1966 National Planning Meeting

The year-end 1966 National Planning Meeting was held at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, the site scheduled for the 1967 NOAC. Robert F. Szczys from Chatoka Lodge, Bottineau, North Dakota was elected National Conference Chief and Mark Samios from Shingis Lodge, McKeesport, Pennsylvania was elected National Conference Vice Chief. The Deputy Conference Chiefs selected were Paul A. Leonardi, Roger D. Maine, Gary Tomlinson, David W. Tharp, Charles Marr, David Boone, Stephen E. Lickey and Michael J. Moseman.

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First OA Jacket Patch Issued

Prior to 1967 the Order of the Arrow did not have a jacket patch. In fact, they really did not have a logo. They had of course used American Indian themes, but there was no standardized design. That all changed with the introduction of the first jacket patch featuring a multicolored American Indian chieftain. The design had been introduced circa 1961 and was used extensively starting at the 1961 NOAC.  The design is attributed to Martin Mockford.  The jacket patch was an immediate hit and became iconic in Scouting. At the 1967 World Jamboree it was among the most sought after items by the rest of the world. The design was retired in 1976.

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1967 World Jamboree in USA

The 1967 XII World Jamboree was hosted by the Boy Scouts of America and was held at Farragut State Park, Idaho, from August 1 to 9, the 60^th anniversary of Baden-Powell’s experimental Boy Scout Camp on Brownsea Island.

A total of 12,011 Scouts participated in the Jamboree representing 105 countries. The BSA host country allotment was limited to 4,282 Scouts.

The theme was “For Friendship” and featured Arena shows, skill-o-rama activities, an adventure trail, aquatics activities, a representation of Baden-Powell’s Brownsea Island Camp, a Jamboree-wide game and the thrills and spills of a real Western. Key visitors were Lady Baden-Powell and U.S. Vice President Hubert Humphrey.

OA Service troops supported headquarters operations for the Jamboree including commissary service, dining area service, telephone service, traffic control, and conservation demonstration areas.

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NOAC 1967

Building on the great success of the 1965 NOAC, 4,148 delegates traveled to the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Over 400 different lodges had a contingent. The Conference theme "With Hearts and Wills United" also built on the 1965 theme. They both came from the same stanza of the Ordeal ceremony:

We who bear the obligation

Of the Order of the Arrow

Mindful of our high tradition

Ponder that which is our purpose

Pledge ourselves to cheerful service

With the guidance of our Maker

We with hearts and wills united

Pledge to serve His holy purpose.

Golden Sun Lodge of the Cornhusker Council served as the host lodge. Alden Barber, Scout Executive of Chicago Area Council was the keynote speaker. Barber had recently been selected to become Chief Scout Executive upon Joseph Brunton’s retirement. E. Urner Goodman gave his traditional challenge at the close of the conference.

Along with the traditions of training, Indian Pageant and the OA Distinguished Service Award (DSA) presentation, this conference had an unusual first (and likely last). The NOAC program started with a parade. The parade began with five white Chrysler Imperial convertibles. The first contained incoming Chief Scout Executive Alden Barber and the Lt. Governor of Nebraska. The next contained the Founders, Goodman and Edson. Unami Lodge led off the parade of lodges that were presented in lodge number order with all 4,000 delegates marching along. They carried banners and blow-ups of their lodge flaps. There were floats, Indian dancing with music provided by the Offutt Air Force Band and the Brotherhood Arrow Band. The parade took an hour to pass in review.

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1967 DSA Recipients

The Distinguished Service Award (DSA) is presented to those Arrowmen who have rendered distinguished and outstanding service to the Order on a sectional, regional, or national basis. The following were presented the DSA at the 1967 National Order of the Arrow Conference - Alma D. Banks, Harold W. "Hal" Cairney, William R. Clary, Judson "Jud" Compton, Michael S. Costello, Roger J. Frey, John R. Miltner, Bruce A. Moore, Walter W. Nappa, James J. Petro, Robert H. Schley, William E. Slesnick, Harris M. Tanner, Gary A. Waldorf and Arthur B. Wood.

3, Awards, OA, Scouting

Red Arrow Award

The Red Arrow award was created in 1967 to recognize individuals who are not members of the Order of the Arrow, for outstanding service to the Order. In many ways this award is the OA’s equivalent award to the Distinguished Service Award (DSA) for Arrowmen, except it is the award for non-OA members only. This attractive award has varied in design over the years. The award currently is a red arrow and medallion superimposed on an engraved plaque. A miniature charm for civilian wear is also available. The Red Arrow Award can only be awarded by action of the National Order of the Arrow Committee. Recommendations by nomination form are sent to the National OA Director.

