA:

I had indeed found my life mission… . Those 36 years of professional service, 16 years as Executive in Philadelphia and Chicago, and 20 years as national program director, brought rich rewards, far beyond any salary considerations. They represented the work, above all others, that I wanted to do.

1, Founders, Goodman, OA, Profile, Scouting

Founder's Award Established

Introduced at the 1981 National Order of the Arrow Conference (NOAC), the Founder's Award was created to honor and recognize those Arrowmen who have given outstanding service to their lodge. The award is reserved for Arrowmen who demonstrate that they memorialize in their everyday lives the spirit of achievement as exemplified by the Founder E. Urner Goodman and Co-Founder Carroll A. Edson. Lodges are permitted to award up to four Founder’s Awards annually, based on their total membership.

1

First OA Pow Wow at National Jamboree

The highlight for Arrowmen at the 1964 National Jamboree was the first Jamboree Order of the Arrow Pow Wow. 15,000 Arrowmen gathered together at the Valley Forge arena to hear featured speakers Founder E. Urner Goodman and former National Chief and current Chief Scout Executive Joseph Brunton, Jr. The event was described at the time as the largest ever gathering of Arrowmen and likely remains the largest such assembly to this day.

Goodman spoke to the audience first. He discussed camping, brotherhood, leadership and service. Goodman stated that the Order was in its fiftieth year of service and that he had great confidence and great hope that the Order would be well served for the next fifty years in the hands of the attendees.

Chief Scout Executive Joe Brunton spoke next. He noted the presence of the very same Chief’s bonnet that he had been first to adorn as National OA Chief in 1938. He reminded each Arrowman that they were a significant part of the OA program and then challenged them to remain humbly committed to serving others.

1

50th Anniversary Dedication

On the weekend of June 11-13, 1965 Unami Lodge hosted an Area 3A conference at Treasure Island. Part of the area conference program was the dedication of a plaque commemorating the 50^th Anniversary of the Order. Four hundred Arrowmen were on hand along with the Founders, E. Urner Goodman and Carroll A. Edson,  the Order’s first chief George Chapman and the Order's first Guide and Guardian of the Trail, Harry Yoder. The Plaque reads:

‘Mindful of Our High Tradition’ On July 16, 1915 the first ceremony of the Order of the Arrow, W.W.W., was held at this place. In celebration of the 50^th anniversary of the founding of the Order and in honor of 764,947 Scouts, Explorers, and Scouters who became members of the Order of the Arrow during the past 50 years we place this marker.

 

Dedicated this 12^th Day of June 1965

 

E. Urner Goodman and Carroll A. Edson

Founders of the Order of the Arrow

 

L. George Feil Chairman, National Committee

Joseph A. Brunton, Jr., Chief Scout Executive

Thomas J. Watson, Jr., President, National Council

W.W.W.

1

NOAC - 50th Anniversary

For the fifth time the OA returned to its most familiar setting for Conferences, Indiana University, for the NOAC celebration of the 50^th Anniversary of the Order of the Arrow. A record 4,237 delegates representing every state in the nation attended the Conference. There were greater than 1,000 Arrowmen more in attendance than any previous Conference. The fitting theme for the conference was chosen from the Ordeal Honor ceremony, “Mindful of our high tradition.”

Chief Scout Executive Joseph A. Brunton who had 25 years earlier similarly opened the 25^th Anniversary Meeting as National Chief now opened the 50^th Anniversary Meeting with the keynote address. At the 25^th Anniversary Meeting there were a fraction of the lodges and attendees as the 50^th Anniversary Meeting. Now as head of the entire BSA he again stood before the assembly of those who bear the Obligation. With great pride and enthusiasm Brunton challenged all Arrowmen to reach their full potential in spirit, mind, faith and body.

Like past NOACs, there were dance competitions, athletic contests, patch trading, fellowship and the presentation of the Distinguished Service Awards (DSA). Training was again one of the primary activities of the conference. The closing session ended with Goodman in his usual role of giving the final challenge to the Arrowmen. Goodman’s challenge was simple.

Arrowmen must carry the Order through its next fifty years.

1

50th Anniversary of BSA

1960 marked the 50^th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America. The fiftieth birthday of Scouting was an opportunity for all Scouts to join hands and show the nation and the world what Scouting had done, was doing and will do in the future. A number of key activities and events took place during the Golden Anniversary year to commemorate this significant milestone.

