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Southern Region Realignment Announced
Posted on: 03-21-2008

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As an integral part of the Boy Scout program, the Southern Region of the Order of the Arrow has been affected by a recently announced realignment of councils into new geographic areas.

Because of this, several changes will be implemented as part of our continued commitment and support to the region.

The first and most noticeable of these changes is the realignment of our current OA sections. A few sections will not change at all, while some may experience significant changes. Most of our areas will contain a single section, with the following exceptions: New Area 1 will consist of two sections, SR-1A and SR-1B. Area 7 will continue to consist of two sections, SR-7A and SR-7B. New Area 2/3 (Texas) will consist of two sections SR-2/3N and SR-2/3S. A map displaying the new OA section alignments can be found below. A listing of the lodges in each new section may be found by clicking here.

A second major change or concern is how the youth leadership of our sections will be affected by these changes. To address this, the region shall follow the transition procedures recommended in the Order of the Arrow Field Operations Guide (the “FOG”). Those procedures are outlined below.

  • The 2008 section conclaves will occur as scheduled and involve the lodges in the existing, pre-realignment sections. The pre-realignment sections will elect new section officers at their conclaves.
  • Immediately following the 2008 conclaves, the new sections, in their new configurations, will come into being. Because currently existing Section 2 will hold its conclave in July, some changes will not be implemented until then.
  • The newly elected section officers will move to their new sections, based upon where their home councils are located. This will likely result in some instances where a new section will have more than one person serving in an officer position, in which case such section will operate with multiple officers for the ensuing year until the 2009 conclave. Special attention should be paid to coordination and sharing of leadership responsibilities during the transition year. The guiding principle to be followed is that no elected youth officer is to be hurt by the realignment.
  • The movement of new officers to new sections will also likely result in a few officer vacancies in the new sections. Special council of chiefs meetings in new sections should be scheduled as early as possible in order to fill vacant offices and to begin planning as a new section. Elections should follow the procedures set forth in Chapter 2 of the FOG - Section Rules, Rule IV.E. Such meetings may be conducted via conference call or by other means where all participants can communicate simultaneously. Written permission from each candidate's council Scout Executive is required in order to run for section office. Contact information for newly elected officers should be provided to the Region OA Staff Adviser immediately following elections.
  • When a section's new leadership is in place, it should set the date for its next council of chiefs and its 2009 conclave, as well as any new conclave rotation schedule, with consideration given to the new composition of the section. ArrowCorps5, Lodge Assistance Program visitations and other programs of the new section should also be discussed.

If any issues arise during the transition process, they will be resolved by the Region OA Key 3 and the Area Directors of the affected sections. However, the region expects that the realignment of our sections will be a smooth one. We are all committed to delivering quality Order of the Arrow programs to the Arrowmen we serve, and conscious of our responsibility to support our region, areas, councils and lodges in achieving success.

If you have any comments or questions, please contact your lodge leadership.

Resources:
Southern Region section alignment with Lodge listing

2008 Southern Region Realignment

The following map depicts the new OA Section alignments.

Section Map

The following lists all the councils (headquarter city) that will make up each section.

Section 1 A Monroe, LA
Lake Charles, LA
Lafayette, LA
Baton Rouge, LA
New Orleans, LA
Jackson, MS

Section 1 B Dothan, AL
Mobile, AL
Pensacola, FL
Columbus, MS
Hattiesburg, MS
Meridian, MS

Section 2/3 N Shreveport, LA
Abilene, TX
Amarillo, TX
Dallas, TX
Fort Worth, TX
Lubbock, TX
Midland, TX
Paris, TX
Texarkana, TX
Tyler, TX
Wichita Falls, TX

Section 2/3 S Austin, TX
Beaumont, TX
Corpus Christi, TX
Galveston, TX
Harlingen, TX
Houston, TX
San Angelo, TX
San Antonio, TX

Section 4 Albany, GA
Valdosta, GA
Waycross, GA
Fort Myers, FL
Jacksonville, FL
Miami, FL
Orlando, FL
Palm Beach, FL
Seminole, FL
Tallahassee, FL
Tampa, FL

Section 5 Augusta, GA
Savannah, GA
Albemarle, NC
Ashville, NC
Charlotte, NC
Gastonia, NC
Charleston, SC
Columbia, SC
Florence, SC
Greenville, SC
Spartanburg, SC

Section 6 Lexington, KY
Louisville, KY
Owensboro, KY
Tupelo, MS
Chattanooga, TN
Jackson, TN
Johnson City, TN
Knoxville, TN
Memphis, TN
Nashville, TN

Section 7 A Newport News, VA
Richmond, VA
Roanoke, VA
Virginia Beach, VA
Waynesboro, VA
Winchester, VA

