Another Scouting Milestone

Clay has worked exceptionally hard over the last year on his scouting. At the end of July he will achieve his Life rank and begin the process of his Eagle project with a projection of obtaining Eagle next spring (before his 13th birthday if all goes according to schedule....quite a feat!) He left last Sunday for Camp Bob Hardin and last night the families of the boy's of our troop visited for dinner and the OA (Order of the Arrow, a brotherhood within Boy Scouts of America)ceremony.

If you've never been to an OA ceremony, it is actually a pretty neat thing. I enjoy listening to Indian lore and this story tells of the Cherokee and Skyuka (for whom the OA lodge is named after.), seeing the dancers and basically just sitting up in the mountains (up it is....you have a little hike to get to the ampitheater) looking out over the camp lake and enjoying the beauty of it all. This is the view from the edge of the ampitheater....if you look at the building in the distance, that is Clay and Ron and other members of troop 211 gathering for the ceremony. They hike from the trading post all the way up to the ampitheater and then process in....it is pretty cool to see). Last night was especially special, though, because Clay was "tapped out" for OA! It is an honor to be tapped out and now he has to go back in August for his "ordeal" (all we really know about it is that it involved a service project and the boys have to spend the night out in the woods.) Clay was so excited and thrilled! He has hoped for this honor since last year's OA ceremony at camp and has worked hard to uphold the Boy Scout code throughout the last year.
Clay getting tapped out and led down to the first part of his OA experience. (above)

Once the candidate is introduced, an OA member greets him, places his left arm across his chest and draws the OA symbol. Then, everyone waits for all the presentations and "welcoming" of new OA participants.