1962 National Planning Meeting

As had become the tradition, the Area Conference Chiefs and the National OA Committee met at the end of the year to plan the upcoming National OA Conference at the National Planning Meeting. In 1962 they met at site of the 1963 NOAC, The University of Illinois, Champaign and Urbana, Illinois. During the meeting Robert B. Ellsperman was elected Conference Chief. Ellsperman resided in Lakewood, Colorado and was a member of Tahosa Lodge.

For the first time since 1946 (when it was an adult position) a National Vice Chief office was created. Gerald R. McNellis of Agaming Lodge, St. Paul, Minnesota was elected National Conference Vice Chief. The seven appointed Deputy National Conference Chiefs were Ed Salter, Rick Ayers, Ralph Bollinger, Randolph Scott, Larry Teshara, Ronald Wilkinson and James Knepler.

3, Elections, OA, Scouting

550th Lodge Formed

On June 23, 1961, Menawngihella Lodge of Fairmont, WV became our Order's 550^th lodge. Fewer than 25 councils remained without the OA.

3, OA, Scouting

NOAC 1961

For a fourth time the Order returned to Indiana University for the 1961 National Order of the Arrow Conference. A record 2,800 delegates attended training classes, participated in campcraft and joined in fellowship. The Conference theme was, "Weld Tightly Every Link – Brotherhood – Cheerfulness – Service – Camping".

Making a return to the Order of the Arrow was Co-founder Carroll A. Edson. Edson had last participated in the OA in 1933. Dr. Goodman brought Col. Edson back. Edson had been involved in a non-Scouting career in the time following World War II.

Arrowmen flocked to finally see the two founders together. The number one prize was to obtain their signatures on an OA sash. Anytime, anywhere the two Founders stopped together, whether it was a campus bench or a sofa inside a dorm, a line would immediately form and Goodman and Edson would cheerfully oblige and sign sashes. This tradition lasted until the last Conference they attended together in 1979, although the opportunities became limited in the latter years.

The Conference Committee of Area Chiefs challenged the Arrowmen to Build, Serve and Achieve. The Distinguished Service Awards (DSA) were presented. Goodman again gave the final challenge to the assembled Arrowmen.

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Direct Service Lodge Formed

On May 1, 1962 Gamenowinink Lodge was chartered for BSA members in Direct Service Council. The lodge did not become functional until 1968.  Direct Service Council was created for members of the BSA not served by local Scout Councils domestic or abroad. Generally these were Americans and their dependents stationed on military or diplomatic duty, but also included Americans abroad for business opportunities. Any group of five or more Arrowmen served by Direct Service Council could form a chapter. With the formation of Gamenowinink Lodge the OA was present throughout the world.

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OA Abroad

For the first thirty years of the Order, all lodges chartered were from BSA councils within the United States. The first lodge not located in a state was in a US Territory. Nanuk Lodge from Alaska Council chartered on March 20, 1947. In 1947 a single council served Scouts throughout the entire Territory of Alaska. The geographic area served by Nanuk Lodge was almost equal to the area of all of the other existing active lodges combined. Eventually the Alaska Council would split into three councils.

The first lodge to form in a foreign country was Chiriqui Lodge. In May 1948, Canal Zone Council received its charter. Scouts were initiated at Camp El Volcan.

On January 18,1951 Cuauhtli Lodge chartered for the Scouts of Camp Aztec. Camp Aztec was a camp for the BSA in and around Mexico City, Mexico.

The Scouts on the Big Island of Hawaii, Territory of Hawaii chartered Kamehameha Lodge serving Camp Holomua and the Kilauea Council on March 30, 1951. Two other lodges formed on the Hawaiian Islands, both after statehood in 1959.

Black Eagle Lodge chartered on September 25, 1952 serving Transatlantic Council. Transatlantic Council served all of Europe and a few places beyond. Black Eagle Lodge fellowships have been likened to mini NOACs. That is because many of the lodge members were originally from other lodges and Arrowmen have learned to include the Black Eagle Fellowship as part of a summer Europe tour itinerary. A single fellowship could have Arrowmen connected to as many as 100 different lodges in attendance.

Hinode Goya Lodge chartered for Far East Council on August 2, 1953. The lodge served BSA members throughout Japan and other Far East countries.

Yokahu Lodge chartered on May 5, 1954 for BSA in Puerto Rico. The lodge started at Camp Guajataka.

On March 22, 1957 Kootz Lodge chartered serving Southeast Alaska Council. Southeast Alaska was one of three councils from the split of Alaska Council. A third Alaska lodge formed (Toontuk Lodge) after Alaska became a state in 1959.