Section 7 B Kinston, NC
Goldsboro, NC
Greensboro, NC
Raleigh, NC
Wilmington, NC
Winston-Salem, NC

Section 8 El Dorado, AR
Fort Smith, AR
Hot Springs, AR
Little Rock, AR
Ardmore, OK
Bartlesville, OK
Enid, OK
Oklahoma City, OK
Tulsa, OK

Section 9 Birmingham, AL
Montgomery, AL
Tuscaloosa, AL
Athens, GA
Atlanta, GA
Columbus, GA
Griffin, GA
Macon, GA
Rome, GA

 

Ian McKay Receives Vigil Honor

 

At the Spring Pow-Wow weekend of March 7-9th, at Tanah-Keeta, our very own Ian McKay received the Vigil Honor. Ian has been very active in the OA since he was inducted in 2005, serving as a member of the Ceremonies Team, Weekend Chairman for several Lodge weekends, and is the current Lodge Vice Chief of Program. Ian is the 9th member of our chapter to receive the Vigil Honor in the last 6 years (James Archer-2002, Steve Gray-2004, Peter Turner-2006, Scott Paul-2007, Patrick Rice-2007, Chas Carlson-2007, Dave Carlson-2007, Pat Rice-2007). Also recognized with the Vigil Honor at the weekend were our Lodge Secretary Mike Grove and our Lodge Historian Sal Sodano, Joe Rao and Frank Taft, Lodge Advisor-to-be. Congratulations to all, and keep on keeping on!

Order of the Arrow - Vigil

 

Our annual Lodge Banquet was held on Saturday, January 12th, where brothers from Aal-Pa-Tah Lodge and their families came out and had some fun. The evening started out with a silent patch auction, and there were many patches in which to look at. Park Avenue catered the dinner, which consisted of chicken/pasta, salad, beans, roll, and a scrumptious cake for dessert! There were drawings throughout the evening, where people won various prizes donated by some of our brothers. Later on, there was also a live patch auction held

The regular festivities got under way, with Adam Taft and David Weda giving a talk and a PowerPoint presentation about the High Adventure program and ArrowCorps 5. All of the newest brotherhood members that were in attendance were recognized, and our chapter was recognized for winning last year's Best All-Around Chapter competition, which is a competition where chapters compete in various areas of chapter leadership, such as service, weekend attendance, unit elections' completion, etc. The competition was started 2 years ago, and both years so far, we have come out on top.

Following this, the lodge officers were recognized by receiving a specially embroidered lodge neckerchief. The Lodge Advisor's Award was presented to Sal Sodano and Patrick Rice. Patrick is a past lodge officer from our chapter. The Lodge Advisor's Award is presented annually by the Lodge Advisor, who chooses a youth that has shown to be a positive influence in the lodge. Next up was the annual presentation of the James E. West Fellowship, which went to Dennis Kennedy and Phil Ashford III, both whom have been active in Scouting for years, and has been involved with many aspects in our council and lodge.

One of the last awards presented that evening was the presentation of the Founders' Award. The Founders' Award was created in 1981 to honor Arrowmen in the Order of the Arrow for unselfish service above and beyond their normal duties to their lodge. In the 27 years since it was created, only 13 youth and 14 adults have been presented with the award from Aal-Pa-Tah Lodge. Our lodge can present up to 2 awards annually, and if two are presented, one must go to a youth under the age of 21. This year it was decided to present two of the awards, and the recipients were Chas Carlson and Adam Taft, both youths. Adam is an Eagle Scout, Vigil Honor member, and is the current Lodge Chief. Chas is also an Eagle Scout, Vigil Honor member, and is the current Chapter Chief for the Lowaneu Mawat Chapter. Chas becomes only the third recipient of the award from our chapter ever, and becomes, if not the youngest, one of the youngest to ever receive the award. We congratulate both of them for this great honor!

Founders Award

David Carlson and Pat Rice Receive Vigil Honor

At the second Ordeal Weekend on September 22, 2007, our own David Carlson and Pat Rice received the Order's highest honor, the Vigil Honor. Both have been involved with Scouting for many years, and both are well deserving. Congratulations to them both! For 2007, we had a total of 6 members receive the Vigil Honor from Aal-Pa-Tah Lodge, and 5 of those 6 are from our very own chapter!

Order of the Arrow - Vigil

Lowaneu Mawat Chapter Receives Best All-Around Chapter award for 2nd Straight Year!!!

Our own chapter beat out the other competition to receive the Best all-Around Chapter award! It was another close race, with Oi-Ya-Tah chapter coming in a close second again. We showed the rest of the lodge yet again why we're the best. Thanks goes out to everyone that helped make it possible by attending events and working hard!

"For He Who Serves His Fellows, Is, Of All His Fellows, Greatest".

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