Order of the Arrow

&

Erie Canal #159

Welcome to the official web site for Order of the Arrow TKäen DõD Lodge 30 & Erie Canal #159. This page is a resource for all Arrowmen, and especially members of the Lodge in the Great Falls Council, BSA. Please use this site as a reference for all lodge happenings and information. We thank you for visiting us, and if you have any questions, please email our current youth Lodge Chief.

The Erie Canal Lodge (Western NY Council) and the Tkaen Dod Lodge (Five Rivers Council) are in the process of merging into one new great lodge. The youth, with adult advisors, will be selecting a new name and lodge flap. The elected officers of each lodge will finish out their term, working together, until a new lodge election is held. Until that time, most events are listed as Eric Canal or Tkaen Dod.

The Lodge maintains a Tkaen Dod –Facebook page , Erie Canal – Facebook page to keep members up to date and our 2024 Lodge Calendar.  You can pay your dues online or by filling out the 2024 Annual Membership Only Form and submitting it to the Elmira Office or bringing it to any Lodge event.  Click here to download the Current Lodge Program Guide.  Please keep in touch via email if you have further questions or would like more information. 

The Order of the Arrow – Scouting’s National Honor Society

For over 100 years, the Order of the Arrow (OA) has recognized Scouts and Scouters who best exemplify the Scout Oath and Law in their daily lives. This recognition provides encouragement for others to live these ideals as well. Arrowmen are known for maintaining camping traditions and spirit, promoting year-round and long-term resident camping, developing leaders, and providing cheerful service to others. OA service, activities, adventures, and training for youth and adults are models of quality leadership development and programming that enrich, support, and help to extend Scouting to America’s youth.

Mission

The mission of the Order of the Arrow is to fulfill its purpose as an integral part of the Boy Scouts of America through positive youth leadership under the guidance of selected capable adults.

Purpose

As Scouting’s National Honor Society, our purpose is to:

• • Recognize those who best exemplify the Scout Oath and Law in their daily lives and through that recognition cause others to conduct themselves in a way that warrants similar recognition.
  • Promote camping, responsible outdoor adventure, and environmental stewardship as essential components of every Scout’s experience, in the unit, year-round, and in summer camp.
  • Develop leaders with the willingness, character, spirit and ability to advance the activities of their units, our Brotherhood, Scouting, and ultimately our nation.
  • Crystallize the Scout habit of helpfulness into a life purpose of leadership in cheerful service to others.

Annual Membership Fee

2024 Annual Membership Fee is $15 until 1/27/24. After the OA Banquet it will be $20.00. Click here to pay

Lodge Events

Induction Weekends (Members & Joining)

Two Induction Weekends are available to those who have been elected by their Troop or Crew.

The lodge runs 2 induction weekends a year (spring & fall) at Camp Gorton. Emails are sent to all candidates and members about the dates. They are also available on the calendar.

Candidates can register by selecting the Induction weekend that best fits their schedule and registering.  A letter to new Candidates from the Chief and a Packing List are also available as part of the attachments on the registration page. Registration is available online. 

Current Members are always encouraged to join new members at an Induction Weekend.  To register please find the event in the calendar below and register.

Fellowship Weekends (Members)

Fun filled themed weekend event for all OA Lodge Members. There will be activities, training sessions, competitions, lodge officer elections. Next weekend can be found on the calendar.

E15 Section Conclave

– @ Camp Cutler May 31- June 2, 2024 (Members)

The Section E15 Conclave is an annual gathering of four lodges in our section for fun, fellowship, training, activities, and an opportunity to meet members throughout our area. We are hoping to have many members help to allow everyone to enjoy the weekend!

To register for the Section Conclave this link: Section E15 Conclave Registration Link – AVAILABLE IN FEBRUARY 2024

National Order of the Arrow Conference 2024(Members)

The National Order of the Arrow Conference (NOAC) will be in the summer of 2024. NOAC is a semi-annual conference of arrowman from throughout the country to come together for activities, fellowship, shows, training sessions, and many other fun events. 