Baluga Lodge formed at Clark Air Force Base, Philippine Islands in May of 1959.The lodge is renowned for issuing a beautiful and rare flap patch and neckerchief. The embroidery was hand-loomed Asian embroidery and had a very different look from domestic badges. The lodge only existed for a few years. Baluga Lodge was absorbed by Hinode Goya Lodge and became a part of Far East Council.

Gamenowinink Lodge was charted by the Order on May 1, 1962. The lodge did not commence functioning until 1968.  The lodge was technically headquartered at the National Office, which at the time was in North Brunswick, New Jersey. Gamenowinink was the lodge for Arrowmen in Direct Service Council. Direct Service Council is the BSA council for Scouts and Scouters located anywhere in the world not served by any other extra-territorial BSA Council.

In May 1969 Virgin Islands Council split off from Puerto Rico and formed its own lodge. Arawak Lodge was formed at Camp Great Pond.

The last lodge to form outside of the United States was Achsin Lodge. Achsin Lodge was chartered in 1968 for Chamorro Council and served Guam. Chamorro Council merged five years later into Aloha Council based in Honolulu, Hawaii.

In 1979 there was an attempt to form a lodge out of the Gamenowinink Lodge chapter for Direct Service Council Arrowmen in Iran.  There were many BSA members based in Iran at that time and the 1979 World Jamboree was scheduled to be held there.  A charter was set for approval and a number, 575, was assigned / requested.  Even a flap patch was made.  But Gondwanna Lodge never was launched.

3, OA, Profile, Scouting

1958 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 1958 National Order of the Arrow Conference - Richard L. Chappell, Paul A. Siple, Kenneth K. Bechtel, John R. Donnell, David M. Dunbar, L. George Feil, Fred J. Gehl, Jr., C. M. "Jack" Hedinger, Carl M. Marchetti, Harry M. Maxwell, John F. C. Sheridan and Russell A. Turner.

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Paul Siple

NATIONAL LODGE

ORDER OF THE ARROW

Presents

The Distinguished Service Award

To

PAUL A. SIPLE

Explorer, Geographer, Eagle Scout, Vigil Honor member of the Order of the Arrow, member of Alpha Phi Omega Scouting Fraternity, member of the National Committee on Camping and member of the National Court of Honor. Accompanied Admiral Richard Byrd on the first Antarctic Expedition, after selection as the outstanding Scout among 600,000 then enrolled. This being the first of many exploits and assignments as a civilian and commissioned officer in the United States Army. He was the first President of the American Polar Society, and more recently served as scientific leader of the United States participation in the Geophysical Year. Presently he is Director of the Army’s office of Polar Affairs. Through his achievements and personal life he has brought distinction to the organization with which he has affiliated and captured the imagination and admiration of youth throughout the land.

---- excerpted from a Paul A. Siple DSA Certificate awarded in 1958

This statement from the DSA certificate presented to Paul Siple (rhymes with disciple) in 1958 summarizes in one paragraph the life of an extraordinary man.

In 1928 Commander Richard Byrd selected Eagle Scout Paul Allman Siple (December 18, 1908–November 25, 1968) from thousands of applications of Eagle Scouts to accompany him on a journey to explore the South Pole. Siple eventually took part in six Antarctic expeditions.

Siple was born in Montpelier, Ohio but his family moved to Erie, Pennsylvania, where he graduated from Central High School in 1926 and later became a member of Eriez Lodge. Prior to being selected for the journey, Paul had spent 35 weeks in total under canvas, including four weeks' winter camping in snow conditions as a Boy Scout and a Sea Scout. He became an Eagle Scout in 1923 with 59 merit badges (a far more extraordinary total at that time than it is today).

After an extensive nationwide search in 1928, he was the first Eagle Scout selected for the Antarctic expedition. Siple's place on the expedition had to be publicly funded; "pennies, nickels and dimes" were raised by the Weekly Reader "to help send Paul to the Antarctic."

Paul maintained a log and was determined to document his adventures on his return. Siple’s first of four books, A Boy Scout with Byrd was published in 1931. Admiral Byrd tells in his preface to Siple's book that he had not read Siple's account and had no intention of doing so until it was published, as he had no wish to influence it in any way, knowing that the book would be accurate.

Paul remained active in the WWW after his journey to the South Pole. On September 7, 1936 Eriez Lodge 46 (now Langundowi) bestowed the Vigil Honor and gave him the Lenape name Pehachpamhangik, translated as Seafarer.

