Welcome to the official site of the Powhatan Chapter of the Order of the Arrow! Please explore the site to learn about our Chapter.
If you have not paid your dues for 2009, please do so now. The cost is $12 per year, and it is what helsp keep the Lodge running smoothly. Please pay through the lodge website: http://www.boyscouts- ncac.org/openrosters/ViewOrgPageLink.asp?LinkKey=24637&orgkey=2002
The Fall Ordeal will be held THIS WEEKEND at Camp Fraser in Great Falls. The registration form is available here. Please sign up ASAP so we can plan accordingly!
The Order of the Arrow is Scouting's Honor Society - the Brotherhood of Cheerful Service. Once a year, scouts are nominated by their peers based on how well they live the Scout Oath and Law in their daily lives. The candidates undergo an Ordeal, meant to test them in all aspects of brotherhood, cheerfulness, and service.
The Powhatan Chapter is part of the Amangameck-Wipit Lodge #470, in Northern Virginia. We regularly run Ordeals and Brotherhood Inductions, assist the District at Camporee, and provide other cheerful service as needed.
The three key principles of the OA are brotherhood, cheerfulness, and service. The first two are accomplished through the last.
Powhatan Chapter regularly executes extensive service projects to benefit the community at large. Service projects we have done include trail building/maintenance, landscaping, cleanups, and more. We also assist the District in running camporees, as well as participate in Goshen Bus Loading every summer. If you have an idea for a service project, please contact us.
Once every few years, the Order of the Arrow holds a national conference. It is a week long in August. What can you do there? Just about anything. There are classes in the morning, ranging on anything from ceremonies to leadership to scout skills, and just about anything else. The afternoon holds competitions and events of all kinds, ranging from swimming to volleyball, ceremonies competitions to basketball games, to any sort of fun activity a bunch of scouts could think up.
Hurry up and register – slots are filling quickly. Attendance for this event is in high demand. Don’t let someone else take your seat. A bonus feature for our lodge only: We will be stopping at Cedar Point amusement park for some awesome rollercoasting!
NOAC will be held at Indiana University. The Lodge is renting busses to take us there and back.
Sign up online today Click here to sign up.The Order of the Arrow is entirely run by youth. Powhatan Chapter's Leadership comprises a Chapter Chief and several Vice-Chiefs.
Chapter Chief - Lead Scout for the Chapter. Leads all Vice Chiefs, Leads all Chapter Meetings. Attend in person or via stand-in, all Lodge Executive Committee.
First Vice-Chief - Automatically stand in for Chapter Chief at Executive/Chapter/staff Meetings, All Chapter training, Camping Promotion, OA promotions at Roundtables, in charge of WEBELOS Bridging, Chair of Ordeal Weekends, and automatically take over for other Vice Chiefs if they quit during the year or do not attend an OA event [instead of the Chief having to do this] Also, he sets up/runs a fellowship event for the Chapter once a year. He also keeps the Bead Box and distributes beads. Scribe for meeting; notes important details.
Vice-Chief of Ordeal Inductions - Runs Troop elections, gathers Candidate names, gets invites to them to come to Ordeal, follows up to ensure that Chapter membership Officer (Dave Richardson), has valid e-mails and data on each new member after an Ordeal. Follows up with candidates who did not attend Spring Ordeal to attend Fall ordeal. Greets/meets/collects Candidates at the Ordeal. Serves as the 'Kitchkinet' during the day during Ordeals
Vice-Chief of Brotherhood Inductions - Picks up all Ordeal Members after completing their Ordeal and encourages them to do Brotherhood at first time eligible, get Elangomats for new Ordeals. Once Elangomats are gotten provide the contacts to the vice chief of service and have them follow-up for Brotherhood, Collect & host Brotherhood discussions. Heads up the extended Elangomat program after Ordeals.
Vice-Chief of District Support - Coordinates with all Troops in the District to get, train and use Troop OA Reps (TOAR). Provide flyers to SMs to get/register TOARs, invite them to events/meetings. Holds training class for TOARs. Knows Where all District camping promotions materials are located.
Vice-Chief of Service - Coordinates/leads all service from the OA (Camporees, Ordeals, Bus loading ...). Ensure all attendance is logged with Chapter Membership. Set up & run a separate from Ordeal/Camporee small fellowship/service event for Chapter. Work with District for Scouting for Food.
Vice-Chief of Administration - In charge of Wolf's Howl (Chapter news letter), submitting Articles to Shark's Tooth (Lodge news letter), Articles to local Newspapers. Registration of Youth and Adults at Camporee, Ordeals and other OA functions. Data basing all membership info/contacts. Compiles a chapter calendar. Maintains Chapter website.
Vice-Chief of Ceremonies - In charge of the Ceremonies Team and all ceremonies (except Vigil). Elected from Ceremonies Team Membership. Attends all ceremonies Practices. Holds records of the current teams and knows who can perform specific parts in all the different ceremonies. Has on file, multiple scripts for all the different ceremonies.
Vice-Chief of Cook Crew - In charge of managing a list of the cook crew members. Knows where all the cook crew kitchen gear is stored. Makes sure that this gear arrives at the events. In charge of obtaining the food stuffs for each event. Makes sure no scout is unfed. Makes arrangements with scouts with food allergies or special needs. And adequately accommodates.
Vice-Chief of Health and Safety - In charge of First Aid at all events. First Aid includes approving the layout of each event, and the safety of each event. Vice Chief must also consult with Advisor during inclement weather during events where it is a concern. There must be a vice chief at 80% of the events. Also in charge of coordinating help for the First Aid tent. Health and Safety Crew is to help out at all Camp-O-Rees, Ordeals, and any other district events asked of them.
Each leader has an adult advisor to assist them, provide guidance, and help out as necessary.
Powhatan Chapter prides itself for its excellence in ceremonies. The Ceremonies team performs nine different ceremonies periodically throughout the year. The Ceremonies elects a leader once a year. There are about twenty individuals who take part in the ceremonies.
Some of the scripts that we use are available here as PDF files. Note that some of the documents are password protected because the OA Ceremonies are to be kept secret.
NOTE: There is currently a problem with the links to the ceremonies. Please be patient as we investigate the cause of this problem.
The Chapter Calendar is available as a Google Calendar in the following formats:
The Calendar is mailed out with the Wolf's Howl regularly throughout the
year. In addition, it is available below. (Note that training from Center for Wilderness Safety is
also included in this calendar).
Powhatan Chapter regularly sends out the Wolf's Howl, our newsletter. We always welcome articles! To submit yours, please email it to us via the Contact Us page.
For the Hard-Copy newsletter that is mailed out semi-anually: Email us to subscribe/unsubscribe or change address.
For the E-Newsletter that is emailed as needed: Visit this link to subscribe/unsubscribe or change address.
We'd like to hear from you! Please shoot us an email:
Note: Email sent to the above address will be received by the Vice Chief of Administration, who will forward the message to the appropriate individual. This may take a few days.