2015 NOAC “Dared to Do”

What No Other NOAC Has

Done Before!

The National Order of the Arrow Conference is held roughly two to three years, and is the second largest

gathering of members of the Order of the Arrow in the world, behind only the National Jamboree. There are

usually between 7,000 and 8,000 Arrowmen that attend the conference, but this years was just a little bit

different.

The Order of the Arrow reached an important milestone, as it celebrated its 100th anniversary, and the

National Committee responsible for organizing the 2015 NOAC was tasked with an interesting question, “what

do we do when over 15,000 Arrowmen plan to attend?” That was a question that probably nobody thought

they would have to ask, but it is what happened, as Scouts and Scouter, young and old“er” from across the

country converged on Michigan State University, including 60 youth and 20 adults from the East Carolina

Council.

One of the many great things about the Boy Scouts as well as the Order of the Arrow, is that it is a youth

led organization, even when you are planning for a 15,000 person conference, but how do you plan to keep

everybody’s attention with so many different interests? Well, the answer should be easy, and at NOAC there

really was something for everybody!

Over the course of the week, Arrowmen from East Carolina Council had the opportunity to engage in

numerous activities and demonstrations while celebrating 100 years of the Order. Of course with something

this big, you have to kick it off right, and that is just what the opening show held at the Breslin Event Center for

a standing room only crowd (a change from previous NOAC’s where a portion of the seating is blocked off so

that everybody has a view of the stage). Arrowmen were treated to an entertaining show following the Grand

Entry and introductions of National Staff, but before the night was through, the entire crowd was motivated to

think of what the next hundred years of not just the Order of the Arrow, but our entire country would look like.

The important thing was to know that no matter what it will look like . . .

“It Starts With Us!”

With the conference properly underway, Arrowmen had the opportunity to participate in a multitude of

training courses ranging from lodge development, leadership, activity and programs planning, and many more.

There of course was plenty of time for Arrowmen who wished to enjoy themselves and participate in sports,

crafts, exhibits, and other activities. Many also sought to see if they could become the Ultimate OA Warrior in

a true test of any Arrowmen’s physical abilities.

As all Arrowmen know, Native American traditions play a huge role in the Order of the Arrow, and that

is evident at NOAC as well. Those Arrowmen who have taken a passion to the various styles of dance and

drumming had the opportunity to strut their stuff throughout the week and see how they compared to the

numerous other dancers across the country. Croatan lodge has no shortage of these talented young men who

practice regularly to hone their craft, and that hard work paid off, as Croatan Lodge was proud to have nine

dancers who placed in the top 10 nationally in Traditional, Old Style, Grass, Straight, and Chicken Dance. Special

honors go to Robbie Bass who took 2nd place honors in Straight Dance, Jeremy Long who took 2nd place in

Chicken Dance and Thomas Turner, who was named the National Champion in Chicken Dance. Fancy footwork

was not the only place where Croatan shined in Indian Affairs, as the Croatan Drum team took 5th place in

Southern Style drum and 2nd place in the Northern Style competition.

Left: Matt Hodges (Traditional) Center: Graham Copeland (Old Style) Right: Jackson Lamm (Traditional) each

competed in their respective dance styles and were a part of the group of nine dancers that each scored in the

top 10 national from each style. Congratulations to these and all of the Croatan Dancers and Drummers.

The great thing about events like this, is they come full circle. With so much success, it is important to

remember where we come from, so that we can know where we are going. That is why every lodge was asked

to participate in the Centennial celebrations that included the gathering of the ashes contributed by all lodges

at the Centennial Fire and a reminder that for Arrowmen who truly want to change the world, the only thing

they need to worry about changing is themselves. That combined with a special “Gathering of Eagles” where

NASA Astronaut and Eagle Scout, Colonel Mike Fossom, and Exxon-Mobil CEO and Eagle Scout, Rex Tillerson

reminded all present of the charge that we take as Eagle Scouts it just another reason that “IT STARTS WITH US”

as we #DareToDo our good turns as Scouts and Arrowmen to make the future a brighter one.

Left: Croatan Lodge

117 gets pumped up

at the show before

a group of Cub

Scouts (Bottom

Left) present the

colors to the 15,000

Arrowmen who

stand to join in the

singing of the

National Anthem

(Bottom Right).

After eagerly waiting for the second show of NOAC to start

(Top Left) and hanging out with some of the biggest

characters (and the mascot) of Croatan Lodge (Top Right),

Dr. Robert Gates charged all of the Arrowmen to be the

leaders that tomorrow needs (Left).

Bottom: Between the inspirational pageant of what a

Scout camp really is, to the 3D light show and energetic

karaoke, the Friday closing ceremony left all 15,000 people

speechless

Top Left: Jackson, Lodge Chief, and Kyle, Croatan NOAC Chair,

add the wood brought from Eastern North Carolina to the

Centennial Fire to be added and collected with the ashes

created from wood brought by every lodge as well as from

Treasure Island, Dr. E. Urner Goodman’s Brotherhood Barn,

and the new OA Ceremony circle at the Bechtel Summit Scout

Reservation.

Top Right: Jebb Lamm showcases even more of the talent of

Croatan Lodge when he performs with the Arrowmen Band

before one of the evening shows.

Left: Digging for shark teeth and building planes shows out of

council Scouts some of the fun hobbies of the East Carolina

Council, while also offering a challenge in the form of the

dreaded “Devil Bike”, where you may turn left, but the bike

says you will go right!!!

Eight Arrowmen competed individually to try and become the

Ultimate OA Warrior. The four fastest times were then taken and

were asked to race one more time. With their times averaged

together, Team Croatan took 4th place in the challenge that

consisted of low crawls, climbing, running and numerous other

obstacles.

For any Arrowmen just looking to

have a good time, they could

always stop by “The Hub” and

participate in agility courses, rock

climbing, spar pole climbing or

even Bubble Ball!

If those wore you out and you

needed something a little lower

key to cool down with, there was

never a shortage of opportunities

to take part in some great patch

trading no matter where on

campus you were.

Special thank of course must go out to Eddie Cahoon, who served as the contingent leader. The trip of a lifetime for

the 80 Arrowmen in attendance would not have been possible without his constant hard work and dedication to

ensure that everybody had what they needed and what they wanted.

With that being said, it is important for all of us to remember that, not just a members of the Order of the Arrow,

but as Scouts that . . .