TheThe Official Newsletter Of The Aina Topa Hutsi Lodge, #60

Alamo Area Council, B.S.A.September, 2015 Volume 84, No.3

In This Issue:

Page 1:NOAC

Page 3:Message From The Lodge Chief

Page 4:Business Quarterly

Page 5:Puzzle Page

Page 6:Lodge Calander

The Flame is published quarterly by the Communications Committee of the Aina Topa Hutsi Lodge #60, Alamo Area Counci, B.S.A.

Editorial comments that are published in this newsletter will be noted and do not, necessarily, reflect the attitude or policies of the Aina Topa Hutsi Lodge, the Alamo Area Council, or the Boy Scouts of America.

Communications Committee Chairman

Terry A. RicksCommunications Committe Advisor

The FlameThe Official Newsletter of the Aina Topa Hutsi, Lodge #60

F l a m eF l a m eNOAC Centennial Celebration IsNOAC Centennial Celebration IsThe Largest NOAC In History!The Largest NOAC In History!

This is the Centennial National Order of the Arrow Conference. The Conference was held on the sprawling campus of Michigan State University in East Lansing Michigan. Over 14.000 Arrowmen from all over the entire planet (remember we have OA Lodges overseas!) came to attend this “once in a lifetime” celebration.

ATH attended this conference with the largest contingent that we have ever sent to NOAC. In addition, 17 of our Lodge members served on the NOAC staff, more than we have ever had before.

The first familiar face that the Lodge contingent sees is as they arrive at their check in location is long time Lodge member Terry Ricks. He enters the bus and welcomes ATH to NOAC. Terry smiles and tells the contingent. “I am really overwhelmed and impressed with you guys. To think that ya’ll would drive all the way from Texas just to see me!” Of course his remarks raised laughter, cat calls, and a few

crude comments, all meant in fun. Terry then proceeded to perform his primary duty to screen the contingent for illness or other issues; you see Terry is on the Health and Safety staff, part of the Medical staff for NOAC. Clearing the group the Lodge disembarks from the bus

and proceeds through to check in and gets their room assignments.

From that po in t on everyone is on the go. There is no time to waste. Unload the bus and Mr. Stye’s trailer. Get settled in to your dorm room. Get supper, then go to the opening show. After the opening show there is some down time to review your schedule for the next week, get a shower, shoot the breeze, and then at about 2:00 AM, finally go to bed. It seems that you just got to sleep and the

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blasted alarm clock goes off. Got to get up, get dressed, get breakfast, and then jump into NOAC head first.

So much to do! Training sessions, sports events, sports competit ions, ceremony competitions, Native American dance competitions, museums to see, vendor displays to visit, and above a l l…PATCH TRADING! Well, that’s how some people at NOAC feel about patch trading, while other don’t even bother…..Oh Well!

And, then, before you know it, you’re filling into the auditorium for the closing show.

Everything you’ve done over the last five days is about to be brought together in what is known as the “theme show”. This year’ theme is a send off for the next 100 years of Cheerful Service: “IT STARTS WITH US!”. Inspirational speeches are given by the National Chief, the National Vice Chief, the National Order of the Arrow Advisor, and the Chief Scout Executive. As you leave the show, your brain starts to wander…”can I make a difference?”

The next morning is the long trip home. Along the way

you talk about NOAC, about what the Lodge can do, and what you need to do when you get home; for most of you that means getting ready to go back to school.

Another NOAC has come and gone. It has left its mark on all who have attended. Hopefully those that attended will be the “movers and shakers” of the Lodge for the next 3 years. That’s when the next NOAC will occur; this time at the University of Indiana, in Bloomington, Indiana. Until then remember that IT STARTS WITH US!

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Hello, my name is Robert Mancha. I am currently serving as your 2015-2016 Lodge Chief for Aina Topa Hutsi. I am extremely excited about my term of office, and for all the amazing things the Lodge leadership and I have planned for you. As Lodge Chief, I will be committing myself to serving you to the best of my abilities by representing the Lodge in all matters through cheerful service.

I have been actively involved with the Order of the Arrow, and I have participated in a wide variety of programs such as the OA Trail Crew, the National Leadership Seminar, and more recently at the Centennial National Order of the Arrow Conference. I also am very fortunate to serve as your Section Secretary for SR2-3 South. I currently attend Texas State University where I

am major ing in Heal th Information Management.

As chief, I will work with the Lodge leadership team to establish a strategic plan that will place Aina Topa Hutsi on a path towards a successful future. It is imperative that as The Order of the Arrow transitions from our first 100 years of service towards a

second century, we members of the Aina Topa Hutsi Lodge must be ever vigilant in our activities to uphold the Scout Oath and Law, keeping them close to our hearts. With that in mind, it is our primary purpose to support our Scouting Council, and to give back to the surrounding communities. This need to provide Service is why I will commit the Lodge to at least one large scale service project during my term of office.

