Click here to download the January 2013 Section Advisor’s update in PDF format

National Planning Meeting: Tom Donlon attended the National Planning Meeting from
December 27‐30 in Dallas, TX. As Section Chief, Tom attended the meeting to plan the
2013 National Scout Jamboree where he will serve on the American Indian Affairs staff
as the Jamboree Vice Chief. Dan O’Rourke and Bill Chin also had the opportunity to
attend. Dan will serve as the Deputy Lead Adviser for the OA Program Committee at the
Jamboree and Bill continued working with the Inductions and Ceremonial Events
Committee to help roll out a revised Brotherhood Ceremony.
2013 National Officers: Section Chiefs from across the country gathered to elect new
officers at the National Planning Meeting in Dallas, TX in December. Your officers are:
National Chief: Matt Brown – Wa‐Hi‐Nasa Lodge, Middle Tennessee Council
National Vice Chief: Jordan Hughes – Lowwapaneu Lodge, Northeast Pennsylvania
Council
Northeast Region Chief: Tyler Allen – Langundowi Lodge, French Creek Council
Southern Region Chief: Brad Torpey – Netopalis Sipo Schipinachk Lodge, Longhorn
Council
Central Region Chief: Mike Gray – Wenasa Quenhotan, W.D. Boyce Council
Western Region Chief: David Dye – Siwinis Lodge, Los Angeles Area Council
Project LEAP: Project LEAP (Lodge Excellence Assistance Program) will be held on
February 10, 2013, at East Hartford Middle School, 777 Burnside Avenue, East Hartford,
CT 06618. LEAP is designed to support the six lodges of the Section in their efforts to
improve their program and achieving Journey to Excellence (JTE) recognition. This event
is intended for lodge officers, committee chairmen, chapter leadership, advisers, and
any Arrowman who is interested in becoming active in the OA program. Training
sessions will include: Brotherhood Conversion, Supporting your Council, Regalia,
Conducting Service Projects and more! Join us for a day of training and fellowship. The
cost of the event is $15, which includes program materials, lunch, and an event patch.
Additional trading post items are available by pre‐sale only. Register online at
http://www.ne‐2a.org.
Council of Chiefs Meeting: The next Council of Chiefs meeting will be held in
conjunction with the Project LEAP event. Lodges should be prepared to report on their
Conclave committee plans.
Journey to Excellence: Congratulations to Owaneco Lodge for achieving the Gold Level
and to Pocumtuc Lodge for achieving the Silver Level! Other lodges were close to
achieving the Bronze Level and will hopefully reach their goals in 2013.
Section Officer/Adviser Travels: Outside of the National Planning Meeting travel,
Section Chief Tom Donlon and Section Adviser Bill Chin were guests at the annual Nacha
Nimat Lodge banquet on January 5 in Newburgh, NY.
Project 2013: Staff positions for the Order of the Arrow’s Project 2013 to support the
National Scout Jamboree are still available. There are five different program areas to
serve: Jamboree Trek Guide (lead Troops on a four mile hike to the top of the Garden
Ground Mountain), OA Service Corps, Day of Service Guides (onsite service at the
Summit or community service project), Indian Village, and Recreation. For more
information about Project 2013, visit: http://event.oa‐bsa.org/events/jambo2013.
Revised Brotherhood Ceremony Demonstrations: The National Order of the Arrow
Committee has approved demonstrations of a revised Brotherhood Ceremony to be
demonstrated at Section Conclaves in 2013. The ceremony is not yet approved for
official use and will be considered for official adoption in December 2013. The
ceremony is “a legend within the Legend,” and tells the story of Uncas as he meets a
warrior from a neighboring enemy tribe. The two men listen to one another, see each
other’s point of view, and decide to pursue a path of peace and serve as examples to
their people.
Brotherhood Ceremony Conclave Demonstration: Sections across the country will be
coordinating a demonstration of the revised Brotherhood Ceremony at Section
Conclaves in 2013 to ensure that Brotherhood and Vigil Honor members have the
opportunity to see and provide feedback for the new ceremony prior to national
adoption. The demonstration fits into a one‐hour time slot. To facilitate this program
element, we will be appointing a Section Demonstration Coordinator and Section
Demonstration Adviser to work with an official and practiced Demonstration Team. The
ceremony text itself will be limited to the Section Demonstration Team. Teams
interested in volunteering should contact Section Adviser Bill Chin.
Field Operations Guide: A newly revised Field Operations Guide was recently updated
on the national OA webpage. The revisions made primarily consist of Conclave
participant insurance costs. http://www.oa‐bsa.org/resources/pubs/FOG‐2013.pdf
Scouts Helping Scouts: It is our goal that every lodge in Section NE‐2A will be making a
donation to the Northeast Region’s Scouts Helping Scouts campaign. The campaign will
support scout camps across the region that suffered damage caused by Hurricane
Sandy. The region has nearly reached the $30,000 mark and has increased its
fundraising goal from $20,000 to $25,000 to $30,000 to $35,000. The Northeast Region
BSA has pledged a matching donation of $15,000. For more information, visit the
Northeast Region webpage at http://northeast.oa‐bsa.org.
2013 Section NE‐2A Conclave: The theme for the 2013 Conclave at Camp Tri‐Mount
Scout Reservation is “Keep the Fire Burning.” Half Moon Lodge has worked hard to
develop plans for the weekend and plans to integrate the theme into the program as
much as possible. Anthony Stoico will serve as Conclave Coordinator and he will be
advised by Tony Van Duynhoven.

Conclave Committees:

Year	Lodge
Service Lodge	Half Moon Lodge
Friday Night Activities	Lodge
Training	Pocumtuc Lodge
Saturday Afternoon Activities	Tschitani Lodge
American Indian Activities	Paugassett Lodge
Shows	Owaneco Lodge
Publications	Nacha Nimat Lodge

OA High Adventure Forms: The 2013 registration forms for OA High Adventure are now
available for download: http://www.oa‐bsa.org/resources/forms/#adventure.
Adult Unit Election Changes: The national Order of the Arrow committee has recently
announced changes to the requirements for the nomination of adult unit Scouters to
become candidates for induction into the Order. These changes will take effect for the
2013 Unit Election season. For more information, visit: http://www.oabsa.
org/annc/opup/opup‐12‐07.pdf

2013 Calendar:

Conclave Rotation: