January 18, 2020
Cockrell Scout Center
2225 N. Loop W.
Houston, Texas 77008
Colonneh Summit: All Arrowmen are invited to attend the new formatted Lodge Leadership Development called Colonneh Summit. As always, training courses will cover leadership training and information about the Order of the Arrow and Colonneh Lodge. This year, the event will focus on giving Arrowman strategies to improve chapters and scores on the Performance Measurement Program! The lodge leadership will be available to provide guidance and help with planning chapter calendars for the year. Templates, goals, event support, website suggestions, and more will be available to help chapter officers plan. So this means chapters need to mobilize both their youth and adult leadership/advisers and bring as many chapter members as possible. This event is open to any Arrowman wanting to improve their leadership or chapter! The larger your chapter attendance, the more effective planning will be. Check-in and the opening activity starts at 8:30 am. The program will begin at 9:00 am.
OA Banquet: After the Colonneh Summit, Arrowmen gather for a night of celebration. Together, Arrowmen share an appreciation for the outgoing officers, recognize the Chapter of the Year, bestow awards on outstanding Arrowmen and celebrate the past year’s accomplishments.
Registration
The registration fee is $5 per Arrowmen for the Colonneh Summit and $20.00 per person for the banquet for Arrowmen and their guests.
Register
Lodge Awards
The following awards are presented at the banquet. Applications are for the Arrowman Achievement Award and Clan Sashes are due December 31st:
Arrowman Achievement Award
Dabney Kennedy, former Colonneh Lodge adviser, created the Arrowman Achievement Award to recognize those youth Arrowmen who do service to the lodge and chapter. The requirements for this award include attendance at chapter meetings and being part of ceremonial teams.
Application for Arrowman Achievement Award
Clan Sashes
Service clan sash: The service clan sash requires that an Arrowman do a number of hours of service in his chapter, for his council, and for council camps. Service comes in a variety of forms, and a member of the service clan should exemplify a spirit or service. The service clan sash is a white arrow imposed on a green background.
Elangomat clan sash: Serving as a guide to a new member of the Order of the Arrow is one of the most important services an Arrowman can perform, and the Elangomat clan recognizes those who have done this at least three times. In addition, a member of the Elangomat clan has guided at least 50% of the candidates he is assigned through the ordeal, and through sealing their membership in the Brotherhood. They have also served on staff for an ordeal. The Elagomat clan sash is a white arrow imposed on a blue background.
Ceremony clan sash: The ceremony clan recognizes those Arrowmen who provide service to their chapters and to the lodge, by serving in the lodge’s ceremonies year-round. To become a member of the ceremony clan, an Arrowman must participate in each primary ceremony in the Order or the Arrow – Arrow of Light, pre-ordeal, ordeal, and brotherhood. The service clan sash is a white arrow imposed on a black background.
Dance clan sash: Our continuation of the spirit of our Native American heritage is an important element underlying the spirit of the Order of the Arrow, and the dance clan sash recognizes those individuals who have supported the Native American events program in Colonneh Lodge. Whether in traditional Native American dancing or in singing, these individuals have grown in their knowledge of the Native American culture. The service clan sash is a white arrow imposed on a red background.
Camp promotions clan sash: When founding the Order, Dr. Goodman saw the promotion of summer camp and camping as an important objective for the Order and for lodges. The camp promotions clan sash recognizes those individuals who have done camp promotion visits to local units, as well as creating a working display for camping promotions in their district. The service clan sash is a white arrow imposed on a blue background.
Application for Clan Sashes
The following awards are also presented at the banquet. Nominations for the following awards are due in November.
Founder's Award
The Founder’s Award is reserved for Arrowmen who demonstrate to fellow Arrowmen that he or she memorializes in his or her everyday life the spirit of achievement as described by founder E. Urner Goodman and cofounder Carroll A. Edson. Introduced at the 1981 National Order of the Arrow Conference, the Founder's Award was created to honor and recognize those Arrowmen who have given outstanding service to their lodge. A list of all Colonneh Lodge Founder's Award recipients is available here. Nominations for the Founder's Award are due in November.
Nomination Form
James E. West
Each year, Colonneh Lodge presents the James E. West Fellowship to several individuals by making of $1,000 given in their name to the Sam Houston Area Council’s Endowment Fund to support Scouting for future generations. To date, Colonneh Lodge has donated over $30,000 to the Council Endowment fund. A list of all James E. West awards presented by Colonneh Lodge is available here. Nominations are due in November.
Nomination Form
Numbered Certificate
The Colonneh Lodge Numbered certificate is presented to outstanding youth or adults who have performed above and beyond the call of duty in service to Scouting, the community and the lodge. The recognition is a matted and framed numbered certificate and was created in late 1967 by Dabney Kennedy to recognize outstanding leadership in service and the spirit of achievement beyond the Vigil Honor. In 1980, the national director of the OA visited the Colonneh Lodge Pow Wow and was impressed with the type of awards that we presented to recognize our Arrowmen for service above and beyond. He was specifically interested in the numbered certificate program. This interest sparked the creation of the national Founder's Award with Colonneh Lodge's assistance in the development through the efforts of national committee member - Dabney Kennedy. A list of all Colonneh Numbered Certificate recipients is available here. Nominations for the Numbered Certificate are due in November.
Nomination Form
Ralph Rivera Memorial Award
This award was established in honor of Ralph Rivera, a fallen Vigil Honor member and an adopted son of a Pawnee Family. Ralph spent his teenage years as a member of Post 486 in the old Central District, and as an adult, served as Scoutmaster for Troop 583 in the Denver Harbor Area providing a scouting program for boys in his neighborhood.
Ralph was also very involved with his district, serving in many different callings. As a member of Colonneh Lodge, he promoted the Native American Way to all that were interested. His knowledge of Indian songs, dance styles and regalia made him a valuable resource to our lodge. Many of our dance teams, ceremony teams and individual dancers benefited from his knowledge of these things. His teachings are still handed down to Colonneh Lodge members today.
The award is presented annually at the OA banquet to the chapter that best exemplifies the Native American spirit in drumming, singing, dance, ceremonies and service to our community, council and lodge.
Chapter of the Year
The Virgil L. Smith Chapter of the Year award is presented annually at the OA banquet to a chapter that continues to go above and beyond the expectations for a chapter in Colonneh Lodge, and sets the benchmark for chapter operations and delivering the program to their area of service. Applications will be available soon.
Journey To Excellence
The Journey To Excellence is a recognition program adopted by BSA and the Order of the Arrow as a way to measure performance. Each chapter has the opportunity to achieve one of three different levels of recognition: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. Points are received in five categories: finance, membership, program, council service, and leadership and governance. Membership impact and brotherhood conversion are both required items to qualify for Journey to Excellence.
Unit Award of Excellence
The Order of the Arrow Unit of Excellence Award seeks to identify those units, and the leaders within them, who excel at incorporating the OA into their annual planning. This award is intended to provide a tool for lodges to recognize, incentivize, and operationalize unit-level participation in Order of the Arrow programs.
The OA Unit of Excellence Award criteria recognize units that invite the lodge to conduct quality unit elections, participate in lodge events and meetings, and operate a complete OA Troop Representative program. Our hope is that units that complete these criteria will benefit from the support programs that the Order of the Arrow has implemented to strengthen unit-delivered program. This recognition program, along with other tools for unit support, should be distributed and promoted to Scoutmaster/Coach, OA Troop Representatives and Advisers, and chapter election teams to include in communication to units.
Requirements for the Order of the Arrow Unit of Excellence Award:
- Leadership: Implement the Troop OA Representative and Troop OA Representative Adviser (Assistant Scoutmaster or Assistant Coach Designee) programs in your unit. Every six months, ensure that the senior patrol leader appoints or reappoints one Scout to serve as Troop OA Representative and the Scoutmaster/Coach appoints one adult to serve as Troop OA Representative Adviser. Feature an annual presentation at a Court of Honor by the Troop OA Representative on the Order of the Arrow with a focus on the accomplishments of unit members.
- Participation: Promote lodge events and provide transportation to all Arrowmen wishing to participate. At least 50% of unit OA members attend at least one lodge event in addition to their Ordeal.
- Elections: Schedule a unit election with the chapter election team annually. Hold an election and have 100% of elected Scouts complete their Ordeal.
- Planning: Maintain an active planning process that prevents overlap between lodge and chapter events with unit events. Review the local OA calendar with the Patrol Leader’s Council or Team Leadership during annual troop program planning and schedule unit events so that 100% of troop programs do not overlap with any full-lodge events (Fall PowWow, Arrowmen Bash, Lodge Leadership Development).
- Conversion: Demonstrate the depth of your unit’s OA program through Brotherhood conversion. At least 30% of eligible troop members seal their membership in the Order by converting to Brotherhood.
Contacts