Muscogee Lodge #116

A delegation of 106 Muscogee #116 Arrowmen from across the Pee Dee and Midlands regions converged on Wadmalaw Island, SC for what would be the first Cornerstone Conclave attended by the newly constituted Muscogee #116. Created through a merger of Santee #116 and Muscogee #221 at the beginning of 2023, in four short months Muscogee #116 has begun its rise to levels of brotherhood, cheerfulness, and service not seen in recent years across the other lodges in Section E-7. Indeed, it was a good weekend for the foxes and parakeets.

Friday night’s opening show kicked-off the weekend, with Section Shows Coordinator and #116’s own, Gabe Gainey, presiding as emcee. Conclave host, Unali’Yi lodge, treated the delegations assembled at Camp Ho Non Wah’s Council Ring to a collection of original skits and audience-led games, with a massive fireworks display to end the show. Later in the night, after a cracker barrel of nachos, patch trading continued into the wee hours of Friday night, while most retired to their bunks for a night of fitful sleep, light rain, and the occasional sand flea.

Saturday morning dawned clear and bright, with the smell of fresh coffee, cheese omelets, and lowcountry grits (truly manna from heaven). Administrative events and ceremonies competitions opened the day, with Muscogee #116 ready to perform the Pre-Ordeal and Brotherhood ceremonies and showcase a new lodge display, video, newsletter, and website. The balance of the morning was spent in the recently reintroduced knowledge & training sessions, where Preston K. (VC Admin) and Aidan D. (VC Finance) presented “Extended Elangomat Program” training to those in attendance. Meanwhile, further down the Bohicket River’s western bank, Muscogee’s totem pole carving team used hand tools to create a design, judged second to only one other lodge.

Administrative Events

Preston K., Vice Chief of Administration

Displays showcase a lodge and what they do; patches can be used, but should not be the focus of the display. Lodge display themes can be about any Boy Scout related subject (i.e. Philmont, joining the ceremony team, backpacking, etc.). The Conclave theme does not have to be used.

Handbook Committee: Aidan D., Grace Franklin, Preston K.

A lodge can enter only one Handbook, which must be the current year’s edition. The Lodge Handbook may be presented on any type of print or computer media. The Handbook is judged on content, organization, and usefulness.

Tail and Feather, Nathan Arant, Vice Chief of Communications

Each lodge, in order to be judged for Newsletter competition, enters at least one newsletter, published since April 24, 2022. The newsletter(s) judging criteria include such things as content, print, quality, and use of graphic art.

Hand Tools Team: Brad Hutto, Troy McNall, Larry Parrish

The purpose of the Totem Pole competition is to incentivize lodges to participate in providing a gift to the Service Lodge. There are two categories for this competition: hand-carved and power tools. The totem pole is judged on design, creativity, and skill. Participants may be youth or adult.

Extended Elangomat Program, by Aidan D. and Preston K.

Points are awarded to those lodges who participate by creating and presenting a 45-minute training program from a list of provided training topics.

Committee: Aidan D., Preston K., Noah M.

Each lodge plans, shoots, and edits a video that displays a part of their lodge (e.g. Summer Camp, Cook Team, Inductions Team, Fellowships, etc.). This will be a well-produced video that showcases an aspect or overview of the lodge. The video should be targeted to new or prospective members. Videos should include additional information on how to connect with the lodge’s program.

Nathan Arant, Vice Chief of Communications

Lodge websites are judged in advance of Conclave, based on content, design, construction method, adherence to compliance and required content standards, usability, and accessibility.

The ceremony team competition provides an opportunity for teams to learn how to improve ceremonies from qualified judges and to help teams learn through a thorough and positive evaluation with suggestions for improvement. Ceremony teams are not only rated against each other but also against a national standard.

  • Pre-Ordeal: Excellent Ratings – Gabe Gainey, Sean Green, Noah M.
  • Brotherhood: Excellent Ratings – Grace Franklin, Gabe Gainey, Codey Stephens

After lunch of chicken filet sandwiches and chips, the Muscogee #116 delegation began a truly remarkable run through the Quest for the Golden Arrow, a tournament of field day style Scout events. Of the 11 Quest events, Muscogee #116 won first place in six of 11, a feat not seen since 2019, when Santee won six of the 12 Quest events. It may be worth noting that Muscogee shared a three-way tie in the ultimate frisbee competition, due to a late afternoon rainstorm, which prevented completion of the final games.