OA High Adventure (Members)

Each summer, the Order of the Arrow offers a myriad of different High Adventure opportunities to meet your summer needs. Maybe it’s wetting your appetite by going for a plunge in the Atlantic Ocean with the Ocean Adventure at the Florida Sea Base. Or maybe hiking is your passion; if so, what better place to go than the Philmont Scout Ranch, where you can hike the same trails as your Scoutmaster or Scouting ancestors as a part of your Trail Crew experience? Have you ever thought about what the Native Americans and early explorers did to be avid traders? Maybe the OA Voyage is your calling. Whatever your summer aspirations may be, these National High Adventure bases have put together a multitude of options for you.

More information can be found at the National OA High Adventure Site

Lodge Officers

You can contact the lodge officers by clicking on their name. In accordance with BSA Youth Protection Policies, regarding one on one contact, all emails going to youth are also copied to the lodge advisor.

Lodge Chief – Emily McGrain & Elliot B. 

Lodge Vice Chief – Taylor Degnan

Lodge Secretary – Kate VanZile

Lodge Treasurer – Patrick VanZile

Lodge Adviser – Ryan Ross & Jerry Sullivan 

Lodge Staff Adviser – Karl Ziegenfus

Lodge Calendar

Lodge Membership

Membership Requirements

• • Be a registered member of the Boy Scouts of America.
  • Have experienced 15 nights of camping while registered with a troop, crew, or ship within the two years immediately prior to the election. The 15 nights must include one, but no more than one, long-term camp consisting of at least five consecutive nights of overnight camping, approved and under the auspices and standards of the Boy Scouts of America. Only five nights of the long-term camp may be credited toward the 15-night camping requirement; the balance of the camping (10 nights) must be overnight, weekend, or other short-term camps of, at most, three nights each. Ship nights may be counted as camping for Sea Scouts.
  • At the time of their election, youth must be under the age of 21, and hold one of the following ranks corresponding to the type unit in which they are being considered for election: Scouts BSA First Class rank, the Venturing Discovery Award, or the Sea Scout Ordinary rank or higher, and following approval by the Scoutmaster, Crew Adviser or Sea Scout Skipper, be elected by the youth members of their unit.
  • Adults (age 21 or older) who meet the camping requirements may be selected following nomination to and approval by the lodge adult selection committee.

The Candidate

Once a Scout is elected by his peers at the Troop Level, he is considered a candidate. Each Candidate must complete an induction weekend to become an Ordeal member in the Order of the Arrow. A candidate has one calendar year from election to participate in their chosen induction weekend. The TKäen DoD Lodge holds Induction Weekends twice in the spring and once in the fall.  At the time of election each Candidate receives a letter of information, and a registration form. Ordeal registration is not automatic with election but can now be completed online.

The Ordeal

The induction weekend begins on Friday evening and lasts through an open lodge meeting on Sunday Morning. At registration(Between 6:30PM and 7:30PM), a Candidate is assigned a group, called a Clan, that they will work with throughout the Ordeal. An Order of the Arrow member called an Elangomat guides each clan. The Elangomat stays with the clan during the entire Ordeal. Throughout the Ordeal the Candidate learns about the Order of the Arrow and contributes to various improvement or service projects. If the Candidate is successful, an Ordeal sash with a red arrow is placed upon his shoulder at the Ordeal Ceremony. The sash signifies that he is now an Ordeal Member of the TKäen DoD Lodge of the Order of the Arrow and he will receive a member handbook, a membership card, a lodge flap, and their first years dues are covered.  New members are encouraged to take advantage of the Jump Start program soon after achieving Ordeal Membership. 

Any member is considered active if his yearly Lodge dues are current, they are a registered member with the Five Rivers Council, Boy Scouts of America, and they keep in touch with lodge activities.

The Brotherhood

To deepen their understanding of the Order and become a Brotherhood member, an Ordeal member must participate in a Brotherhood Ceremony. To be eligible for Brotherhood, an Ordeal member must be active for at least 6 months following the Ordeal, and must be registered with the BSA. Shortly before a Brotherhood Ceremony is to take place, the Ordeal member receives a Brotherhood email containing information, and a link to registration. If successful, the Ordeal sash is replaced by a Brother sash with a red arrow and two red bars.

The Vigil

After at least two years of active participation as a Brotherhood member, and having also shown exceptional service, personal effort, and unselfish interest as an Arrowman, a member is eligible for nomination to the Vigil Honor. Both youths and adults can receive the distinction. Any Lodge member can submit a nomination to the Lodge Nomination committee. The committee reviews the nominations, and prospective honorees are petitioned to the National Lodge. To receive the honor, Arrowman must participate in the Vigil Honor ceremony. Upon successful completion, a sash with a red arrow, two red bars, and a red Vigil triangle replaces the Brotherhood sash.

Click here to submit an Arrowman for the Vigil Honor

 

The Founders Award

Introduced at the 1981 National Order of the Arrow Conference, the Founder’s Award recognizes Arrowmen who have given outstanding service to their lodge. The award is reserved for an Arrowman who demonstrates that he or she personifies the spirit of selfless service, as advocated by founder E. Urner Goodman and cofounder Carroll A. Edson.

The award is a handsome bronze medallion bearing the likenesses of E. Urner Goodman and Carroll A. Edson, with a wooden base and a brass plate suitable for engraving.  Available for uniform wear is a gold-colored arrow suspended from a red ribbon.

Lodges may petition the national Order of the Arrow committee to present between two and four awards annually, depending on the number of members in the lodge. If the lodge presents more than one award, at least one must be awarded to a youth under the age of 21.

Click here to fill out online recommendation.

TKäen DoD Lodge 30 Recipients

2023 – Jim “AR” Nelson

2018 – Peter Reif

2017 – Joe Roupp Sr.

2016 – Terrie Seymour

2015 – Kelsey Seymour and Ryan Ross

2014 – William Ernest

2012 – Ruby Way

2007 – Marcus Allis and Dan Jackson

2005 – Jon Fuller

2004 – Jim Bacalles

2003 – Neal Forsyth and Lois Love

2001 – John Bahl and Marlene Enlow

2000 – Brian Love and Bernie Briceland Sr.

1999 – Jamie Love and Roy Paddock

1998 – Jason Potter and Don Worden

1997 – Ron Hall

1996 – George Bacalles and Mike Asiello Jr. 

1995 – Ted Love and Jim Griffin

1994 – Floyd Marley

1993 – Marc McGrain and Ken Masteller

 

Previous Lodge Recipients

Winingus Lodge 30 

1992 – Jason Root and William Thomas

 

TKäen DoD Lodge 186

1991 – Thomas Feehan and Sean McInerney

1992 – Tim Griffin and Mark Kosty

 

Wakanda Lodge 186

1990 – Let Lowery

 

Seneca Lodge 394

1985 – Daniel Redner and Michael McCarthy

1987 – Peter Maybaum and Kenneth Maybaum

1990 – Adam Hungerford, Michael McCarthy, and David Powell

 

 

 

The James E. West Fellowship Award

James E. West was the first Chief Scout Executive of the Boy Scouts of America, and he served in that position for more than three decades. The West Fellowship award is available for gifts of $1,000 and up in cash or marketable securities to a council endowment fund. The gift must be in addition to— and not replace or diminish—the donor’s annual Friends of Scouting support. Many individuals and corporations make these gifts either on behalf of someone else—such as in honor of an Eagle Scout, Silver Beaver recipient, a retirement, a special accomplishment, or anniversary—or in memory of a special individual. If an institution is truly “the lengthened shadow of one man,” it is more than fitting that the BSA honor James E. West’s major contributions to Scouting in such a significant way. The lodge has made many contributions to the council endowment fund honoring arrowman who have given unselfish service to the lodge.

Click here to fill out online recommendation.

