"OA is a joke"
Josh Feigelson (joshf1@MINERVA.CIS.YALE.EDU)
Fri, 3 Feb 1995 08:22:38 -0500
Larry,
I saw your post on Scouts-L and was concerned. This problem of inactivity
and membership retention is one of the bigger ones we have to deal with
on the national level (a noteworthy, though not *very* large, percentage
of lodges fit the description you gave). If you have the inclination,
here are some suggestions that perhaps you could pass on to the Lodge
Adviser:
1) Take advantage of the National Leadership Seminar program. You and
your lodge may or may not know about this. The NLS is an intensive
weekend course in leadership skills put on by the region. (It is
currently considered, by those both inside and outside of the Order, to be
the best national traning course in the BSA.) The schedule of NLSs for the
Northeast Region is:
March 31-April 2 at Camp Alpine, NJ (across the river from NYC)--region-wide
April 28-30 at Camp Alpine--sections 2a, 2b, 2c, and 4b
September 15-17 at Hawk Mountain Scout Reservation, Schuylkill,
PA--sections 4a, 4c, and 5
To find out about registering, contact the Northeast Region Office:
Doug Fullman, staff adviser
Northeast Region Order of the Arrow
P.O. Box 350
Dayton, NJ 08810-0350
Phone: (908) 821-6500
I encourage your lodge to take part in this. It can be a key element in
rejuvenating the OA program in your council.
2) My experience is that, the better the adult advisership, the better
the lodge program. This summer, two week-long training courses are being
put on at the Philmont training center. The first, an OA Philmont Adviser
Training course, is designed to help lodge advisers understand and
perform their jobs better (June 19-23). The next week (June 26-June 30),
we are holding a special NLS for adults only, at Philmont (the adults
only part is at Philmont's request). For information regarding these
courses, get in touch with the Philmont training center (your council
office should have materials).
3) Your lodge should send as many people as it can to the Section
Conclave. This is an important opportunity for the lodge leadership to
discuss with other lodge leaders how to deal with the challenges they face.
I could offer more concrete suggestions, so if you're interested, please
write me. Please pass on these three ideas to the lodge leadership. I
hope we can change your statement of "OA does nothing" into "the OA is
one of the best things about this council."
YiS,
Josh Feigelson
1995 National Chief
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