After his initial expedition to the South Pole, Dr. Siple attended Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts where he received a Ph.D. in 1939. His dissertation was on "Adaptations of the Explorer to the Climate of Antarctic". He worked in the Army Scientific Office for most of his career.

Siple received the Silver Buffalo Award for distinguished service to boyhood from the BSA in 1947. His hero and former leader Admiral Byrd presented the award to Siple.

This extraordinary man graced the cover of Time magazine on December 31, 1956. His major scientific accomplishment has dominated winter weather reports for the past four decades. Paul Siple coined the well-known term wind-chill, used to describe human comfort due to the impacts of cold temperatures and wind, in his doctoral thesis research on the freezing rate under breezy conditions.

As an author, Siple wrote a total of four books, A Boy Scout With Byrd (1931), Exploring at Home (1932), Scout to Explorer: Back with Byrd in the Antarctic (1936) and 90 Degrees South (1959).

Siple became a hero among Scouts. He made frequent appearances at area conferences and the National OA Conference. In 1958 Siple was presented with the Order of the Arrow Distinguished Service Award and the Hubbard Medal from the National Geographic Society.

Siple is permanently memorialized with the naming of geographical features that bear his name, Siple Island, Mount Siple and the Siple Coast in Antarctica and Siple Station, the United States' scientific installation in Ellsworth Land.

2, OA, Profile, Scouting

Ron Temple

Ronald J. Temple has been a lifelong educator and Scouter. An African American, he grew up in Chicago and worked at Camp Owasippe for several summers during the late 1950s-early 1960s. He earned the Explorer Silver Award as a youth and was an active Arrowman, receiving the Vigil Honor in 1960 with the name “The Seeker”.

Temple served as an area chief and had the fortunate opportunity to attend the 1960 National Planning Meeting. At that meeting Ron Temple was elected by his peers to serve as National Conference Chief for the 1961 National Order of the Arrow Conference (NOAC). This was a significant event for the Order of the Arrow and the BSA. In 1960 segregation was de jure (by law) in the South; the Civil Rights Act was still over three years from enactment. The Order’s youth had selected Ron Temple to be their national leader.

Temple graduated from Eureka College in Illinois and as he continued his educational pursuits he remained active in Scouting as an adult volunteer. While living in Cincinnati, Ohio he was conferred the Distinguished Service Award in 1975. Professionally he has been a college educator and administrator. As a teacher of American urban history his expertise has been a great benefit serving as a member and Chairman of the National Urban Emphasis Committee, which focuses on Scouting units in inner city demographics.

Professionally Temple has been an administrator serving at the University of Cincinnati and as the Chancellor of the City Colleges of Chicago, which consists of seven colleges and was the second largest of its kind in the nation.

Temple was appointed to serve on the National BSA Executive Board in 1994 and on the Program Group Committee. He currently serves on the Chicago Area Council Executive Board. Temple is also a recipient of the Silver Beaver and Silver Buffalo Awards (1998).

3, OA, Profile, Scouting

Goodman Receives Silver Buffalo Award

The BSA awarded E. Urner Goodman the Silver Buffalo in 1954. Three years earlier, Missouri Valley College had awarded him an honorary doctorate in humane letters.

2, Awards, Founders, Goodman, OA, Scouting

1954 DSA Recipients

The following were presented the Order of the Arrow's Distinguished Service Award (DSA) at the 1954 National Order of the Arrow Conference in Wyoming to - M. G. Boswell, Dr. Joe C. Carrington Jr., H. Edward Dike, Frank W. Hall Jr., Henry J. Henning, J. Powell Hunter, Phillip W. Robins and Scotty Williamson.

3, Awards, OA, Scouting

Third National OA Committee Chair

With the sudden passing of H. Lloyd Nelson the OA was without a National OA Committee Chairman. James “Judge” P. Hunter was selected by John M. Schiff, past President of the BSA at the March 1956 BSA Executive Board Meeting to be the Order’s third Chairman. Hunter was already serving on the National OA Committee. He was from Atlanta, Georgia, Egwa Tawa Dee Lodge.

3, OA, Scouting

1955 National Planning Meeting

The 1955 National Planning Meeting was held at the site of the upcoming NOAC, Indiana University. This time nearly all of the Area Chiefs were in attendance, 56 in total, as together with the National OA Committee they planned the 1956 NOAC. James L. Waters, Jr. of Egwa Tawa Dee Lodge, Atlanta, Georgia was elected Conference Chief. Chief Waters appointed 7 Deputy Conference Chiefs: Gary Gloster, Don Good, Tom Jones, Jim Kennedy, Sandy Sutton, Bill Posey and Walt Schramm.

3, Elections, OA, Scouting