The National Order of the Arrow Committee at each NOAC presents the Red Arrow Award at the same time as the DSA. The recipients of the Red Arrow Award are either non-Scouters or Scouters who are not members of the Order of the Arrow. Prior to 1988 this included all women.  The service to the Order of the Arrow may take many forms and usually involves a significant period of time, as opposed to a single event. Only a limited number of awards are presented (52 have been awarded in just over 43 years), therefore, only those nominees whose accomplishments are of the highest magnitude are recognized. Nominations are not accepted or considered for posthumous awards.

Year Name Hometown

1967 William DeGrace - Birmingham, MI

1967 Harvey U. Gill - Indianapolis, IN

1967 Jack E. Platt - Union, NJ

1969 W. Norris Wentworth - Bloomington, IN

1971 Dominic Spilatro - New Brunswick, NJ

1975 Natasha Hawaka - North Brunswick, NJ

1975 Doris Tonemah - Norman, OK

1975 Scott Tonemah - Norman, OK

1977 Paul Y. Dunn - Cranbury, NJ

1977 Annaliese Kruegar - New Brunswick, NJ

1977 Allen White - Bloomington, IN

1979 Mary L. Feil - Cascade, CO

1979 Louise Goodman - Penney Farms, FL

1981 Hilda Abbot - Atlanta, GA

1981 David Christensen - Big Timber, MO

1981 Ginger Ihlow - Bloomington, MN

1981 Bonnie Stock - Irving, TX

1983 Ann P. Jennings - Memphis, TN

1983 Nettie Shawaway - Parker, WA

1985 Judy M. Kolb - Lewisville, TX

1986 Robert A. Patyk - Philadelphia, PA

1986 Marjory Phillips - Dayton, NJ

1986 Arthur F. Werner - Kenmore, NY

1988 Sharon Bartholomew - Sunnyvale, CA

1988 Margaret B. Cash - Memphis, TN

1988 Rachel Rand Jones - Kensington, CA

1988 Alayne M. Werner - Kenmore, NY

1990 Nina C. Dukes - Findlay, OH

1990 Jeanne Hudak - Irving, TX

1990 Melvin Kerchee Sr. - Lawton, OK

1990 Nettie Kerchee - Lawton, OK

1990 Marion Sanders - Chicago, IL

1992 Katie Chase - Annadale, VA

1992 Carolyn Jaegers Thom - Louisville, KY

1994 Karen Lee Chastain - Kennesaw, GA

1994 Elizabeth B. Knapp - Clayville, NY

1994 Jeanne Ann Rivera - South River, NJ

1996 Phyllis Collins - Cridersville, OH

1996 Vivian B. Haskell - Downers Grove, IL

1996 Sandra Story - Cincinnati, OH

2000 Chief Curtis Zunigha - Tulsa, OK

2002 Carolyn A. Bartlett - Middletown, OH

2002 Daniel Andrew Norris - Bloomington, IN

2002 Michael W. Schwandt - Bloomington, IN

2002 Carolyn Toler - Irving, TX

2004 Joseph Csatari - South River, NJ

2004 Nancy Gully - Naperville, IL

2004 Paula G. Mont - Powder Springs, GA

2006 Irene Fujimoto - Tempe, AZ

2009 Rosetta LeClair - Ponca City, OK

2009 Sandra Reti - Parlin, NJ

2009 Patricia Swedenburg - Dallas, GA

2012 Barry G. Funderberg - DeMotte, IN

2012 Jeanette Lord - Nashville, TN

2012 Cory Mensen - Ely, MN

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Onward Arrowman Plan II

Based on the success of the Onward Arrowmen Plan implemented in 1965, an Onward Arrowmen Plan II was announced at the 1967 National Conference. It included a two-year focus by the Order in four main areas: a Personal Challenge, a Lodge Challenge, an Area Conference Challenge and a National Challenge.

As presented in the winter 1968 national bulletin, it read as follows:

   ONWARD ARROWMEN PLAN II

   With hearts and wills united, let us strive to meet these challenges:

   PERSONAL CHALLENGE

   Each Arrowman will strive to:

- Be more aware of his spiritual commitment.

- Seal his bond in the Order by attaining the Brotherhood Honor.

- Accept his obligation as an Arrowman and a Boy Scout or Explorer today – as a Scouter tomorrow.

- Advance in Scout rank, or as an Explorer, fulfill his responsibilities in his post program.

- Recruit one new boy or adult into Scouting annually.