Quest for the Golden Arrow Events

Up to two contestants from each lodge must throw a 30-inch wooden target arrow and a regulation softball for distance. The lodge with the greatest combined distances wins.

One contestant from each lodge shoots five arrows with a recurve bow over a distance of 40 feet at a five-ring target. Points are awarded for arrows which hit the target rings (e.g., bull’s eye = 11 points, 5 rings from center = 1 point). The points are added together, and the lodge with the highest point total is the winner.

A basketball shooting contest, where one shooter (and up to five rebounders) attempts to score the greatest number of points in a timed two-minute period. Limits are placed on the number of one and two point shot allowed; there’s no limit on three point shots. 

A four-person team will be timed as they build a triangle-shaped sled, using three wooden poles and three lengths of rope, tied with a diagonal lashing at the top and two square lashing on either leg. After the triangle is complete, one member of the team will ride on the bottom crossbar and the other three members will pull them around a designated track approximately forty yards in length. Time is stopped upon completion of the track, and the lodge team with the lowest time wins.

Each lodge’s three person team completes a timed run over a three mile course. The three times are averaged, and the winning lodge is the team with the lowest average time.

Team of two delegates alternate throwing a whole raw egg to one another, beginning with each 15 feet apart. The egg must be thrown and caught barehanded, without breaking. Teams with an unbroken egg will be moved back 5 feet for each subsequent throw, until one team remains.

A team of four to seven lodge delegates must build a fire lay, light the fire, and burn through two horizontal strings, spaced one foot and two feet above the ground, respectively. The event is timed, and the lodge with the lowest time wins. Matches, BSA Hot Spark, and bow & string are the only acceptable ignition sources.

A timed relay of seven lodge delegates must tie a randomly assigned series of seven knots, one per delegate, as assigned by the judge. The knots are the square knot, bowline, sheet bend, taut-line hitch, clove hitch, and two-half hitches.

One contestant from each lodge will throw a one-half inch rope (fifty feet long) over a ten foot high and ten foot wide raised crossbar from a designated starting point fifteen feet away. Run from the starting point and tie a timber hitch to a log (weighing less than 20 lbs.); hoist the log completely off the ground; run back to the starting point; and, tie a clove hitch to a stake. The contestant with the lowest elapsed time wins.

First team of up to 6 delegates (not weighing more than 1,000 lbs.) to pull a flag, attached to the center of a rope, 3 feet across the center line is the winner.

On a football-style field, two teams of seven players compete in a timed, 10-minute game. The object of the game is to score goals. A goal is scored when a player catches any legal pass in the end zone that player is attacking. A player may not run while holding the disc. The disc is advanced by passing it to other players. The disc may be passed in any direction. Any time a pass is incomplete, a turnover occurs, resulting in an immediate change of the team in possession of the disc. The team with the most points after the 10-minute game is the winner.

The afternoon thunderstorm didn’t dampen spirits, and the sky cleared just in time for dinner. Unali’Yi served a fine plate of barbequed pork, hash, rice, and green beans, including a dinner roll to sop-up any last morsels of pork meat. Throw-in a bottomless cup of iced tea, and the delegation was in a virtual food coma heading into the closing show. The show started with an American Indian dance demonstration, featuring two Women’s Fancy Shawl dancers and a drum team, both from Unali’Yi lodge. After hotly contested Section officer elections, the contingent moved to the activity field to enjoy the Bohicket Bash and a night full of patch trading. Unali’Yi capped off a day full of wonderful meals with a cracker barrel of chocolate sheet cake, ice cream, and some oddly familiar plates of leftover barbeque pork and chicken filet sandwiches.

Oh, what a weekend to be parakeets and foxes from #116. A Scout is kind, so we wont say we were the envy of Section E-7. But, throughout the weekend it wasn’t uncommon to hear members of our delegation ask one another, “aren’t you glad you’re with #116?” Was this an old school reference to the iconic, 90’s era Santee Conclave themes (e.g., “‘Orange’ you glad we’re back”, “we ‘gold’ you we’d be ‘black'”)? Perhaps. Or, perhaps, it was just an honest admission by any one of the 106 delegates (by far the largest contingent) from across the Pee Dee and Midlands that it just felt right to be a delegate with #116.

2023 Cornerstone Conclave Lodge Delegation Photo