I look forward to working with all the wonderful people that make the day-to-day operation of the Lodge possible. I am humbled during our centennial year, and I am especially excited to lay the foundations of leadership for our second century.

IT STARTS WITH US

Yours in Brotherhood,Robert P. Mancha, III

Message From the Lodge Chief

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Business Quar ter lyBus iness Quar ter lyGreetings, brothers and

sisters in the Lodge!My name is Michael Nelle,

Lodge Treasury Officer. It gives me great pleasure to be informing you all about what is happening with me in the lodge.

And now, there are a few text communications for you all:

First – you may not be aware of this, but one of my duties as Treasury Officer is managing the budget and keep ing i t up to date . Unfortunately, I can't do that if I d o n ' t h a v e a d e q u a t e information and numbers. That information comes from planners, event attendees, and go-between personnel. In other words – YOU! I really want to close out the books for this year by the end of the year this time. Please don't make reaching that goal harder than it needs to be. If you know of any figures, please send them immediately to myself, Mr. Gower, or Robert

Mancha.New items and services –

We in the lodge are working with council on acquiring a working credit card reader for events. Additionally, we are looking at new items for the trading post, such as the cup concept below.

Still, we want your input. If you have an idea that you think might do well in the trading post, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Many of you have been to previous lodge events, where every time I have basically said “OA trading post is strictly at

OA events.”I am pleased to let you know

that those days are soon coming to an end.

As of now, I am working with t h e l o d g e a n d c o u n c i l webmasters to bring the trading post online. Within a few months, I expect to have it fully functional.

Overall, we are looking forward to the next few months. With your support and input, this will be a breakthrough term. If you have questions, comments, or anything related to budgets and the trading post, please to not hesitate to contact me, Mr. Gower, or our Lodge Chief Robert Mancha.I a m r e a c h a b l e a t MichaelJ.Nelle@gmail.com, as well as (830-463-9713).

See you all at the Fall Fellowship!

Yours in Brotherhood,

Michael Nelle

Page 5Puzzle Page

NOAC Centennial Celebration

This issue’s word search is a new kind: There is a hidden message within the puzzle. To find the hidden message you must first successfully complete the puzzle by finding all of the words in the word list. After you have done that start at the upper left hand corner and fill into the Hidden Message box all of the letters that ARE NOT circled as part of the word search. When you have filled in each blank in the Hidden Message Box you will have the message....IF you have done the word search correctly‼.Have fun.

I T S H O O T I N G S T A R T S WI T E V E N I N G S H O W S N H GS E R V I C E P R O J E C T A S NT U B C A O N O T L E V A R T E IS R J O K C N V Y L D Y K V I R DL R A R A T G N I N I A R T V V AO C N D T T P Y C Q S T E R E I RG Z S N E F I C M P R M M R A C TR G Q E N S L N O R R W O W M E HO R R V I Q H R G M N I H L E L CL R B T T N T O U G R E P T R O TL J U K T S O E W R Z C I R I D AI B H B T R S M A Q C N R F C G PN K E H V U P W E N T A T V A E JG T H T M R A L N R R D B R N M DN J T A N O I T I T E P M O C F LF B O G B M X B I C Y C L E S Y Y

Hidden Message Box__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

BMX BICYCLESBOATINGCEREMONIESCOMPETITIONDANCEEVENING SHOWSLOG ROLLINGNATIVE AMERICANOA MUSEUMOA WARRIOR

PATCH TRADINGSERVICE LODGESERVICE PROJECTSHOOTINGSPORTSTHE HUBTRADE SHOWTRAININGTRAVEL TO NOACTRIP HOME

Alamo Area Council, Boy Scouts of America2226 N.W. Military Dr.San Antonio, Texas, 78213-1894

Non-Profit Organization

U.S. PostagePAID

San Antonio, TexasPermit No. 287

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75 Years of Cheerfull Service

L o d g e C a l e n d a rSeptember

1 OA Unit Elections begin7 Labor Day Holiday12 Mays Family Scout Ranch Grand Opening26 Lodge LEC at McGimsey Dinning hall

October16-18 OA Web-o-ree at McGimsey and Mays Scout Parks23-25 Fall Fellowship and Ordeal at Bear Creek / LEC

November3 National Elections Day11 Veteran’s Day Holiday20-22 Lodge Officer Training at Mays Scout Ranch28 LEC at McGimsey30 OA Unit Elections end

December5 Lodge “Lock In” location to be announced7 Pearl Harbor Day21 Winter Solstice25 Christmas31 New Year’s Eve