- Promote the correct wearing of the uniform through personal example.

   LODGE CHALLENGE

   Every lodge, in cooperation with council camping and conservation committees, will strive to:

- Improve its support of the council camping and conservation program.

- Perpetuate our American Indian culture and traditions.

- Develop a training program for new lodge and chapter officers and advisers.

- Promote leadership among younger members.

- Assist with promotion of outdoor and camping skills by:

1. Providing visual aids for camping promotion.

2. Compiling an up-to-date “Where to Go Camping” booklet for Boy Scout troops and Explorer posts.

- Improve communication through regular publication of lodge bulletins and newsletters.

- Conduct annual Order of the Arrow membership elections in every eligible Boy Scout troop and Explorer post.

- Maintain complete and current membership and financial records.

- Implement revised membership requirements through the lodge program as they become effective.

   AREA CONFERENCE CHALLENGE

   Area training conferences are held at least every other year for the purpose of training lodge and chapter officers and advisers. Emphasis will be placed on:

- Camping promotion and service to camping.

- Improving interlodge relationships in the spirit of Brotherhood.

- The national Order of the Arrow training program.

   NATIONAL CHALLENGE

   The National Order of the Arrow Committee, together with the camping and conservation service, will aid Arrowmen, lodges, and areas by:

- Maintaining national standards for lodge organization and administration.

- Providing training aids and information.

- Encouraging total lodge participation in a nation-wide Order of the Arrow camping and conservation promotion program.

- Promoting professional Scouting as a career.

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Fifth National OA Secretary

In the fall of 1968 Martin Mockford stepped down from the position of National Secretary of the Order of the Arrow. Mockford had served for nearly 10 years in the position, longer than any previous secretary. Mockford was moving on to become Deputy Regional Scout Executive in Dallas, Texas.

Mockford’s replacement was David J. Boshea. Boshea was coming into the position with the most professional Scouter experience of any new National Secretary. Boshea had been a professional for 18 years and was serving as an Assistant Borough Scout Executive in the Greater New York Councils. Boshea served as National Secretary for five years.

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An Arrowman's Profile - Desegregation of OA

Dr. David Briscoe grew up in Mars Hill, North Carolina, a small agrarian community 18 miles north of Asheville. He joined the Boy Scouts in 1965, earned Eagle Scout in 1968, and became a member of Tsali Lodge 134 in 1968. He was the first African American inductee and Vigil Honor member in that lodge which had existed for thirty years, at a time where segregation still dominated the South. He received Brotherhood in 1969, and the Vigil Honor in 1973. What follows is Dr. Briscoe’s Scout story as told in own words.

I helped organize my first troop. I was fourteen years old. It’s an interesting story, because in 1963, I was bussed from Mars Hill to the city schools in Asheville. I went to a one-room schoolhouse for six years. When you went to the sixth grade you had to be bussed to the city for the seventh and eighth grade junior high, and then once you got to the ninth grade you went to the Stevens High School. That’s a major high school in Asheville. Junior high for seventh and eighth grade was (segregated) black. So let me tell what happened to me. I’ll never forget when we had library period. Here I was in the seventh grade. I went to the library and there was a rack over there with magazines. And there was a Boys’ Life. And I looked at that Boys’ Life and I nearly went crazy. The Boy Scout Handbook had Scout hiking; man I lost my mind. I was just so enthralled with all that.

But there was no black troop in Mars Hill, but there was a white troop...102, in Mars Hill. Segregation was de jure at that time by law. I knew all these white kids but we didn’t mix when it came to going to school and Scouting activities.

So a year and a half went by and my buddies and me pretended to be Scouts. We pretended to be Scouts, unofficially. There was a black kid in Asheville that was part of troop 154. Okay, he brought an old battered handbook to class one day. He brought it to class and I was looking at it and I said, ‘I need to buy this book from you. I said, how much do you want for it?’ He said, ‘A dollar.’ Had I known that I could have gone up to the Scout shop I could have bought a brand new one for a dollar. So I bought it. I saved my lunch money. Lunch was 25 cents a day.

I skipped lunch. I bought the Scout Handbook. They had a section in the first few pages that said that if you lived in a community that there was no Scout troop, you could organize a Lone Scout patrol or a neighborhood patrol. So I wrote to Edgar Wolfe at the national office who was in-charge of rural relationships. I still have the letter.

He sent me a letter back, he wrote ‘Master David Briscoe, you live in an area under the leadership of Ken Drupiewski the Scout Executive of the Daniel Boone Council.' So in two weeks the district executive named Frank Gay came to visit my uncle. My uncle was a big community leader. And we got the Scout troop started. My uncle was my Scoutmaster.