2018 – Dusty Bahl

2017 – Kelsey Seymour and Joe Taylor

2016 – Peter Reif

2015 – George Bacalles and Roy Paddock

2013 – Don Many and Terrie Seymour

2012 – Joe Roupp and Jim Thomas

Centurion Award

Introduced for the centennial year of the Order of the Arrow, the Centurion Award was a one-time only award created to recognize arrowmen who meaningfully contributed to the forming, maturing, or ongoing operation of their lodge. Recipients were designated as either a youth or adult contributor, with a minimum service period of three years for youth contributors and six years for adult contributors. Posthumous awards were permitted.

Lodges selected over 1,800 arrowmen for the award. Recipients received a certificate and a metallic centennial totem suspended from a red and white neck-ribbon.

2016 – Hawley, David R

2016 – Ames, Donald Floyd

2016 – Tiede, Shawn R

2015 – Jones, Sean I

2015 – Lemke, Rogers P

2015 – Prowse, James

2015 – Robert, Gerald E

2015 – Schmidt, Scott A

2015 – Sullivan III, Jeremiah J

2015 – Sullivan Jr, Jeremiah J

Lodge Documents

•  Dues Form 
• Dues Payment Online  
•  Lodge Leadership Position Intent Declaration
• National Leadership Seminar
• Unit Election Form
• Vigil Honor Nomination Form
• Tkäen DoD Lodge Policies and Procedures

Helpful Links

• Jump Start for new Arrowmen 
• TKäen DõD Lodge 30 Facebook Page
• Five Rivers Council Website
• National OA Website
• Eastern Region Website
• Section E 15 Website
• National SA Website

Section E15 Lodges

Lodge	Council
Erie Canal	Great Falls Council
Lowannie Nimat	Longhouse Council
TKäen DÕD	Great Falls Council
Tschipey Achtu	Seneca Waterways Council
Ohkwaliha·Ká Lodge	Leatherstocking Council
Otahnagon Lodge	Baden-Powell Council

Lodge History – Tkaen Dod

On January 1, 1991, the Seneca Lodge of Sullivan Trail Council in Elmira merged with the Wakanda Lodge of Steuben Area Council in Bath NY. As was the practice at that time, new lodges created by council mergers took the lower lodge number. This happened to be #186, which represented the Wakanda Lodge (later in 1993 when the General Sullivan Council was annexed TKaen DoD #186 took the lower Winnigus Lodge #30). The winter fellowship at Camp Gorton in February 1990 saw Arrowmen from both Wakanda and Seneca Lodges come together to design a new flap and to pick a lodge name. Ken Masteller was adviser of Wakanda at the time of the merger and Mike McCarthy of

Elmira was the lodge adviser of Seneca Lodge. The new lodge also had co-chiefs, Brian Eno from Seneca Lodge and Mark Kosty from Wakanda. The merger was a very harmonious merger since most of the lodge officers had participated in a two council contingent troop at the 1989 jamboree. The merger was so positive that the chiefs were asked to lead a session at the 1990 NOAC, held at Indiana University, on how to promote the true spirit of brotherhood when lodges are forced to merge due to council mergers.

The council name of Five Rivers had already been selected from a council wide contest held during 1989. At the winter fellowship the Arrowmen wanted to have a lodge name that complimented the council name. Since the “five rivers” merged in Painted Post and since “Painted Post’s” origin was Senecan (Chief Montour stands in the center of the village), the Arrowmen wanted to find out the Seneca name for “Painted Post.” Chiefs Eno and Kosty traveled to the Seneca reservation near Syracuse to talk to Myrtle Peterson. Mrs. Peterson was the instructor on the reservation of the Senecan language. When the chiefs met with Mrs. Peterson she told them that the Senecas never had a painted post. The post that existed in the Painted Post area was not “painted”. This plain post had been used as a type of bulletin board and when the white settlers moved into the area they painted it. To paint this post was desecration to the Seneca people. Mrs. Peterson suggested to our chiefs that they name the lodge TKäen DoD meaning “Land of the post”. By doing this they would honor the Seneca people, compliment the council’s Five Rivers name and be a name that the idea and research had originated with the youth of the lodge. TKäen DoD was thus born and has been our lodge name since the spring of 1991.