A golden anniversary commemorative postage stamp was issued to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of the Boy Scouts of America and this would be the only time that Norman Rockwell would do a painting specifically for a Boy Scout handbook cover. A special tribute to Scouting in Washington D.C. was held and in June, 1960 the new Johnston Historical Museum located in New Brunswick, New Jersey was dedicated. Scouts participated in the third nationwide Get-Out-the-Vote campaign, but the big event and recognition of this key milestone was the Fifth National Scout Jamboree that was held near Pikes Peak Mountain and Colorado Springs, Colorado where 53,378 Scouts and leaders attended.

During this anniversary year, those that could not attend the National Jamboree (the rest of the 5 million members of the Boy Scouts of America) participated in a number of local activities across the country to celebrate Scouting’s Golden Jubilee. Cub Scout jubilees and Explorer jubilee field day events were held. Boy Scouts and their leaders were active in showcasing Scouting by holding gigantic jubilee camporees, not in the back woods as was traditionally done, but in scores of public places such as downtown parks and town squares.

As stated by Chief Scout Executive (and 1922 Grand Lodge Chief), Arthur A. Schuck, “We are prepared. We are a youthful movement – fifty years young! We have grown strong through helping others, The best years are ahead.”

1

Elder Goodman

Goodman’s retirement in 1951 allowed him to spend more time with his wife Louise. They lived during the winter in the Penney Farms retirement community near Jacksonville, Florida and during the summer at a small farm in Bondville, Vermont, with both a house and a barn, which the Goodmans converted to living quarters with rooms for their children and grandchildren, named Brotherhood Barn. In 1948, OA lodges from around the country sent stones from their local camps to Bondville, to be incorporated into a new fireplace at the barn. A sketch of Goodman talking to two Arrowmen in front of the fireplace became an icon, and graced the Founder’s personal stationery.

The happy couple traveled around the world in 1962, starting from Vermont, crossing Canada and the US Pacific Coast by train, then from San Francisco to Hawaii and Australia, on to Malaya, Ceylon, Aden, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Gibraltar, Great Britain, France, Ireland and back to New York. They stayed with the Governor General of Tasmania, Lord Rowallan, a former Chief Scout of the British Commonwealth. At the annual St. George’s Day parade at Windsor Castle, when the Royal Family reviews the year’s crop of Queen’s Scouts, Goodman met Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip.

Always devout, Goodman wrote hymns and religious music throughout his life. He also served as a lay minister, which he was able to do for longer periods now. During his life, he held 26 pulpits, including two at sea during cruises.

For many years, Arrowmen urged him to write an autobiography. In 1965, to celebrate the Order’s 50^th birthday, he penned a series of reminiscences called The Building of a Life. True to form, the autobiography of this modest man of great accomplishments was less about him than it was about the many people he encountered during his life, and how each of them impacted him. He actually prepared an outline for a biography to be written by several friends, but it never materialized.

He busied himself with the innumerable activities of the Order. He was an active member of the National OA Committee, mostly in the role of an adviser. He spoke at lodge and section events, and visited with individual Arrowmen, usually high school or college students, who trekked to see him at Penney Farms or the Brotherhood Barn. He was the featured speaker at National OA Conferences (NOAC), often entertaining the crowd with his singing or organ playing, and always giving the closing address and challenge at the final show – a blend of humor and inspiration no Arrowman would ever forget.

1

500th Lodge Formed

On November 19, 1953, Ona Yote Kaonaga Lodge of Rome, NY chartered. The Order had reached the lofty milestone of 500 chartered lodges. The Order of the Arrow was present in every state; fewer than 100 councils remained that did not have OA.

1

OA Service at National Jamborees

The OA has provided service at Boy Scout National Jamborees since the second event in 1950 at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. For most of the early Jamborees, that service consisted of OA Service Troops, made up of youth Arrowmen and led by selected adults. However, recent years have seen the role of the OA at the Jamboree grow into an integral part of the BSA’s largest gathering.

In 1937, participation by the OA was limited to a few things done to promote and spread the word about the OA. The 1950 Jamboree marked the introduction of an OA Service Troop with 36 Arrowmen chosen to serve. Duties included behind the scenes items ranging from delivering mail to the troops to guarding dangerous locations. A Service Troop of 18 Arrowmen supported the 1953 Jamboree and a special fellowship assembly was held just for Arrowmen and in 1960, support expanded to two Service Troops.

