Since conclave, all three lodges have been working hard to keep providing fun and engaging events and activities to Arrowmen while following the guidelines from local and state health organizations.
Up north, Wauna La-Mon’tay Lodge is doing their best to get as many people into the OA as possible while following the strict guidelines from local officials. To avoid the risk of COVID-19, the Lodge prepared a pre-recorded pre-ordeal ceremony that they showed via Zoom on Friday. Candidates then gathered at a state park on Saturday to complete their service to become members of the OA. They originally scheduled two induction weekends, but due to popular demand, they added another one – holding a total of three induction weekends since September. Because of their effort, Wauna La-Mon’tay Lodge welcomed 142 new members to the lodge. Due to new COVID restrictions last weekend, the Brotherhood service day was canceled and will be rescheduled in early 2021. For the current members, the lodge chief and their vice chiefs worked to put together a game night which they played a very popular game: Among Us. Benjamin Flores, the lodge chief, is continuing to work and provide activities to strengthen the ties of brotherhood within the lodge.
Next up, Tsisqan lodge is also working hard to increase their membership and provide a strong leadership to the Arrowmen. A month after conclave, Tsisqan Lodge held their Annual Fellowship. With a variety of activities and trainings, including solving Rubik’s Cube, “Would you Rather” debate and many more. Tsisqan Lodge successfully held their first ever, in 76 years, fully virtual fellowship event. In the afternoon, the lodge elected new 2020-2021 lodge officers. The Section W-1S officers would like to send a huge welcome to the newly elected officers in Tsisqan Lodge. Those newly elected officers, despite this year’s pandemic, planned an in-person lodge officer retreat at Comp Baker. Unfortunately, the storm cut off power at Baker, and created unsafe road conditions. As a result, the lodge leadership decided to cancel in-person retreat and moved to a Zoom retreat on Friday, the day it was supposed to begin. Tsisqan Lodge also participated in Momentum: Spark — the national Order of the Arrow event focused on the inductions process. Through the event, Tsisqan Lodge welcomed 28 new members to their lodge.
Down in Lo La’Qam Geela, they had very exciting events as well. Unlike Wauna La-Mon’tay and Tsisqan lodge, Lo La’Qam Geela was able to hold full in-person induction weekends this year while following the safety guidelines from the local officials. Since conclave, they’ve had four induction weekends; inducting roughly 50 people to their lodge. On the first weekend of November, Lo La’Qam Geela held their Fall Fellowship, fully virtually, thanks to the effort done by lodge officers and their advisers. During the fellowship, the lodge elected 5 new officers. The lodge also welcomed a new lodge adviser, Seth Roy. Once again, we want to send a warm welcome to the newly elected officers and advisers! During the fellowship, in an effort to raise funds for future lodge activities and events, Lo La’Qam Geela lodge hosted a fundraising auction, in which they raised more than $1,000. Although 2020 is coming to the end, Thackery Moreland is getting his team ready to lead the lodge to become a high-performing lodge in the coming years.
— Written by Ryo Takei, Section W-1S Secretary