I passed my Tenderfoot requirements in front of the whole troop. And I’ll never forget my uncle said, ‘Which of you boys will be my first Eagle Scout?’ I raised my hand. I was scared. I raised my hand. I did become that Eagle Scout. So I always take credit really. So my dad was involved, my brother’s were involved. Later my brother was my Scoutmaster when I earned my Eagle. 

Dr Briscoe has received many honors and has provided a lifetime of service to the Order, Scouting and the community. He received the Founders Award in 1991 and the OA Distinguished Service Award in 1992. Dr. Briscoe served on the National OA Committee from 1993 to 2003. He received the Silver Beaver in 1981, the Silver Antelope in 1996, the Silver Buffalo in 2005, and was conferred the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award in 2008. Dr. Briscoe has served and continues to serve on many national Scout committees.

Dr. Briscoe is presently a Professor of Sociology at the University of Arkansas, Little Rock where he has taught such courses as Introduction to Sociology, Family Violence, Family Sociology, Experiences of Black Americans, and Social Problems.

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Randolph Scott

Another African American Arrowman who made significant contributions to Scouting and the Order was Randolph Scott. An Eagle Scout from Clairton, Pennsylvania, as a youth he was a member of Shingis Lodge and was elected to area chief. Scott attended the 1962 National Planning Meeting and was chosen to serve as the deputy conference vice chief of training for the 1963 National Order of the Arrow Conference (NOAC).

Scott graduated with a B.A. in social studies and education from West Virginia Wesleyan College and a master’s degree in education administration from the University of West Virginia. Professionally Scott continued his work with Scouting as an Exploring Executive and training at the National Executive Institute when it was based in Mendham, NJ. He also continued working on NOAC staffs and became the first African American Distinguished Service Award (DSA) recipient in 1969 while working for Exploring in Portland, Oregon as a member of Skyloo Lodge.

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NOAC 1963

The 48^th Anniversary Conference was held at the University of Illinois, Champaign and Urbana. A record 3,105 Arrowmen attended the meeting. The Conference theme was “Catch the Higher Vision”, the name of a recently completed painting by artist Joseph Csatari. The 1963 NOAC followed the pattern of the past several conferences. Training sessions were again a primary purpose of the meeting. Always a highlight of a conference, the OA Distinguished Service Awards (DSA) were presented. As had become the tradition, Founder E. Urner Goodman gave the closing challenge.

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Csatari Paints "The Higher Vision"

The Higher Vision is an incredible Order of the Arrow themed original oil painting by Joseph Csatari. It is a powerful image depicting Uncas handing down the legend of Wimachtendienk in pictograph on a skin to a young Arrowman so that the Order will have the legend for posterity. The National OA Committee received the painting as a gift in October of 1963. The back-story of how the OA received this painting is as extraordinary as the painting itself.

Lee A. Ellison was an early member of Aquehongian Lodge, Staten Island Council, Greater New York Councils. Ellison served as Lodge Adviser from 1940 through 1957 in addition to serving as Scoutmaster of Staten Island Troop 43. While Ellison was beloved by the Arrowmen of his lodge, he actually performed a quiet and virtually unnoticed service for the Order. It was Ellison that personally researched the authentic Lenni Lenape pictograph symbols and he designed the symbolic legend. With Ellison’s assistance fellow lodge member (and Lodge Chief mentored by Ellison) Walter Vines created the original deerskin legend that is on display at William H. Pouch Scout Camp in Staten Island. The very same legend revealed in The Higher Vision.

When Lee Ellison passed away in 1961 his fellow Vigil Honor members wanted to find a way to remember their brother. The decision was made to commission a painting. They contacted OA National Secretary Martin Mockford who recommended artist Joseph Csatari. Csatari was a young artist of 32 at the time. He was a protégé of renowned BSA artist Norman Rockwell. Years before Csatari would become the official BSA artist, he painted The Higher Vision.

The Arrowmen in the painting is of a Scout from Ellison’s Troop 43 and a member of Aquehongian Lodge. He is wearing the lodge’s 25th Anniversary slide issued in 1963 and he is receiving Ellison’s designed legend.

The National OA Committee has recreated the enduring image of The Higher Vision as a porcelain figurine and as a bronze; the proceeds of which support the OA Endowment used for scholarships and High Adventure programs. In 2004 the design was used as the basis for the patch for the NOAC. The Higher Vision was the first Csatari painting owned by the Order of the Arrow and began a lifelong relationship.

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