Lodge History – Erie Canal

Ganosote Lodge was formed in Erie County Council in 1921 by Hans Walter, the chairman of the Camping Committee.  The name “Ganosote” means “longhouse,” the living building of the Iroquois.  In 1949, the Erie County Council merged with the Buffalo Council to form the Buffalo Area Council.  The Buffalo Area Council had an organization similar to the Order of the Arrow called the “Tribe of the Wa-canda.”  This organization was dissolved and the new council adopted the Order of the Arrow and continued the name and totem of Ganosote.  In 1960, the Lodge broke up into twelve chapters allowing more members to take an active part in the Order of the Arrow.  Chapters were Amherst, Apache, Cattaraugus, Cayuga, Cazenovia, Ellicott, Erie, Iroquois, Kenton, Mohawk, Red Jacket, and Tonawandas.  The lodge was in existence until the 1967 merger with Tuscarora Lodge 284.

In 1945, Tuscarora Lodge came into being.  The five original members came from all over the U.S.  One even came from the Philadelphia Council where the OA was introduced to Scouting.  In August of 1945, the first Ordeal ceremony was held on the Tuscarora Indian Reservation.  The name Tuscarora was taken as the Lodge name.  The name means the “Shirt Wearers.”  Eventually two chapters were formed – Ongara and Portage.  The lodge was in existence until the 1967 merger with Ganosote Lodge 159.

In early spring 1967, the Greater Niagara Frontier Council was formed with a merger of the Niagara Frontier Council (Tuscarora Lodge) and the Buffalo Area Council (Ganosote Lodge).  A new merged Lodge was formed, taking the name Ho-De-No-Sau-Nee, meaning “People of the Longhouse.”

Merger Details: 1/24/67 Consolidation Meeting; 2/13/67 Name Approved; 2/14/67 Camping Committee Approval; 2/67 Executive Board Approval.

An interim lodge chief (Paul Murray) was chosen to lead the lodge until elections were held at the spring lodge conclave.  Mark Warner was elected and became the first official Ho-De-No-Sau-Nee lodge chief.  Initially, the lodge had fourteen chapters (twelve from Ganosote and two from Tuscarora).  However, a year after the merger the number of chapters was reduced to twelve.  In 1970, the Niagara Falls chapters merged.  In 1983, 1986, and 1990 there were a series of chapter mergers.  Finally, from 1990 until 2002 there were only three chapters.  Things changed in 2002 when the lodge added a chapter (Theodore Roosevelt).  In 2004 the Council split three of the four districts in half. The chapters retained the same boundaries with Onondaga Chapter containing Cayuga & Iroquois Trail Districts.   Polaris Chapter is made up of Niagara Gateway & Niawanda Districts.   Silver Lakes Chapter is made up of Erie Shores & Southern Hills Districts.  Theodore Roosevelt Chapter is the Theodore Roosevelt District.

In 2007 the Theodore Roosevelt Chapter merged with the Onondaga Chapter.  Silver Lakes Chapter changed it’s name to Seneca Chapter.  Polaris Chapter changed it’s name to Falling Waters.

There are MANY holes in the lodge history.  As a result, these lists may need revision.  Let us know if you have any additions or can see any errors.  We need as much help as possible!

Lodge history compiled by Mike Hulsizer.  WNY BSA/OA Memorabilia Collecting Links also hosted by Mike Hulsizer.

OA History

The Order of the Arrow (OA) was founded by Dr. E. Urner Goodman and Carroll A. Edson in 1915 at the Treasure Island Camp of the Philadelphia Council, Boy Scouts of America. It became an official program experiment in 1922 and was approved as part of the Scouting program in 1934.

In 1948 the OA, recognized as the BSA’s national brotherhood of honor campers, became an official part of the national camping program of the Boy Scouts of America.

You can find more about the history of the OA and a message from the National Chief by CLICKING HERE.