In 1964, the Jamboree returned to Valley Forge, and from then on the role of the OA at the Jamboree has steadily grown. Participation by the OA had grown to approximately 200 Arrowmen. An OA Pow Wow was introduced that was attended by some 15,000 Arrowmen, and included remarks from both founder Urner Goodman and Chief Scout Executive Joseph A. Brunton to launch the OA’s 50th Anniversary celebration that would be concluded at the 1965 NOAC. In 1967, the OA also supported the first BSA hosted World Jamboree by providing service.

In 1973, a total of ten Service Troops were provided to support the two-location Jamboree; and a Jamboree Youth Advisory Committee for the first time was created from OA members.

In 1977, the Jamboree was held north of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at Moraine State Park. It was at this event that the OA first expanded its role at the Jamboree of handling functions other than an OA Service Corps. The corps itself was comprised of more than 100 Arrowmen. OA Vice Chairman Carl Marchetti and Executive Secretary Bill Downs were asked to supervise a youth staff subcamp for the Jamboree. In this new organization, the Order would be responsible for oversight of not only the service corps, but also all youth staff (aged 16 to 20) at the Jamboree. No matter what their program assignment was on site, they would be housed, fed, and provided transportation, recreation, and other services by an OA-led team. This increased the impact of the Order across the entire Jamboree, as there was 600 to 800 youth staff members at the time. The OA also, this year, presented an exhibit in the National Exhibits area showcasing the Order.

The 1989 National Scout Jamboree saw a significant increase in OA involvement at the Jamboree when several new activities were added to the mix. A five-troop OA service corps (139 Arrowmen) provided invaluable service at the Jamboree, plus an on-site radio station, WBSA, conceived by Mark Chilutti and Angelo Cappelli. For the first time, the Order set up a Native American Indian Village with 45 youth and adults providing a busy program of crafts, skills, and dancing. Finally, the OA conducted a rendezvous in the main arena with over 10,000 Arrowmen in attendance.

In 1993, the OA continued its expanded service to the Jamboree, again held at Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia. The Native American Indian Village returned with an expanded program, including culture, crafts, and dancing. Jamboree participants completed more than 175 Indian Lore merit badges. The OA once more took on the oversight of all youth staff, providing them with food, housing, Scoutmasters, transportation, and recreation. A new event—the “model campsite,” which demonstrated proper backcountry camping techniques—was led by the Order. The OA show (pow wow) proved to be a huge success with approximately 15,000 Arrowmen attending.

The OA once again expanded its support as the Jamboree returned to Virginia in 1997. With the Service Corps becoming an ingrained component of the event, and the OA Indian Village established as well, two new areas were added: The Outdoor Skills Place (or TOAP), and a new big hit called Odyssey of the Law, an interactive show and video presentation that challenged Scouts to rely on the Scout Oath and Scout Law when making decisions in their lives. The Odyssey of the Law show was one of the most popular attractions at the Jamboree and was attended by 20,000 Scouts and Arrowmen.

In 2001, the OA again made significant contributions to the National Scout Jamboree. Scouts continued to visit the OA Indian Village to learn about dancing and crafts and to try some authentic American Indian food. The big show in 2001 was called Scoutopia. After the success of Odyssey of the Law, which was funded by the OA, the BSA’s Jamboree leadership built the cost of Scoutopia into the budget, along with strong support from the U.S. Marine Corps.

By the time 2005 rolled around, the OA was very active throughout the Jamboree. TOAP continued with great success and registered its largest turnout since it was started and Twelve Cubed, an interactive show run by the OA, was another huge success offering an air-conditioned indoors experience to tens of thousands of Jamboree goers.

And at the 2010 National Scout Jamboree and celebration of the 100^th Anniversary of the BSA, the OA once again was an integral component, preserving its rich tradition of serving others while providing an invaluable experience to all who attended. A total of over 600 Arrowmen served in a variety of capacities. PACEsetters (Personal Accountability and Commitment to Excellence) was a new addition to the Jamboree and the “show” in 2010 was called the Mysterium Compass, which presented five different acts of the “your life is like a compass” experience. Scout’s started their Mysterium Compass experience by entering a “Vault” that included a spectacular display of historical Scouting and OA memorabilia.

1

400th Lodge Formed

In August of 1948, Quetzel Lodge (later re-named Wawookia Lodge) in Lewiston, Idaho became the Order’s 400^th Lodge to charter. Now that the Order was fully integrated as a National BSA program it had spread to more than two thirds of all councils.

1, OA, Scouting